Curated by Shinji Yamamoto

This project was part of Kyoto Art Walk, an event which presented installations by contemporary artists in old sacred buildings of Kyoto.

The installation is based on experience of the traditional wooden Uguisu-bari, "nightingale floor", in certain parts of Nijo Castle in Kyoto during a visit to the city some years ago. The "nightingale floor" is made with a special timber technique which makes it impossible to walk on the floor without it making quite beautiful squeaking sounds. The idea of the floor surrounding the living and sleeping quarters of the palace was to work as alarm system. No one could enter the space without being heard.

This installation is a modern, simplified version of this kind of floor made to the tatami space of Joju-In of Kiyomizu Temple. Pressure active censor mats are placed underneath some tatami in the space.

Each censor mat is connected to a computer trough specially made control box. The computer is connected to amplifier and speakers. All equipment, speakers and cables are hidden so that there is nothing visible in the space. When someone walks over a tatami which has a censor mat underneath it the computer plays a certain sound file with quite low volume.

The sound files are modified from the live recordings made at original "nightingale floor" of Nijo Castle just some days before the exhibition. In this way the project as a whole connects two historical buildings of Kyoto. Admiring the garden from the tatami space or from the balcony in front of it is a very personal, intimate and sacred situation although it happens in a public space. The idea of this installation is to tell in a subtle way the person meditating and looking at the garden if he or she is sharing the experience with someone else without having to break his or hers attention.