Bear News

2009/installation
Material - Monitor, Wooden figures, Text

I got an idea from a boy encounter incident actually occurred in the State of Oregon, USA. Mikuni Yanaihara wrote a drama based on this incident. This work visualizes the necessity of individuals, the demands of the group, and the distance between them. These wooden bears are a famous souvenir in Hokkaido, Japan. They were made to defend themselves from bears. But they do not bring any meaning to the bear biologically. Likewise they may not bring any episodes to the story. If so, It can be said that the story does not produce anything for the real world. It is a work as an act of just leaving memories there. We make a theatricalization (fiction) of a space with no body, we face the world by presenting a human figure that praised primitive life view.

Text by Mikuni Yanaihara

This news is about one bear...Last night, one bear came and attacked a group of boys in the forest. But he is a friendly and ignorant bear. He had a lot of fruit... Probably he wanted to give them to them. But one boy took .45 Colt made in 1911. And he aimed his gun at the bear and shot...

Bang! ....... Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

But all of the bullets missed it, and the bear was just standing there with a lot of fruit... Because he was a friendly and ignorant bear, and the boy went nearer, about 4.5 cm to the bear, and shot. The bear rolled down the hill. His face contorted with the sadness at the fact that he'd been shot. He was bleeding and died before long.

This is on the news on TV. i wondered why i could feel such pain from hearing the story, and yet not be able to help that bear. If an animal approaches instinctively, human intends to kill it. Because we have to protect ourselves. Especially because bears and tigers are such much bigger, they might bite us. But if human were able to communicate with animals, that boy wouldn't have had to kill that bear.

It's so sad...Ahhhh, so sadddd....The poor bear, the friendly and ignorant bear...with a lot of fruit...It's so sad...

Do you think so that? But nothing we can do, the boy who killed the bear went to the police. He was arrested. But he's still alive today! That was on the news, too. He was crying on TV, and said "i should have been killed".

It's so sad...It's pitiful...tragic.................... ........ .. ..... . .. . .....