 Rain
Forest, 2001 Tamiko Kawata Tamiko has lived in New York City for over 30 years. Many of her installations include such everyday materials as safety pins, cardboard rolls, and toilet paper, employed both as visual diary and as social commentary. 20 March 2001: While installing Rain Forest in the University Gallery, Tamiko described its meaning. “This is called Rain Forest. Basically it is a memorial for peace and also my voice against nuclear weapons. For instance, this one, the black... I have three different colors to use here. One is black. That’s oxidized brass. And then another one is a rusty one which is the steel pins rusted outside. I do that myself. And then the other are nickel-plated – the silver colored pins. And the black one represent the black rain of atomic bombs that was actually dropped in Japan in 1945. You know I met many people, I’m not from anywhere like Nagasaki or Hiroshima but I met many people who is still sort of there, grandchildren, you know, all their descendants are still suffering from some form of cancer. Lots of them. And surprisingly I found out there are more than 40,000 bombs on this earth now. So when I did the installation first time it was 1998 and in that year, spring, it was India had test bomb, so that sort of triggered myself and also at that time I was sponsored by gallery and so I did that first time. And then the rust rain is dirty urban rain. And then the silver rain is the one, the clear pure rain that we like. So I am enveloping the black and rusty rain by the clean silver rain, clear rain. Also, sometimes when I am doing this, it takes a long time to do, I feel a little bit sort of, “Oh, what am I doing, you know, taking so long?” And then I think about the victims. Not only Japanese victims but all over – in Russia – Chechan - of course some Americans from the plants. Think about that, all their life, what they must go through. So that makes me a little bit easier to do it. And then it’s a form of raindrops. Also this action is a drawing on the floor with the safety pins. As I go around I decide what pattern and make in relation to the next one. I use the newspapers circles for template. I make them beforehand…. I just use them… And then I make the strings up from the ceiling point. And then afterward draw how it happens, just like drawing on the paper, drawing on the canvas. That how it comes to a real art form, that’s how I feel."
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