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KOTE is a type of art which involves plastering or sculpting your image onto a frame or a wall. This is very similar to painting but in this case I use a trowel,color powder and sand instead of paint brushes and paint. The materials used in this process are natural materials hence they are ‘’environmentally friendly’.’ The idea of this art originated from Tsuchikabe which is a wall made out of sand and thin bricks. Tsuchikabe is a type of wall which was made by the ancient Japanese to build houses. This Tsuchikabe has been developing till present day hence becoming more different than the one of the ancient times. Kote art serves as a reminder to people that we need to save nature. It’s as if the ancient Japanese knew we would face the present day global warming crisis. This is due to the fact that they started doing this more than 200 years ago.
I do KOTE art because I wanna try to protect the beauty of nature. The materials used in this process are ‘environmentally friendly, natural materials. They have the added benefits of deodorization and removal of humidity. In winter it can retain the heat from the sun and in summer it can absorb heat from the air, so that if I put KOTE art on a wall, it can make a room warm in winter and cool in summer without heaters or air-conditioning. People can enjoy it as art and at the same time ,It can help preserve nature.
The idea came from my experiences. I went to Cape Town in South Africa a few years ago and I was embarrassed because I realized that I didn’t know anything about Japan. After Cape Town I traveled to some other places in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. On that trip, I saw nature in a place where nobody was allowed to build and nobody was allowed to do anything there so that the view of nature I saw was real. It showed me how our Earth is now…I felt shocked, scared and sorry for other animals. So after I came back to Japan I was thinking about what I could do with my experience. I didn’t just want to keep this feeling in my heart, so I created ‘’KOTE art’.’
I hope that one day KOTE art will be in many houses and buildings. I want people to know that KOTE art is done in the same way the ancient Japanese built houses, and I want people will realize that we should try to let some of that ancient culture and skills for living back into our lives. I want to teach people that we can make a nice and beautiful world where ‘’culture’’ is arriving ,’’New Technology’’ is arriving. This two of them are best friend in the world !! This two of them will live together in mutual prosperity!!
Do you have anything you wanna say to people?
KOTE art isn’t difficult so if you are interested in it,please feel free to make contact with me! I’m having the workshop of KOTE art. I’ll be so happy if people try to do KOTE art !! Let’s enjoy it together and make our earth beautiful than now!!
