Carl Michael von Hausswolff /
Thomas Nordanstad (SWE)
Hashima, Japan
2002
DVD, 400 x 300 cm video projection, 30 min. loop, stereo sound, seats
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Seen from a distance, Hashima Island might be mistaken for the Japanese equivalent of Alcatraz, a rugged slab of concrete rising out of the ocean. Only 40 years ago, this tiny island in the Nagasaki Prefecture, near the coast of Japan was the site of a thriving community with the highest population density on earth [1]. At the end of the 19 th century, Mitsubishi Corporation successfully launched a project to tap the coal resources on the sea floor below the island, and by 1907, it harbored huge industrial coal mining facilities as well as giant dormitories, all surrounded by a high sea wall that followed the contours of the island.
In Hashima, Japan, we slowly approach the island, cautiously circling it, taking in the high building blocks that, seen from a distance, seem to waver because of the (s)light current of the ocean. The hermetically grey sky mysteriously forecasts what we are to about to encounter on the dot of land coming out of the sea. A slowly oscillating low and monotonous sound leads us into a perceptive journey: remnants of the past confront us, revealing an apocalyptic site of deserted apartment buildings and secluded industrial remains. The seemingly still images are brought to life by the delicate movement of a blade of grass or a drop of water falling into the projection, the pulling sounds linking with the past, prompting an underlying catastrophic feeling. The minimal soundtrack, with its electronic oscillations, is joined by the ring of a soft but persistent bell , minutes later followed by subtle crackling and vibrating sounds that suggest communication failures or the hum of distant machinery. As a suspicion of imagined catastrophe imposes itself upon us, the slow pace of the images of industrial ruin and human disaster, led by the intriguing audio narrative, seduces us into profound rumination.
The documentary quality of Hashima, Japan, brought upon by the stillness of the video sequences, at times reminiscent of the formal industrial photography we know from Bernd and Hilla Becher, further reinforces the cinematographic experience of the work. The minimalism in image and sound offers enormous potential for involvement in the havoc, inciting reverence in the magnitude of the whole.
The thirty-minute journey consecrates Hashima as an inescapable reflection of humankind’s development, illustrating a past life that is enamored with itself rather than with existence.
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Notes:
- In 1959, the population of Hashima reached a peak of 5,259 inhabitants. At 835 people per hectare for the whole island, or an incredible 1,391 per hectare for the residential district, it is said to be the highest population density ever recorded in the world. Even Warabi, a Tokyo bed town and the most densely populated city in modern Japan, notches up only 141 people per hectare. Brian Burke-Gaffney: Hashima: The Ghost Island.
Biography
Since the late 1970s, Carl Michael von Hausswolff ( Sweden, 1956) has worked as a composer using the tape recorder as his main instrument. His compositions from 1979 to 1992 are constructed almost exclusively from material taken from his earlier audio-visual installations and performance works. He has collaborated with numerous other artists such as Erik Pauser, Leif Elggren, Andrew McKenzie, Zbigniew Karkowski, Graham Lewis, David Jackman and Kim Cascone. His works have been presented at biennials in Istanbul (TUR) and Johannesburg (RSA) and also at Manifesta 1 in Rotterdam (NED, 1996), Documenta X in Kassel (GER, 1997) and the Venice Biennials in 2001 and 2003 (ITA). In 2004, he participated in the Liverpool Biennial (GBR). An exhibition at Haus der Kunst in Munich (GER) scheduled for 2005 is in preparation. Carl Michael von Hausswolff lives in Stockholm, Sweden.
Artist and filmmaker Thomas Nordanstad ( Sweden, 1964) co-founded the art magazine MATERIAL in 1989. In 1991, he opened a gallery in SoHo, New York ( USA). During the 1990s, Nordanstad curated more than 120 exhibitions of young, contemporary American, European and Asian artists in and outside of his gallery. Since the year 2000, Nordanstad has moved from the art world into filmmaking. Together with artist Carl Michael von Hausswolff he collaborated on Hashima, Japan. Thomas Nordanstad lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden and Bangkok, Thailand.