My Failed, Years-Long Conceptual Art Project
I have long wanted to exist in a world where the various emotional histories of a place are discernible. Today I attended a presentation by Sae Kondo of the University of Tokyo called, “Collaborative Community Design for Area Revival“. Here’s the description:
In Japan, we talk about “a region’s memory,” which is basically the innate character of the region made up from its history, the DNA if you will. In this session we will introduce 2 case studies where such DNA was used successfully for the recovery or revival of an area. The first case is Nagaoka city in Niigata prefecture where a M6.8 earthquake occurred. The totally devastated city was rebuilt with its traditional “doma” (dirt floor) DNA for their city center. The second case involved the revival of a deteriorating under-populated town, Kamiichi in Toyama prefecture. This town experienced revival when an anime movie decided to use the town as their backdrop. Kamiichi’s DNA thus found its way into the virtual world which had a rejuvenating impact on the real world.
In my own life, I think in terms of “emotional geography“. I wrote a blog post in 2005 about the topic. I want it. It is un-realized.