Dialogue - Masami Tokuda [Part 1] -

"I like broken things more than things I break," he says, and from his studio the view is of his old Renault car, which he used to drive.

He usually listens to music while working. "There are certain ranges of sound that can only be heard with analog," he says, so he records the music he plays on a record player onto a cassette tape and listens to it on a radio cassette player.

Rather than putting the shape you want to create into words, draw a diagram.

High skies. Deep seas. Seeking a deep blue that is not darkness, I went surfing in the sea close to my studio.

Feel with your heart, not with your head

Our world is constantly connected to the Internet and overflowing with things.

In an environment where you can get anything you want, anytime, anywhere, you buy something because you don't have enough. You add something because you're lacking something.

In a world where this is taken for granted, Tokuda says, "As long as we seek wealth in material things, we will never be satisfied."

What is important in the manufacturing process is to feel with your heart, not with your head.

Playing the guitar, surfing, and practicing the tea ceremony are all activities that help hone my ability to sense things.

Think about what you feel

In the past, when you didn't understand something, or something that should have been there wasn't, you would naturally try to fill in the gaps with your imagination. What you filled in the gaps with was different for each person.

"I think it's a waste to research things before you feel about them. I feel that if you get used to thinking about them using only words, you stop feeling. The power that makes humans feel happy isn't the mass of an object, but how much it resonates with their heart. I imagine that people in the past had the ability to sense the small things around them in their daily lives, and that small things were enough to make them feel happy."
"I also Google things," says Tokuda, who, after a serious talk, ends with a bit of joking laughter. The important thing is to believe in what you feel. So that you don't forget a very simple thing.

Even if I can't explain it in words

Although the appearance is almost like ceramic, when you pick it up you will be surprised at how light it is because it is made of wood. Wood is a material that changes significantly over time, such as the color darkening and the corners becoming rounded. "The more you use wood, the more beautiful it becomes." Therefore, one of the great attractions of wood is that it can be used for a long time with proper care.
"The things that I feel are truly beautiful are always a little deeper than we realize. And they're always broken somewhere."

Some of the wood used in Tokuda's works has rot and spalted marks (black streaks created by bacteria after a tree falls). The dense annual rings, knots and rot are the evidence of the past time the tree has lived through.

"What's important is an innocent heart that can feel something from the form itself, and while the history of a form should be considered, it is not a subject for evaluation; it should be felt rather than thought. I believe that objects have that power."

The "Masami Tokuda Exhibition" will be held from Saturday, June 19th.

A collection of wooden vessels, accessories and other works created by Tokuda will be on display.

When you pick up a piece of art, what do you feel and imagine?