Copper Mine of Naganobori

作品賞析

Tsai Kuen-Lin is best known for his skill in using plastic water pipes to make sound sculpture installations. He conducts field surveys in various villages to investigate locals’ geographical, audio, and historical memories, which he then transforms into works of different forms. He has also developed a series of sculptures and graphic works along this line. In this work, he focuses on Naganobori’s Copper Mountain (Dōzan), a subject taken from part of his woodblock print Akiyoshidai Travel Map, but here made into a serigraph. Copper Mountain is a copper mine with a long history in Japan. It is located in Miya City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, near Akiyoshidai, where Tsai Kuen-Lin once resided for a time. Legend has it that the Nara period Great Buddha of Tōdaiji was made from copper mined here. Until the mines closed in 1960, copper mining was an important economic lifeline for the region. Tsai specially adds golden ink to the Buddha’s halo, hinting at the close relationship between Copper Mountain, money, and power.