May, me and Jesse Kanda
I have been feeling the weather remarkably changing day by day. My mother's house is located in front of a small forest, so the wind brings me the fresh smell of earth of May when I open the window. There is a big IKEA table in my room for using the room as a temporal studio. I appreciate being surrounded by my favourite things in my room while listening to music such as Jesse Kanda’s new released album and feeling the wind and the sunshine.
Jesse is now living in Japan, but it was the first time to acknowledge him around when he came to Japan for his exhibition. I knew about Arca as soon as I knew Jesse. I remember that Jesse’s web page at that time contained his blog in Japanese and I binge-read it. I got into him soon because he was spending his childhood in Zushi city, Kanagawa, where I was born and grew. Also, I found it interesting that he is a vegan and loves nature in contrast to his 3DCG work described as visceral gothic surrealist art. I liked his attitude toward the balance between virtuality and naturality. ( I am not vegan tho.)
I spent my time in Zushi only until I became 6 years old, but the place is quite important for me because I developed my personality there as chicks do. It is one of my ideal places to settle in the future. The city is full of nature, containing the sea ofc, and I feel something of melancholy in there, which is really nice for me. My grandparents and my father’s family are still living in Zushi and I often visit theirs. I sometimes think about how Jesse spent his childhood in the same place as my home city.
If you have never been to Zushi, I really recommend that you visit there though there is nothing special.
この頃は、日毎に気候が変化していることが顕著に感じられる。実家は小さな森がすぐ裏にあるというかむしろ森の入り口に位置しているので、狭い自室の窓を開けるとなんとも言えない五月の土の匂いを風が運んでくる。今は自室に大きなイケアのテーブルを置いて作業部屋としていて、自分が選んだものたちに囲まれてJesse Kandaが最近リリースしてくれたmixなんかを聴きながらこの風と日差しを愉しむことはなかなか良い気分になれる。
Jesse Kandaは今は日本に住んでいるらしいけれど、彼のことは以前日本に来日するという情報が出た頃に知った。Jesseを先に知って、それからArcaを知った。その頃のJesseのサイトには彼の日記があって、確か日本語だったのだが、それを一気に全部読んだ記憶がある。彼に親近感を持ったのは、彼の生まれ故郷が私と同じ逗子だったからだ。それと、普段はvisceral gothic surrealist art と形容されるような3D CG作品を作っているのにヴィーガンで自然を愛するといったヴァーチャリティとナチュラリティーのバランスの取り方にも共鳴するところがあった。(ちなみに私はヴィーガンではない。）
逗子は私が6歳の時までしか住んでいないのだが、そこで雛鳥みたいに自我が芽生えたので自分の中では重要な場所だし、将来的に住みたい理想的な場所の一つでもある。逗子は自然豊かで、海もあって、それでいてなんとなくもの寂しくて、とてもいいところだ。未だに祖父母と父親の家族が住んでいるので、よく足を運ぶ。Jesseはどんな幼少期をそこで過ごしたのだろうかなどと偶に思い巡らせてみる。