shashasha

“At dusk, small fire sparks drew a soft line on the azure-blue sky, and they were so close they seemed like fireflies. And the flames only sounded during the moments when they were blown by a strong wind, scattering sparks all around. These sparks then disappeared as if they were being drawn into the sky, which was deepening intro a blue-black. Following these with my eyes, I pondered where they lights were going, The color of the sky further deepened, and I strained my eyes carefully to the tiny sparks emerging. They were blown away, stirred up, and put out by the wind.

As I looked at them over and over again, the night fell completely. My skin grew cold, and, at that moment, I gradually recognized a feeling of loss similar to that when I once experienced something very important. There was no signs of fire any more on the road through the rice fields. The wind got colder and colder.

Stars were shining ion the colorless night sky.”

• Murakoshi Toshiya

Published by Libro Arte in collaboration with spooky CoCoon factory, Murakoshi Toshiya’s Burn After Seeing is spooky CoCoon factory’s published version. Included within is an afterward by Murakoshi Toshiya and text by Head priest, Chohoy-in temple, Director of Kurenboh Temple gallery Taniguchi Akiyoshi and Curator of The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo Masuda Rei. All text is available in both Japanese and English.