Collaborative Art Installation in Ramaytush Ohlone Territory – at Agapolis
Description
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“If You Dive In, It’s There” is an interactive sound installation using a swimming pool. Around the poolside, I played the sound collage of interviews I had conducted with the residents of the site. And if you dive into the water, the ambient sound would be naturally shut off by water, then would start hearing singing voice. The song was “Grandmother Song” performed by Kanyon Syers-Roods, a Mutsun Ohlone Native American performer. The Mutsun Ohlone tribe lived in the area around around Gilroy and Holllister, one to two hour drive South of the site of installation.
Having lived in a shared living community with utopian and idealistic visions, called Agapolis in Portola Valley, CA, I started noticing the similarity in their philosophy to that of Ohlone Native Americans as well as the lack of acknowledgement of it. Being an outsider from both communities, I consulted with Kanyon Sayers-Roods, the daughter of the spiritual leader of Indian Canyon, Hollister, CA. Then I orchestrated this sound installation along with the acknowledgement ceremony of the Ohlone land lead by Kanyon. To the residents of Agapolis, I asked these questions with this quote.
In Steve Reich’s “Three Tales” when they discussed creation of an artificial life, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz said “Every creature has a song, the song of the fox, the song of the dog, the song of the fly. What do they say?”
In what circumstances in your everyday life do you sing? or like to sing?
What is the song that influenced who you are the most?
Why do we humans sing?
What is the origin of singing?
—credit—
Voice in water: Kanyon Sayers-Roods from indian Canyon, Hollister, CA (https://indiancanyonlife.org/) “Grandmother Song”
Voice outside water: Residents of Agapolis, Portola Valley, CA
Photo credit: X Razma (https://www.raz.ma/)
Special Thanks To: Kristen Smidstra and the Walnut Creek Aquanuts, Community of Agapolis + Building 180 https://www.agapolis.org/ http://building180.com/
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Bio of Taro Hattori
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Taro Hattori is an installation artist and teaches at California College of the Arts, originally from Tokyo, Japan and currently lives in Richmond, CA. Hattori has been showing his work nationally and internationally. He has been awarded residency from Art Omi, New York; Headlands Center for the Arts; Vermont Studio Center, Can Serrat, Barcelona; Millay Colony for the Arts, New York; McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte; Kuandu Museum of Fine Art, Taiwan; Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Taipei Artist Village and Kala Art Institute. He also has received grants or awards from the Zellerbach Foundation, California Humanities, California Arts Council, West Collection, Center for Cultural Innovation, The Nomura Cultural Foundation. His work has been represented by Swarm Gallery (Oakland), West Collection (Philadelphia), Black Square Gallery (Miami) and Peter Miller Gallery (Chicago).
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Website of Taro Hattori
