An exhibition by artist Isamu Nasu encouraging visitors to think about “forestry and art.” Nasu’s work takes family relationships as its starting point, with a focus on his family business, forestry. After a month of actual forestry-related work, he transported recorded video footage of the experience and branches from a felled cedar to Tokyo from his home prefecture of Miyazaki, and put the material on display.
The exhibition was an attempt to share awareness of forestry – the industry that provided his family’s livelihood – as well as social problems in Japan as seen from a forestry industry perspective.
During the exhibition’s run, a talk was held with Kentaro Aoki, a specialist in natural resources for the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.
The talk featured an exchange of opinions from the perspectives of both art and the forestry industry, and also considered the relationship between the two areas going forward.
Isamu Nasu
Tokyo-based artist born in Nichinan City, Miyazaki Prefecture, in 1996.
When Nasu helped out with the family forestry business, he became aware of the issues surrounding the forestry industry, and their societal reach. This informed his work, which is themed around forestry-related action that can be expressed through art.
Nasu works in a variety of mediums including sculpture, video, sound, and performance.
The National Museum of Art, Okutama