Tool's Life

2002

Kyoko Kunoh (JP)
Motoshi Chikamori (JP)
minim++ (JP)

When useful physical objects are gently touched, their shadow-like silhouettes magically begin to move and can assume a wide variety of forms. The objects themselves do not change their shape, whereas their shadows reveal their true character or their secret wishes. "Tool's Life" not only illustrates the function of these objects; it also brings out background factors that usually go unnoticed and the various significances of the objects' use.

We are surrounded by various tools. We usually believe that a spoon is a tool for eating something and a comb is for combing someone's hair. But don't they have other purposes?

Let's explore in a house at midnight!

There are tools on a tabletop in the moonlight. If you touch one softly, the shadow is transformed into various shapes. Even if tools don't change their own shape, their shadows may show their true characters.

In Japanese "kage" is the shadow that appears on the ground behind something that blocks the light; it's the shade on a thing where light does not reach; it's the silhouette that is projected onto a wall; it's the "shadow" that symbolizes a thing's very existence.

At first glance, a "kage" may seem to be a mere imitation of a thing—that which projects only outline and external shape. But, at times, it can highlight the important aspects of a thing and reveal its intrinsic quality. In this respect, it is very much like a fragment of a memory that has already started to fade.

You will find a variety of "kage" on the table of "Tool's Life". You may even find a "kage" that you lost somewhere along the way.