Katsurao AIR 2025 Archives：内田聖良 UCHIDA Seira

おおきないしとあかずの蔵
Black Tablets and the Sealed Storehouse

葛尾村では、村の「あかずの蔵」の伝説をヒントに、村民の思い出の品が宝物として奉納される、架空の蔵の物語を制作しました。
原発事故で避難を経験された方に思い出を聞くことに身構えていましたが、簡単ではなかったであろう道のりを、時に笑い飛ばしながら語る姿に、人が時間とともに物語を成熟させ織り変えていく強さや、科学技術との共存について考えさせられました。
また地域一帯に根づく巨石信仰に関するフィールドワークの過程で、古代製鉄の廃棄物「かなごいし」と出会いました。製鉄という技術の発展の過程で生まれた廃棄物が、時間が経ち「石」として扱われているところが面白いと感じ、人工と自然の合間のような「かなごいし」を粉にして絵の具を制作し、作品に用いました。

While in Katsurao, I was inspired by the local legend of the Akazu-no-Kura (sealed storehouse) to create a story about a storehouse where people make offerings of their cherished items as treasures. Although I initially hesitated to ask residents who were evacuated after the nuclear disaster about their memories, I was struck by their resilience in sharing their difficult journeys, sometimes even laughing them off. Their stories made me reflect on how people reshape their narratives over time and how we coexist with science and technology.
While researching giant stone worship in the region, I learned of a by-product of ancient ironmaking called kanagoishi. It interested me that this material is now treated as ordinary “stone” even though it began as waste discarded in the course of technological development. In kanagoishi, I saw something in between the artificial and the natural. I ground it into pigment and used it in my work.

協力：思い出の品をご提供いただいた葛尾村の皆様
絵具作成アドバイス：永沢碧衣

Collaborators: the people of Katsurao who offered up their cherished items.

Advice on pigment-making: NAGASAWA Aoi.


UCHIDA Seira
内田 聖良

武蔵野美術大学造形学部油絵学科卒業、情報科学芸術大学院大学（IAMAS）修了。
自身をポスト・インターネット時代のサーキット・ベンダー（Bender）とも称し、現代社会の回路とも言えるAmazonやYouTubeなどのサービスも活動の場として取り込みながら、言葉や物・データの流通網に介入する。近年は民話や信仰のリサーチをもとに、それらが持つケアの機能や規範の生成への関与について着目した制作を行う。

主な作品に、使用感のある古書を一点物として価値づけ再流通させる『余白書店』、VRや3Dスキャンを用いて捨てられない物を供養し、新しい物語への「転生」を促す『バーチャル供養講』など。

Seira Uchida graduated from Musashino Art University, Department of Oil Painting, and got a master’s degree in media expression from Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS). She describes herself as a Circuit Bender of the post-Internet era, integrating circuits of contemporary society—such as Amazon and YouTube—into her practice and intervening in the networks of words, objects, and data. Recently, her work has focused on folklore research and belief systems, particularly their roles in how we heal and care for each other and the creation of norms.
Notable projects are ‘Marginal Bookstore,’ which revalues and re-circulates used books as fabricated items, and ‘Virtual Mementos Association,’ which uses VR and 3D scanning to honor objects that are hard to throw away and facilitate their ‘reincarnation’ into new narratives.