"Migi yosh, Hidari yoshi, Mai yosh", Koumi Kougen Museum, 2007

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My father once told me to always have your pencils sharpened in case someone calls so you never keep them waiting.  I sat down at his desk after he passed and in his pencil case were dozens of pencils all sharpened.  How prepared is over prepared, will we die with a bunch of sharpened pencils never to be used?  Could he have spent his last days doing other things than just being prepared.  I wanted to push this idea and to find out what it would be like to make the preparation the goal.  In order to achieve this, I sat for 2 weeks sharpening 6000 pencils to create an installation.  The challenge in this site specific work was to work in harmony with the magnificently designed Tadao Ando Museum as well as the rural rice harvesting culture of Nagano Perfecture.   The work incorporated the indoor and outdoor spaces of the museum.  What I learned was the beauty of the repetition could be found in simple jester of sharpening a pencil.  (All images expand for full frame photos)