H32cm×W23cm×D4cm
Digital print, Frame, Acrylic board
Venue : Swatch Art Peace Hotel
2016
Walking through the streets of Shanghai on a sunny day, I began to notice laundry hanging everywhere. It stretched beyond balconies, draped over railings, street trees, even across parked motorbikes—anywhere that could hold a line. Some people tied ropes around the plane trees that line the streets, suspending their laundry between two trunks. The colorful fabrics swayed in the wind, while beneath them people gathered to chat or play board games.
The plane tree (Platanus), easily found throughout Shanghai, was once planted widely across the city as part of a government policy. In summer its branches are lush with green leaves, in autumn they turn red and gold, and in winter they fall away. Season by season, these trees shape the rhythms of daily life and reveal many different expressions.
The generosity of Shanghai’s people—hanging laundry in the streets and gathering beneath the trees—together with the presence of the plane trees themselves, create a distinctive everyday landscape of the city.
晴れの日に上海の街を歩いているとそこかしこに洗濯物がかかっていることに気づいた。それは家のベランダを飛び越えて、歩道の柵、街路樹、バイクの上、掛かるところにはどこでもといった具合だった。ある人は街路樹のプラタナスの木に紐をくくり洗濯を干す。2本の木の間にかかった洗濯物は色鮮やかで風に揺れ、その下にはおしゃべりやボードゲームをする街の人々がいた。上海の街に行けばプラタナスの木を簡単に見つけることができる。ある時期に政府の政策で町中に植えられたプラタナスの木。夏には緑の葉を茂らせ、秋は紅葉し、冬には葉を落とす。プラナタスは人々の生活に影響を与え、季節ごとに色々な表情を見せていた。道に洗濯を干し集うおおらかな上海の人々、プラタナスの木と洗濯物は、共に上海の日常風景を作り出している。
AI SUGIURA 