Long blessed with a bustling ceramic industry, Seto City used to be scattered with public bathhouses (sento) that were frequented by pottery workers who would go there after finishing their workday. Former Nihon Kosen was one of those bathhouses. A family operation run by three generations, it served for many years as a place of relaxation for people. Unfortunately, the establishment closed in the spring of 2021.
Sasaki Rui is an artist who has attempted to recall the history and memories of a location by focusing on the plants linked to the environments and lives of the local area. Sasaki has visited Seto numerous times to conduct research, collecting plants of each season together with local residents. The glass enclosing these plants stands solemnly in the bathing area, like a spirit inhabiting people’s memories. The bathhouse was a place where many different people gathered together, and Sasaki has strewn it with the diverse vegetation that can be seen in this pottery town, including plants and trees that flourished in Seto before the ceramic industry began, trees that were cut down to provide fuel for the kilns, plants that, conversely, were protected by the presence of the industry, and plants and trees that have become a familiar part of people’s lives. The artist is also attempting to bring to mind the time that has accumulated in Seto City and Nihon Kosen in multiple ways by making use of the bathhouse space, and using the dead stock from glass company and the glass in shutters and cupboards obtained from traditional Japanese folk houses (kominka) in Seto that were to be torn down.
The glossy, translucent glass placed in a space where the bath used to be full of hot water reminds viewers of water, but it also has an unchanging semi-permanent durability that is clearly not that of water. In this manner, Sasaki is incorporating her aim to retain fading memories and senses.