Soil Library / Japan ソイル・ライブラリー／JAPAN

These colorful particles packed into small bottles display smooth, gentle gradations. For SOIL LIBRARY-JAPAN, KURITA Koichi collected soil samples from 365 places all over Japan. Part of his attempt to build a “soil library” with samples collected from every city, town, and village in Japan, this set consists of soils collected from 365 sites in all the prefectures. Kurita began to collect soil samples from throughout the country and to create installations in which they are systematically displayed in the early 1990s. This work, which draws attention to the rich variety of colors that soil displays, has been highly praised throughout the world for the clarity with which its minimalist expression conveys both the diversity intrinsic to the natural world and the history and cycles of life tied to specific locations; it is still on continuous display in both Japan and France. To an extent that might be called utter devotion to soil, Kurita has collected soil one handful at a time, then carefully dried and screened it, repeating these actions over and over again. These activities are rooted in the dance-like performances that he carried out early in his career in attempting to express his trust in nature, sustained by the concept of ourselves as part of nature.