un-becoming
un-becoming is a textile installation for which three silk nagajuban (a long under-kimono that is worn to protect the precious main outer garment by preventing direct contact with the wearer’s skin) were printed, using cyanotype and a variety of plants and cut flowers. The pattern on the fabric are thus imprints of the actual flowers that once touched the fabric and have since of course withered and have been disposed of.
Nagajuban, which are now worn under all kimono apart from yukata, were originally popularized by the women of Yoshiwara, for whom they were essentially work clothes. More than this historical reference, however, I was interested in the intimacy of these garments that touch our skin directly and usually stay hidden. As the nagajuban in this work have been pre-worn, they bear traces of their former wearers skin.
Here, the right side of the nagajuban has been placed over the left side. This is the way in which the deceased in Japanese Buddhist funerals are dressed. This last garment is cremated too, becoming thereby, so to speak, the clothing version of grave offerings, of throwaways.
Leading away from the hanging nagajuban is an 8-meter-long piece of fabric; a deconstructed nagajuban that has been returned to its original form. Thus, the installation turns into a delicate memento mori, a reminder of transience, which goes hand in hand with the notion of life and new beginnings.
“un-becoming” was shown in the solo exhibition “Throwaway” at OAG Tokyo
Exhibition announcement:
"Throwaway Temple" (投げ込み寺) is the unofficial name of the Buddhist temple Jōkan-ji (浄閑寺) in the Arakawa district near Minowa Station on the Hibiya Line. Jōkan-ji was given its nickname in the Edo period, when it became a habit to deposit the dead bodies of prostitutes from the nearby brothel district of Yoshiwara in front of the temple gates. Over 25,000 of these women are buried anonymously in the adjacent cemetery.
"Throwaway" also refers to material and non-material items that are disposed of after one or more uses, are considered wasteful or trivial, or are even associated with dishonesty.
Using Jōkan-ji as a starting point, Lisa Woite uses ephemeral media and phenomena such as sunlight and sound to question the negative connotations of the concept of 'throwing away'. In alternative still lifes of photography and installation, as well as a sound work dedicated to the day laborer district of San'ya adjacent to Yoshiwara, she explores possibilities of using throwing away as a means for an intimate and active engagement with place and memory.