The exhibition centers on a grand installation of two large-scale, two-dimensional pieces, laid out perpendicularly to each other in an open T-shaped orientation. Each piece measures 2.53 x 9.68 meters (8.3 x 31.75 feet). One is light and translucent, formed from sheets of paper held together by tiny magnets and suspended from the roof beams. In contrast, the other is rigid and opaque, formed of large wood panels that are assembled together. This installation is accompanied by a series of sculptural sketches, a smaller sculptural piece, and a book by the artist. All of these elements help the visitor to better understand the personal world of the artist as well as his working methods. In addition, the exhibition featured a video by Deborah Fernández (born in Barcelona, 1974). It was projected alongside Fujiwara's large-scale installation and connected well with the open and respectful spirit of the Japanese artist's work. The video has a documentary rigor but at the same time reveals a personal vision in the editing of the material. Fernández creates a rhythmic flow without going overboard, something we can all be thankful for in this era of excesses and overly dramatic effects. The title that Yuki Fujiwara has given this exhibition is a poetic game which sounds beautiful in Japanese and profound in its meaning: in silence, on tiptoes, like a Ninja. It indicates an attitude, proposing the subtle presence of the artist in the work, a silent incursion that does not draw any attention, so the creator can respectfully withdraw, allowing the world and nature to participate in the work. Fujiwara Yuki's Silent Incursion josep asunción fujiwara yuki "Durst IV Nukiashi Sashiashi Shinobiashi" (Thirst IV: In Silence, on Tiptoes, Like a Ninja) Capellades Paper Mill Museum, Capellades, Spain May 5–July 22, 2007 Detail of the installation showing Japanese and Catalan handmade paper stained by the oxidation of scrap metal pieces. The sheets are held together with magnets. Photo: Josep Asunción. All photos courtesy of the author and the Capellades Paper Mill Museum, Spain. left: Fujiwara Yuki, with his installation. Photo: Victòria Rabal. winter 2007 - 35 To produce the installation, Fujiwara gathered pieces of iron from a junkyard nearby such as screws, turbines, metal sheets, hoops, nails, wheels, metal plates, and bolts. He also collected water from the Mediterranean Sea. On top of the wood panels, the artist placed, in an orderly fashion, sheets of handmade paper, integrating two centuries-old traditions: hand papermaking in Capellades, Spain and in Aoya (Tottori), Japan. Within this carefully studied framework, the action was set to develop. For Fujiwara, the best way to connect with a place is through its children and so he brought together nine- and ten-year-old children of Capellades. For the artist, that is the age at which children demonstrate a great purity and spontaneity, and at which they are well aware of what is happening to them. Working with small groups of children, Fujiwara placed the first piece of metal at one end of the long shape formed by the papers and invited the children to do the same from the other end. His only directive was that they seek to connect their pieces with his, leading to inevitable paths of capricious shapes. Finally, the artist and children sprinkled sea water on the metal, leaving the natural process of oxidation to finish the work. The Spanish poet Antonio Machado (1875–1939) wrote in his work The Fields of Castile (1912), "Rambler, your footprints are the path, nothing more; Rambler, there is no path, it is created as you ramble." If the children are the gates to a place, action is the door to experience. Each piece of metal called out to the next and no one had a pre-conceived plan of the final work. There was only one guideline: the encounter, but the path was created in the action of walking. Fujiwara's work is open to evolution, to process and transformation, and to accident as a means to creation, with great humility. All of this tells me that I am standing before a demonstration of wabi-sabi, in which the erosion and oxidation of metal and the accidental stain it produces on paper and wood provide the spark for an aesthetic emotion. Besides the experiential and performance-based aspects of his work, Fujiwara is also interested in expressing the energy of nature. The artist causes an interaction of elements in concert: fiber, water, metal, and wood each emits an energy in its encounter with the other elements in space and time. The paper and wood absorb this flow and produce the miracle: the appearance of an image. Colors emerge from a subtle hue of orange like the clear tinge of honey to a dramatic dark rust, along with cold grays. The stained shapes are midway between watery and gaseous. The perception of the work is similar to that of a bed when its recent occupant has arisen in the morning; the bed and its sheets emit what they absorbed during the night—the energy that lay there and rested, its shape, its heat, its odor, its presence—in the shape of traces left behind. In conclusion, the Fujiwara exhibition is beautiful, humble, and balanced. In this exhibition, space, object, image, and action maintain a perfect equilibrium on the emotional plane, like the four legs of a table. It is a table upon which encounters are produced between materials, between traditions, between control and accident, and most importantly, between people. The wood panels, a central element of the installation, show residual oxidation marks from the paper-staining process. Photo: Josep Asunción. The artist working with children from Capellades to lay out the metal pieces on the paper. Photo: Victòria Rabal. reviews