It was the Second day of work experience for the students of Aomori Nishi junior high shchool and Aomori Chuo high school. They prepared the materials for the elementary school program and modification of the leaflet. At last, they made a map which they show their recommendation place. You can see the map in the lounge. (But we are sorry it is only in Japanese)

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On 9th and 10th March, we held a workshop “Go in ACAC! Two days of invisible journey” by NAKAJIMA Yuta.

“Invisible journey” starts with blinding with an eye mask and walking.
The participants who gathered in the lounge learned about the precautions for walking in blindfolds from Nakajima. we walked to the studio while blindfolded according to attendants.

When we can’t see things with an eye mask, put their hands in front of body to check if there is anything in the way ahead or try to listen to the voice of the person who guides them. They will sharpen their senses well.
Attendants tell what there are on the road and think what they should tell the blindfolded person to walk safely.
The weather was fine on that day, in the long corridor on the way to the studio, the glass was reflected and some small rainbow-like spectra appeared. They made a fuss because The blindfolded person couldn’t see.

Arriving at the creative building, we all thought about what would happen if we could not see .
There are opinions -various senses can be obtained by touching / smelling / feeling the temperature / steps, slopes, curves and other feeling by foot / vibration, wind, etc.

The studio has a long corridor. We divided the person who made the eye mask and the person who led and tried to walk around the room through the corridor.
The attendants looks at the surroundings and explains in words, such as how the road is, what kind of things are there, and how many steps there are after that.
People who walk with eye masks listened to the guidance and walked while feeling the change in sound conditions and temperature.

Outside we enjoyed the sound and foot feeling when we stepped on the snow. We could imagine that snow was a sandy beach or a desert.

The sound and voice we hear, the temperature feel with skin, the tactile sensation of things, the feeling of walking, etc, by blinding, we can greatly expand our imagination.
The trip is to go to see what you want to see, but we can not see here, we made a journey we wanted to see for ourselves.

We made trips using materials such as drawing paper, pen, slippers, and tape while remembering what we noticed by blindfolding.
There are many tools and materials in the studio. In addition to the prepared materials, we tried to combine them with the materials.

We considered where it is best to put the trips.
The weather was very good, so arranged them in a long corridor outside.

A hot spring where we can enjoy various tactile sensations, a country above the clouds with a rainbow, trains, and there was a floating yacht in the sea with a sound of wave.
We went around like a tour, participants guided the journey, one after the other.

On the 2nd day.
We tried blindly walking in the studio as in the first day.
The participants on the previous day and those on the first day of the day blindfold and went around the table and returned to their original seats. Walking while following the position of a table or chair is quite difficult.

 We imagined a waterfall that thaws water flowing from the roof, or blindfolded and walked on the outside snow, we imagined a sandy beach from the crisp feeling we felt with feet.
By replacing something we usually see with another one, we may be able to create a different place. On the second day, we challenged to change things around us to something different.

It is important to observe the surroundings, find various materials and try them out on a invisible journey. With the staff and their parents, we tried out the materials and methods we usually do not use and enjoyed creation.

Trains and stations needed for the journey, a post where letters are delivered to cats, a shrine where you can make a fortune, and a banner for the festival was set up at the material store.

Because it was hard to walk when I blindfolded, a drawbridge was set to the step in the door.

The kaleidoscope painted in a beautiful color made it possible to change the surrounding landscape just by looking over it without moving it.

It seems that we were able to concentrate on production from free ideas to realization.

With imagining in mind, it was two days to create a different place, “journey”.

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In the beginning of March, we held a printing workshop “Aquatint’s aesthetics of tones and harmony”.

The instructors are URUSHIDO Mieko, who expresses delicate lines and shapes with the technique of corroded copperplate printing, and HASHIMOTO Naotsugu, who produces a copperplate print made by drypoint technique using aluminum plates and exhibits both within and outside Japan.

 On the first day of the two-day course, we corroded the copper plate.
First of all, Urushido explained about the production method and that there are different techniques for expressing the lines and faces of the etching copper plate.

She explained a technique called etching using a line drawn with a needle etc. and a technique called aquatint to express the surface using powder of resin.
By applying a preservative called ground to portions that are not to be corroded and repeating soaking in a corrosive liquid, the intensity of the lines and the color gradation of the surface are represented.
As the corrosion time is long and deep, printed lines will be strong, and the surface color will be printed dark. 

The participants were asked beforehand to draw a sketch on the theme of a fictional calendar.
The calendar contains pictures and numbers representing the season, and letters indicating the month and day of the week.
Based on seasons with feelings and their birth month, they were interesting drawings with free ideas combining figures and letters.

In the etching process, coat an anti-corrosion agent called ground on the surface of the copper plate and dried, transfer the sketch, and trace it by the needle.

After drawing a line to remove the ground with the needle, soak in corrosive liquid.
Furthermore, leaving the part that strengthens the line, repeating the gradual application of ground and corrosion brings out the strength of the line.

In Aquatint, after winding up the powder of resin in a box and spreading it evenly on a copper plate, heat is applied to fix the powder. Then, like the etching, adjust the application of the ground and the corrosion to make the gradation.

This time, etching was applied for 10 minutes and etching was applied for 20 seconds.

During productions, a special cafe by the staff became a place of relaxation.

The second day we did printing.
After setting the plate mark, put the plate on the electric warmer and put the ink on it so that the ink does not harden.
Wipe off the ink and print with paper dampened with water.

In the copperplate printing studio, there is a large press that is said to be the largest in Japan.Professional techniques such as preparation of paper, adjustment of pressure of press, condition of printing, etc. are essential to use this press.
This time, we were able to print using this press under the guidance of Hashimoto, who had been involved in the copper printing workshop when the press was installed.

In an attempt to create a large calendar representing fictional years by printing each edition all at once.

We decided layout on a plastic sheet of the same size as the paper, marked it, laid it on the bed plate of the press, and arranged the ink-filled plates in each.

A few people slowly put paper and felt in order, and move the electric roller while watching the state of the felt.
We changed the condition of the ink and the arrangement of the plates, and printed two prints of about 2 m width.

At last, we had a review session.
Although it was a difficult theme, it seemed that the individuality was greatly expressed by each way of understanding. Even though the first techniques of corrosion and printing did not go as expected, some participants found the casual image interesting.

Line drawing, fixing of resin, corrosion, ink filling, wiping off, condition of paper, printing.
We may have been able to experience the attractiveness and profundity of making different drawings with many elements.

Some participants continued printing after the course was over.
It seemed that they were able to concentrate on production while having fun!
Thankful to the two instructors who gave us guidance kindly until the end.

Prints will be displayed in the corridor next to the copperplate print studio.
They can be also seen from the window.

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In February and March, we held a winter art course which includes 3 courses.

In the workshop “People See People” by artist SEKIGAWA Kohei, participants spent the time without knowing who they were around them in a room.
Participants who came to different times and places were given an instant camera “Utsurun-desu” one by one from Sekigawa, two rules were explained －taking photos with people, and not talking to other participants, then gathered in a room. Without knowing who each other is, spend one and a half hours in the room according to the rules.

For example, in a train, strangers don’t talk to each other at the same time and for the same time, but usually there is no situation people who meet for the first time watch each other without greetings and take or being taken pictures.
Here, we experienced incompatibility by making extraordinary situation.

The images are pictures taken by the participants by instant cameras.
When Sekigawa played music and changed the atmosphere, the participants also started to move and adjust the lights, etc.

The space seemed to be watching people in theater or stage. Or It seemed we were in a situation the actors and the viewers were intermingled. We couldn’t recognize who was on the side to see and who was on the side to be seen.

In the afternoon, after the lecture of Sekigawa’s art work,
the participants did not talk about who each other was yet, and did objectively look at the situation where several people are talking from the other side.

Even though we didn’t know who each other were, while we were talking, we were able to see the personality of the person and kind of tendency of them.
It is normal to know the person’s name and what he/she does when meet a person first time, but excluding such information, this workshop was an attempt to watch the person just as the title of it, and getting acquainted each other.

We witnessed the current situation where knowledge is biased to verbal information and the question of what one can say who the person is.
In addition, when people lose their names and backgrounds, they also appear to be playing something; conversely, we felt that it was also a matter for the performers to lose their individuality and let the viewer imagine.

On the second day, we saw what people were doing and wrote them in sentences.
This was to find out exploring how to recognize what we were seeing by texting it.

While we felt it was very difficult to write out exactly
what we saw as it was and to instantly write up events that change from one to
the next, we wrote and read repeatedly.
There were concrete or abstract expressions in each participant’s words, differences in where to focus, and various differences in how to grasp time.
In an abstract view, a scene of imagination by the viewer / writer came out, and we were able to see the diversity of combinations of viewpoints and words.

A two-day workshop “People See People”.
Each of the participants could have had an experience that opened up the possibility of expression by recognitions from seeing to the words, and another vision through recognition from the words.

The following is URL of “Shifty Eyes” written by Sekigawa, serialized in the web magazine “Hinagarta”.
https://www.hinagata-mag.com/auther/sekigawa

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We will close during the days below.
January 18(Fri), 19(Sat), 20(Sun)
February 24(Sun), 25(Mon)

Thank you for your cooperation.

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November 4

November 10

November 18

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