Keiko Mukaide calls her new installation The Memory Of Place.
"The basic idea came from the memory of this church, " says the Japanese artist, as she oversees the transformation of the interior of York St Mary's, the old church in Coppergate, with a combination of water, glass and light.
And what are her memories of this place? "My first impression was that it was cold and sad and empty, " she recalls.
"Also I had some thoughts about dowsing. I'd learnt dowsing techniques over a number of years in Scotland: it's an energy ley and usually old churches have it.
York Minster has two ley lines crossing, and that's significant because it indicates energy, and the strongest point of the energy is where they built the Minster."
She asked a dowsing expert from Scotland to find the ley line at St Mary's.
"Usually, dowsing experts use an Lshaped metal rod; some people use a hazel branch or a metal weight that they use as a pendulum, " says Keiko, removing her necklace with a ring on it.
She asks the ring to show her where the ley line lies and in what direction it runs, and it duly responds. The answer, as you stand by the entrance, is from right to left, hence the construction of The Memory Of Place, where the flow of the water follows the same direction and leads to a glass edifice at the west end.
"The dowser also found underground streams in this church, and of course people worry about water being found under houses as it's seen as a negative energy.
"So, there I was with this energy line and the sadness of the building, and I began to think about water in Western and Eastern culture, purifying the body and soul, " says Keiko, who was brought up in Tokyo, studied ceramics and glass at the Royal College of Art in London, and now lives in Scotland.
"I went back to my Japanese tradition: there's a ceremony that uses lanterns as a symbol of their ancestors' spirits, and in the middle of summer people gather around a lantern and listen to the river, and we believe that eventually each lantern leaves for heaven."
This set The Memory of Place in motion. "I also noted the beautiful plaques and gravestones on the walls and floors, describing people who had died, and that struck my heart as my father died three years ago, and so my feelings overlapped with those in the church, " Keiko says, She duly created a waterway with a concrete and resin base and pipes that propel jets of water to create the flowing motion.
"All these ideas came together to make a pond that has a slow, calm flow from the east side to the west side, and that's why I invite visitors to the exhibit to start at the east end, where they can pick up a bowl, light a tea light in it, set the bowl on the water and watch its slow movement down stream to the other end, " says Keiko.
At the west end stands the pillar of light, each individual piece of glass 150 centimetres in length and 200 grams in weight, spun like a long piece of candy in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.
"The pillar is a symbol of our memory going to another level, so it acts like a channel, " Keiko says.
"I prefer using natural light, so that's why I'm using rods of glass made in triangular shapes, which I had to order from the Czech Republic a year in advance of the installation being put together. I like triangular shapes as they catch the light better because they're a prism."
This is the third year that York Museums Trust has commissioned a new contemporary artwork for York St Mary's, and The Memory Of Place is the first to capture the sense of journey through life to death.
"I came here on a cold November day, and I thought of how the purpose of this building was worship, but over the years people had stopped coming and the church had lost its purpose, " Keiko says.
"I hope that through this exhibition, people can enjoy a sense of ceremony and participation and remember their loved ones, and so they will bring a new energy into the church and give it purpose again, though it's not a religious installation; it's for everyone."
The Memory Of Place, by Keiko Mukaide, funded by Arts Council England and Scottish Arts Council, York St Mary's, Castlegate, York, from today until October 28. Opening hours: 10am to 4pm daily; admission free.
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