‘Chozumaki’ consists of uniquely designed glass vessels, filled with water. A small winged magnet spinning at the bottom of each vessel produces a vortex. Tiny bubbles cause curious sounds as they are swallowed into the vortex. Viewers hear these sounds through a spiral pipe and horn on the top, shaped like a cochlear duct.
Countless vortexes exist in the universe, from the enormous revolution of the galaxy to the minimum spin of photons. They all have a fractal structure, which appears to be one of the fundamental elements of the universe.
Water has another important role in this work. In numerous cultures, water is associated with purification. In traditional Japanese culture, one of the symbolic items that utilize water in this sense is a Chozubachi, a stone washbasin for guests to wash their hands, when they participate in a tea ceremony. The water in the Chozubachi purifies the body and mind before entering the inner sanctum of the tea ceremony, a refuge from the outer world and ordinary life.
In this installation, the sight and sound of the water vortex, which is constantly changing its shape, extends viewers’ perception of the physical world and crosses the boundary into the psychological world.