bacteria sign (circle) #001 2000

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h450 × w450 × d9mm, photo by Taku Saiki

bacteria sign (circle) (detail) 2000

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h450 × w450 × d9mm

bacteria sign (circle) #004 2000

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h450 × w450 × d9mm, photo by Taku Saiki

bacteria sign (circle) 2000

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, each h450 × w450 × d9mm, installation view at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Ishikawa, Japan), 2009, photo by Kazuo Fukunaga

bacteria sign (circle) 2000

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, each h450 × w450 × d9mm, installation view at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Ishikawa, Japan) , 2009, photo by Kazuo Fukunaga

study #02 2002

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h900 × w900 × d35mm, photo by Ooki Jingu

sign wave  2003

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h606 × w3640 × d35mm, photo by Ooki Jingu

bacteria sign #1 2006

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h1116 × w910 × d35mm

bacteria sign #21 2007

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h1200 × w1200 × d35mm

bacteria sign #31 2008

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h1800 × w1800 × d35mm

bacteria sign #29, #30, #31 2008

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, each h1800 × w1800 × d35mm, installation view at Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya (Tokyo, Japan) , 2008, photo by Ooki Jingu

bacteria sign #32, #33, #34, #35 2008

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, each h1980 × w910 × d35mm

bacteria sign #44 2016

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h600 × w600 × d35mm

bacteria sign #36-#40, #45-#71 2019

earth, dead leaves, acrylic and wooden panel, h550 × w550 × d50mm each, installation view at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan), photo by Kenji Morita

“Bacteria sign” are a series of works created by embedding dry leaves under earth layered on panels that are completed by excavating lines formed with the centre veins of leaves. The final outcome can be presumed as a series of imaginary fossils. This practice intends to discover dormant memories by reconnecting fragments of lines that can be collected in our daily lives and excavate them through archeological procedures.