Tomoko Fukui: The Things

When I write instrumental music, I first discover sound colours and techniques that interest me, and then I compose by establishing relationships between them. During this process, I rarely think about extramusical ideas or emotions; instead, I constantly consider the nature and role of sounds and structural tension. This is different in vocal music, where the use of words and their meanings inevitably adds extramusical significance to my work. For this reason, I have used the voice as a source of abstract sound colours. I have avoided employing poetic texts, and I believe it is not necessary for the audience to clearly hear every single word.

 

Although I do not think my Japanese identity influences my composing, I incorporated two Japanese stories into this piece to reflect on the significance of »things.« There is a Japanese belief that deities inhabit all things in the world. This goes beyond animism and naturalism–it is believed that every human creation (both material and immaterial) contains a deity. In a painting from around 1500, an old tool that had been used for many years appears as a tsukumogami (spirit or goblin), a ghost with arms and legs that attacks humans.

 

The word Tsukumo, the title of the first part, means »99.« Tsukumogami also features in the famous Konjaku Monogatari (Tales of Times Now Past) from around 1200. In this story, tools that have been used for 99 years grow limbs and attack people when discarded. However, modern people tend to simply throw things away. For this piece, I used plastic bottles, as they represent one of humanity’s most problematic inventions in history.

 

The second part is titled The Things. Man-made objects can be destroyed by natural disasters and human conflicts. Humans and things… This relationship intrigued me, and I used an instruction manual as the text. Instruction manuals sometimes include absurd statements such as »Do not dry your cat in the microwave« or »Using a hairdryer in the bathtub may cause electrocution.« The slightly ironic text I use also imagines instruction manuals for humans and the Earth. In The Things, the focus is less on the meaning of the words and more on the similarities in pronunciation and accent between them.

Tomoko Fukui