The breezes of love are all-pervasive By Shijimi River, where love-drowned guests Like empty shells, bereft of their senses, Wander the dark ways of love Lit each night by burning lanterns, Fireflies that glow in the four seasons, Stars that shine on rainy nights. By Plum Bridge, blossoms show even in summer. Monzaemon Chikamatsu, Sonezaki Shinju Scene Two: Inside the Temma House. English version by Donald Keene, The Love Suicides at Sonezaki.
From in Silence - The Eve The passage quoted above is from Sonezaki Shinju [The Love Suicides at Sonezaki] This play is renowned as a representative work by Monzaemon Chikamatsu, a playwright for kabuki and ningyo joruri [puppet theatre] known for works such as Meido no Hikyaku [The Courier for Hell] and Shinju Ten no Amijima [The Love Suicides at Amijima]. It is a story of the tragic love between Ohatsu and Tokubei, who commit suicide together in the Wood of Tenjin. The current exhibition From in silence was inspired by this story. I met Chiharu Shiota for the first time on 25th August 2004 at Kenji Taki Gallery in Hatsudai, Tokyo. That was when I saw Failing Sand (cat.nos.14-16), which is also included in the current exhibition. It was the third video recording of a performance featuring the artist herself following Bathroom (1999, fig.1) and My Stomachache (2001, cat. nos. 33-36). That year, it so happened that Kanagawa Kenritsu Ongakudo (The Kanagawa Prefectural Concert Hall),1 ‘ where I was working as one of the performance producers, was celebrating its 50th anniversary and several commemorative performances were taking place. Among them, an original stage composed of literature, noh, music, and calligraphy was premiered on August 8th. It was entitled Musical Verse Drama: The Story of lkutagawa, Based on the Noh Play ‘Motomezuka’.2
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