日々満足
Protection Landscape Set into Motion 1300 Years Ago
renewed everyday through 10,000 small acts

created while in residence at BRIDGE STUDIO March 002025
69 Jodōji Banbachō Sakyo-Ku, Kyoto
〒606-8411 京都市左京区浄土寺東田町69

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During our residency with @bridgestudio_kyoto we undertook a walking and slow observation (+ tea) practice. Our intention was to place the human in its more-than-human context. We framed our observations through the city's ancient geomantic design, including the Four Guardian Animals (四神)： 朱雀 Suzaku, the Red Bird of the South, 玄武 Genbu, the Tortoise and Snake of the North, 白虎 Byakko, the White Tiger of the West, and 清龍 Seiryū, the Azure Dragon of the East. We visited related landforms in the city, including Mt. Funaoka and the Kamo River and the five protective shrines: Jōnangū in the South, Kamigamo Jinja in the North, Matsuo Taisha in the West, Yasaka in the East and Heian Jingu in the Center.

We held in mind the concept of 四神相応 Shijinsouou, which is often used to describe Kyoto’s geomantic design: “an ideal topography for the four Taoist gods, with a river in the east, a broad avenue in the west, a basin in the south, and a hill in the north.”

We explored how, for over 1300 years, the city's design, material and visual culture, and simple acts of everyday life connect with the 四神 — and renew the Protection Landscape’s liveliness on a daily basis.

For the open studio exhibition, we offer a series of polaroid images taken during our walks, along with field notes from our ongoing visual and material research-in-progress. We share perspectives on how more-than-human forces (geologic, historic, meteorologic and cosmologic) continue to flow into and as the 1000+ year old city.

image from Kyoto City Archeological Institute, newsletter 140, August 2000 (pdf)

Four Guardian Animals (四神)
朱雀 Suzaku, the Red Bird of the South, landform: Ogura Pond (no longer exists), protective shrine: Jōnangū
玄武 Genbu, the Tortoise and Snake of the North, landform, Mount Funaoka, protective shrine: Kamigamo Jinja
白虎 Byakko, the White Tiger of the West, landform San-indo 山陰道／山陽道, protective shrine: Matsuo Taisha
清龍 Seiryū, the Azure Dragon of the East, landform, Kamo River, protective shrine: Yasaka
Central Protective Shrine: Heian Jingu

FIELD NOTES FROM VISUAL/MATERIAL RESEARCH WALKS

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