About the artwork

The setting for this artwork is a terraced rice field which has become fallow. From this place you can see the streets of Matsudai and the mountains which surround the town. Bricks made from the rice field soil and straw, which have been dried in the sun, are laid together to make a garden. Because the soil from the rice field contains many seeds from weeds, as the sun-dried bricks decay, weeds grow prolifically. This artwork was constructed to human scale, using materials that were on the ground. The artist was involved with activities to preserve terraced rice field landscapes, this artwork is a fusion of “farming” and art.