“Whoa!” I gasped – and then felt a little scared. A room filled wall to wall with red thread. This is Chiharu Shiota’s “Memory of Lines”, which I saw on Teshima at the Setouchi Triennale 2025.
Noodle-Making Machines Woven into Red Thread
The work sits inside an old house in the Kou district of Teshima. Inside are three somen noodle-making machines that were once actually used on the island, woven into the space by a web of red thread. The thread used runs to an astonishing 37 kilometres, apparently.
The machines are things the islanders showed the artist as items that were no longer needed, but too precious to throw away. Wrapped in a red that recalls the colour of blood, the machines sit there in silence. More than beautiful, it still feels just a little frightening to me… and yet I couldn’t look away. Perhaps memory has exactly this kind of texture – something you want to touch, and are a little afraid to touch.
Racing the Ferry Timetable
That day I combined Teshima with a trip to Inujima. Island-hopping in the Seto Inland Sea really does turn into a battle with the ferry timetable. I had hoped to visit Christian Boltanski’s “Les Archives du Coeur” as well, but I ran out of time and had to give it up on this trip… If you are heading out to the islands, check the boat times carefully before you set off (a lesson for myself, of course).
