Kuchikeru [special edition]

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  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>
  • <tc>Kuchikeru [special edition]</tc>

Bibliographic Details

Title
クチケル［特装版］
Author
L.A.Tomari. / 泊昭雄
Editor
Ema Otobe / 乙部恵磨
Designer
Eriko Ota / 太田江理子
Director
Book Director + Editor +Publisher ／企画＋編集＋発行／櫛田 理
Images
L.A.Tomari. / 泊昭雄
Publisher
FRAGILE BOOKS
Year
2024.2.1
Size
Φ96 × h390mm (Cylinder) / w257 × h364 × 15mm (book)
Weight
860g
Pages
128p (35 images)
Language
Japanese & English / 日本語、英語
Binding
Singer sewn binding, in Paper Cylinder / ミシン綴じ、紙管入り
Edition
Limited Edition of 300 copies / 限定300部（エディション番号付き）
Condition
As New / 新品
ISBN
9784909479020

翻訳: Miles Yebisu ／まいるす・ゑびす、印刷製本: 図書印刷株式会社、協力: BON BOOK／無印良品 MUJI BOOKS、特別協力: 辻 和美／内田鋼一／高橋酒造株式会社

People and things,
The Kuchikeru is beautiful.


This is an artist book by Akio Tomari (L.A.Tomari) , a photographer from Kagoshima, Japan, who only photographs glass subjects. He calls the ongoing decay of glass "Kuchikeru," and the entire book is composed from his unique worldview. The glass objects collected for this book include goldfish bowls, ramune bottles, "glassware" that appeared in the early days of MUJI, and old small bottles that used to hold Jintan. All transparent subjects that could have been discarded in a heartbeat make an appearance. Some of them are hand-me-downs from Kazumi Tsuji and Koichi Uchida, and others were given to us by famous antique and antique store owners such as "Daikichi" in Kyoto, "poubelle" in Nishiogikubo, and " Moro" in Tochigi.

Unheard of for a photo collection, the books are housed in paper cylinders that look like they might contain glass bottles. Inside is a large, plain book with 35 photographs inserted into it. The book is not printed directly on the body. The design of the book is such that the bound bundle of paper acts as a cushioning material for the fragile objects, protecting the glass photographs. The book includes words by Kenji Miyazawa, Sohaku Iwamoto, Torahiko Terada, Muneyoshi Yanagi, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Ken Kaiko, as well as a newly written piece entitled "Monotachi no Tasogare".

The book is a rat-colored book with no printing, and we inserted thin sheets of paper with photographs printed on them one by one by our own hands. Since this was all done by hand, there might be two identical photos in the box. If you are lucky enough to win, please consider yourself lucky. If by any chance there is a photo missing, please let us know immediately.

If you don't have an eye for beauty, these fragile things would have been thrown away long ago, but they are now gently tucked into the cylinders.

This is an artist book by photographer Akio Tomari, who has taken only glass subjects in his unique worldview of "Kuchikeru. The book comes in a paper tube that looks like it might contain a glass bottle, and the large plain book is interspersed with 35 photographs.

-
Editor's Postscript:
It all started around spring, 2023.
I asked him, "Mr. Tomari, would you like to make a book about glass?" He immediately responded, "Yes, let's make a book.

After that, while I was still thinking about what kind of book I wanted to make, I visited many antique shops and asked myself, "Is this way of looking at glass possible? or "The entrance is a little chipped and beautiful," or "I'll try taking some more pictures," and the days began to pass like a personal letter.

The subjects that came in this way were all glassware that had been broken or damaged and could not be used for their original purpose. All of them were selected by Tomari. Although there were some of Kushida's personal belongings mixed in, all of them were of Tomari's liking, and I was deeply impressed by her assertion that "good photographs cannot be taken unless the objects have power.

The design is by Eriko Ota, whom Ms. Tomari has complete trust in. She has been a colleague of Mr. Tomari's since the days when he was working for Takayuki Soeda. At first glance, she may seem soft-spoken, but she has an unbreakable core and is the type of person who gets the job done right. In this case, Mr. Tomari's advice to "be more delinquent," in a way that only the two of them could understand but that seemed to ring true for him, is interspersed with design innovations that slightly stray outside of the square frame.

By the way, the word "Kuchikeru," which is also the title of this book, came out of Mr. Tomari's mouth when we were chatting with him. It was the first time I had heard the word, and when I looked up the meaning and etymology of the word on the spot, I thought it must have been a mispronunciation or a sly Kagoshima dialect word. I asked him if it was correct, and he replied that it was a term he used in the Kansai region when he was just starting out as a stylist. He told me that it is a sign that means "something that is just a little bit lacking.

I found it interesting to look at glass from this perspective of the beauty of imperfection. Although glass is a material that has been used for about 4,000 years, glassware is never left in an imperfect state unless it is an extremely rare item. Even a slightest chip is immediately labeled as a hazardous material, and the glass is either put in the noncombustible trash or put out for recycling on recycling day. We agreed to create a book entirely out of old glass objects, which are so fragile.

The title of the book was decided to be "Kuchikeru," and it was decided to prepare a special edition as well as a regular edition. The exhibition will be held at ATELIER MUJI GINZA Gallery 2 on the 6th floor of MUJI Ginza from February 2 to March 25, 2024, as part of the exhibition "Monotachi no Hisashi (Twilight). Please come and visit us.

FRAGILE BOOKS, a company that takes care of fragile books, has been thinking carefully about how to prepare a book on the theme of "Kuchikeru" (fragile). For the regular edition, we used medical gauze for the cover. I think there is no other book with such a gentle touch. In the special edition, 35 photographs, including those not included in the regular edition, are inserted in the large, plain book. We did not print directly on the book because we wanted to tailor the bound paper bundle (plain book) like a buffer, so we rolled it up and put it in a paper tube that looks like it might contain a glass bottle. It takes a lot of work to make only 300 books, but I hope that people will experience the world of Kuchikeru as if they were gently taking out a fragile object.
$96.00 USD
$96.00 USD