The Girl Who Cried “Truth” : When Facts Passed Through Fiction Become Reality

Virtual Mementos Association (VMA) is a part of the project “Shadow Asset Store,” in which UCHIDA Seira deals in what she calls “shadow assets,” used goods that are commonly considered worthless and therefore unmentioned on secondary distribution services such as online flea market apps. She does so in hopes of re-evaluating and distributing memories and emotions tied to these items.

　　During this residency, Uchida focused on the culture of contemplating the dead through stone Buddhas and dolls, beliefs such as the Jizo (*2), and the bride doll memorial service (*3). She researched the ways of thinking about the management of the items, which cannot be disposed of, whilst collecting them and the associated memories from donors. Focusing on the way stories interacted, she conducted research on distinctive traditions and how they are told, such as the tomb of Christ, and the Monument of Central Japan (Japanese: Himotomanaka). The solo exhibition of VMA was presented as an installation of the same name, consisting of three parts: “Virtual Home of Mementos,” “Narration Video,” “Utsushimi Paper Craft Norishiro-sama” series (hereafter, “Norishiro-sama”).

　　The first thing that one notices upon entrance to the venue are the large windows accompanied by a white Noh stage. When you watch the video in front of you, “This story about a time when people started to hide their mouths and noses…” begins the narration with a picture of a face mask floating in the sky and a building reminiscent of ACAC’s Gallery B, into which the viewer finds themselves projected in a low polygon version, like a scene from a game. The visitor was informed that within these walls, is the “Virtual Home of Mementos,” a place where people can “donate the things that cannot be thrown away, or make offerings by the pure and simple act of listening to the memories and feelings of people they don’t know.”

　　After that, the guard (who, for Uchida, is likened to a character playing a role in the story of the VMA), prompts visitors to take off their shoes and climb onto the stage, guided through the prayers and guidelines of the memorial hall. The stage, which has nothing on it, is transformed when using a head-mounted display, and through it the virtual reality space “Virtual Home of Mementos” appears before your eyes. There, you can see the everyday items that have been enlarged to about the size of a Jizo, while voices float in the air, filled with memories related to the items. The act of putting on the head-mounted display functions as “a ritual to see what is unseen” thrusting the viewer into the story narrated on the monitor. When the headpiece is removed, the visitor is invited to take home “Norishiro-sama,” which are paper craft replicas of the items left in the Virtual Home of Mementos.

　　As an inspiration for this work, Uchida thought about those who are unable to let go of things, and coupled it with her own feelings and experiences of having let something go, and how liberating that felt. The most important aspect of the production and opening of the Virtual Memorial Association is that it is an installation that hints at a community. Key activities of this community, established within the association, are listening to the stories of cherished items along with the distribution of the “Norishiro-sama.” In addition, the activities present people with the idea of “cherishing the memories of people we don’t know, a new home.” As is written in the margins of the paper craft, “If you place the finished folded item in your home with your own valuable possessions, it seems that you can accumulate the same character traits as inviting others with different values into your home, or so the story goes.” This wording suggests a course of action in creating a new “home,” a new “mindset,” that embraces a variety of values, moving away from the unified values and systems of our modern society.

　　Now I would like to direct your attention to how the narratives are conveyed. All of them are expressed in spoken words, reminiscent of old tales. UNO Yusuke talks about the differences between folklore and legends along with hearsay. According to Uno, hearsay and legends are based on actual events, which characterizes them as “factual.” In contrast, folklore “has ways of being ‘fictitious’ and ‘formatted’ in a way which transports the listener to and from the world of make-believe(*4).” Based on this, the beginning of the narration video uses a style that submerges the listener into a fictional space. On the other hand, the “[where memories and emotions] are not burned or kicked” phrase calls to mind the excessive slander present on the internet and further points out the lack of respect that can be witnessed online. In the opening of the video, one can see a face mask appear, serving as a metaphor for the present time. Here, Uchida uses the style of old tales to point out problems inherent to current forms of communication (such as facts being difficult to convey) by wrapping them in fiction.

　　In addition, the fictitiousness is seen across many aspects of this work, to such an extent that aside from the 3D scan data, virtual space, the artist’s voice, and the owner’s memory, everything else may be obscured as fiction. But what of the experiences and memories that emerged from this work? Whether offering flowers to the used goods in the VR space, or assembling the paper crafts and welcoming them into one’s own space, these experiences become a fact through the act of participation. Through these acts, the “memorial service” is actualized, and the virtual memorial Uchida introduced becomes an “association(*5),” true for the people who participated in it and accepted into their lives.

　　In particular, I would like to call attention to the relationship between the speaker (originator) and the listener (recipient) in this work. In “Netlore,” ITO Ryohei points out the transparency of the storytellers on the internet in contrast to the strong personality of the narrators that are present in oral traditions(*6). In this work, people’s actions create fact from fiction, for example the participants in “Norishiro-sama,” and each story (from the originator) is able to move smoothly as a thread, being passed down the loom to a wider pattern – a network – as far as the eye can see. Uchida saw a need for, and created, the thread for a needle which could be gently placed in an ongoing circuit, generating a cycle of respectful listening and inviting transmission of the stories encountered. There, a voice that has traditionally reverberated through time and formed societal norms has been broken, falling away to reveal a soft replicable pattern introduced into the greater whole. Virtual Mementos Association, a community that obtained a physical space in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, has now also been put on record as a story called Virtual Mementos Association, (Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture) through this exhibition. Even as I sit here and write to you about the Virtual Memenos Association (Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture) we are taking part in the old-time tradition of storytelling by first opening our ears and our hearts to listen respectfully, and then when the time is right, passing them on.

*1 The name refers to “Shadow Work” (Ivan Ilich), which refers to invisible labor without compensation. On the website, you can download 3D scans of people’s used goods collected during this residency.
*2 Among the Jizo beliefs observed in Aomori, Uchida mainly researched what is referred to as a Jizo Memorial. In the case that a child passes away at a young age, people traditionally put a Jizo inside a small hall and make offerings such as waraji (straw sandals), tenugui (hand towels) and other tools to assist the child on their journey through Yomi No Kuni (the land of the dead). Some of the statues are dressed up, and there have been cases where they have make-up applied.
*3 This is a kind of memorial service seen in the Tohoku area. A doll of a bride or groom is placed in the hall and a memorial service is held for a person who died unmarried.
*4 Uno, Yusuke. “Anthropology of Folklore: How to Convey Life and the Soul.” Nakanishiya Publishing, 2015 pp. Vi-viii
*5 A group of people who share the same beliefs / faith.
*6 Ito, Ryohei. “Netlore.” Seikyusha Publishing, 2016 pp.60-61

Photography by OYAMADA Kuniya
Text by MURAKAMI Aya, Curator of Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Aomori Public University
Translated by Vareria REYES