About "The Sphere of Woods" (CD-ROM):

The impact of seeing the pictures of the North Woods taken by Hidehiro has remained in my mind, long past the first impression: the fallen trees buried in moss, the bunches of trees leaning against each other, the big thickets twining around, the free-wheeling branches developing their arms freshly and sharply, and the various kinds of leaves, scattered in color and shape all over the green moss.

These pictures moved me so much, so deeply. The fierce wildness and the reality of nature struck me. I was impressed with the varied lives of the woods. I became aware what vectors of lives are (how and to where they go forward with their energy), and how the boundary line between life and death (living things and inanimate objects) is ambiguous. I got a sincere feeling for this sphere (the earth) concretely for the first time in my life while I was seeing the landscapes of the woods. Therefore, I thought I would want other people to see and feel these varied scenes of lives in the woods.

The reason why I chose the form of a photo-movie (not individual pictures) is that I would like to convey through it a way of showing a whole: one universe of the woods, not pieces.

I would be profoundly glad if you enjoyed this work along with Aeron Bergman's sound remixed with the environmental sounds recorded by the author Hidehiro in the North Woods.

Kazue Daikoku, Web Press Happa-no-Kofu



* You can see the samples.
sample movie A (10 pictures with sound/6.9MB)
sample movie B (7 pictures/1.9MB)


Hidehiro Otake:
Photographer, born in 1975. He visits frequently the North Woods in Minnesota from 1999, and lives and takes photographs there. During the time, he makes friends with Jim Brandenburg who is a nature photographer and Will Steger who is a polar explorer. He returned to Tokyo in April 2002 and he is presenting his works there.
his website: Hidehiro Otake Photography

Aeron Bergman:
He is the co-founder of Lucky Kitchen together with Alejandra Salinas. They started in New York in 1997 and have released fine electronic works and field recordings in Europe and other countries. He was born in 1971 in Detroit, USA. He currently lives and works with Alejandra in Barcelona, Spain.
k.d.: Remixed Aeron's sounds with the environment sounds of the woods recorded by the author Hidehiro (song sparrows, wind, surf on the lake, footsteps on the trail, etc.).
Readings: Alexis, Juan, Kyoko, Hidehiro, Kazue

Web Press Happa-no-Kofu
Non-profit internet publisher which started in April 2000. We are publishing a lot of works which were collaborated with poets, photographers and artists in USA, Europe and Asia, in bilingual or multilingual. On "Fragments" project they are collecting poems and fragment writings widely, not only the works of professional poets and writers. They also publish paper books called "chapbook" made by using on-demand printing system.

Published in 2004 by Web Press Happa-no-Kofu, Author: Hidehiro Otaka, English translation advice by Marek Lugowski (ASGP/Chicago)

2100JPY ($20.00 / EUR 15,00)