Gestures / Clearing
Amid the introspective ease created by a Japanese garden, gestural sounds bespeak a kind of wordless human presence. Aside from the vocal tones and footsteps I am used to listening for in a European public park, these “gestural” sounds I hear at Mii-dera are mostly crafted by hand: the occasional unlocking and opening of a sliding door, the ritual ringing of the temple bell, the careful raking of fallen leaves, and the daily refining of a sand drawing, or the placing of the wooden ladle back on the rim of the chozubashi (“water bowl”) after rinsing one’s mouth and hands in preparation for tea ceremony. Unable to read the full emblematic meaning of these sounds, I focus instead on feeling the subtle movements that they imply. These intimate, bodily impressions enhance the exteriority of the more global ambience arising from the garden’s surroundings—a spatial experience perhaps most comparable to a forest glade.
Mii-Dera, July 2016
Text & Sound: Nadine Schütz
Animation: Matthias Vollmer
