The Pomegranate of Sisyphus

Inspired by her observation that the cavities of ceramics and blown glass objects give them an affinity with the physicality of living bodies, Saijo Akane set about sculpting ceramic forms with organic shapes. Her practice also includes performances where the ceramic forms and the bodies of the performers resonate, attempting to create moments where viewers think about the affinity between their own and other bodies.
During research in Seto for Aichi Triennale 2025, Saijo came across a pomegranate tree that reminded her of the fruits of people’s labor—the prolific production and prosperity that have accumulated in the community—and chose to focus her work on the relationship between labor and physicality that is distinctive to this locality. Seto’s economy grew through mass production and extensive distribution of the pottery produced here, as attested to by Setomono (Seto-ware) becoming a generic term for ceramic ware in Japan. Behind that growth lay the labor of Seto people, working hard day in and day out. To the individual workers, that repetitive work must have seemed absurd, a Sisyphean labor (like the task performed by the mythical Sisyphus, pushing a boulder up a hill over and over, only to have it roll back down again). Nevertheless, the repetitive nature of the work nurtured collective skills and experience, constructing the foundations of monozukuri craftsmanship and manufacturing skills that remain valuable today.
Performers move these ceramic works around, or sometimes stop them in place. This process is repeated from time to time throughout the triennale. In addition to following the history of repetitive labor and collaboration, the performance represents moments in the never-ending activity when people could pause to get their breaths back. The faint marks left on the carpet by moving the works are a reminder of the intimate relationship between labor and nature that plays out in Seto. As vessels that are accepting of human bodies, Saijo’s ceramics join a number of bodies together in ways that cause us to think about the meanings and roles of labor and collaboration.