Hello~ 🪱
It has been eight months since I started MIMIZU. Although no one took notice at first, the project has grown to become a favorite among hardcore collectors. So while the HEN incident has slowed down the release of new editions, I would like to tell you the story of how MIMIZU was born as a way to regroup and begin anew.
MIMIZU: In Japanese, the word is written as ミミズ, and it means “earthworms” in English.
Some people assume the pixelated lines represent the earthworms, but this is not my intention. The image is a collection of fibers drawn in multiple layers, and by “a collection of fibers,” I mean flesh. As I explored the idea of flesh, I eventually arrived at an expression I like to call “digital stitch.”
MIMIZU was born as a result of a commissioned project. The central theme of this project was music―not a specific song or composition, but rather the concept and structure of music.
One day, I walked into the food section of a department store to get my mind off things. There were delicious-looking terrines lined up at the storefront: slices of colorful cross-sections that looked like miniature landscapes painted on ores. Was it the vegetables that filled the gaps between pieces of meat, or was it the meat that filled the gaps between vegetables? I don’t remember what I was thinking at the time. Still, I realized then that the terrine represented a slice of music and that it contained the musical structure inside. In other words, that the terrine is the music. So, for example, the length of a terrine is equal to the length of a piece of music, the asparagus is the piano, and the meat pâté is perhaps the vibrations.
Had I continued down this path, I might have ended up making terrines instead of earthworms. A few days later, I came across a dead worm on the side of the road, and the encounter sparked a connection with the terrines in my mind. If I stretched a terrine into a long and narrow form, perhaps it would become an earthworm. If I sliced it, its cross-section might also reveal a colorful landscape. Just as each person contains a hidden universe within themselves, an earthworm might also carry an ancient landscape that stretches infinitely under a brilliant sun. Or maybe we’ll find an endless expanse of outer space dotted with numerous stars. And all of these worlds and elements are pulsating… with music! In other words, MIMIZU is a slice of an earthworm, a window that lets us glimpse into its internal physical structure that reverberates with music.
Music, terrine, earthworms… Several keywords and their interconnection confirmed the work’s legitimacy in my mind and led to the birth of MIMIZU. I call them “earthworms” for the way they appear in the images and animations that make them what they are. And then, there is the MIMIZU project (https://hicetnunc.art/mimizu) that I am currently working on. I have so far selected and created works from hundreds of thousands of generated images. This process makes me feel that my work is similar to that of a photographer. The only post-processing I allow myself is some cropping and slight color adjustments. For me, I want generative art to be an act of quietly watching over the clashing of rules and chaos.
Earthworms arise in large numbers―and the prolific nature of this organism became part of the project at its release. Some collectors might have felt it a nuisance when a new earthworm was released one after another 🙇♂️
I try to avoid using the numbers 5, 7, 9, or 0 in the editions and pricing. I made this decision based on the shape of these numbers. Also, the number 334tez, which I often use for the pricing of single editions, can be read as “mimizu” in my language. The price of the first earthworm I released on HEN was also 334tez.
MIMIZU has garnered some devoted fans, and I was able to continue this project because of their support, so thank you. There are 30 more earthworms left until we reach the 222nd pieces, which will mark the end of the MIMIZU project. Until then, I plan to include some basic red earthworms in my releases. While it looks like we won’t conclude the project before the end of the year, I would like to spend some time and carefully nurture each and every earthworm and deliver them to you.
Thank you for reading thus far.
I also started a simple project called “leftover.” It’s not necessarily limited to MIMIZU, but for now, it has a lot of bits and scraps the earthworms have left behind. I will keep them at 1tez as much as possible. Some of them might be 1/1 offers. I hope you enjoy it.
https://hicetnunc.art/leftover
https://objkt.com/profile/tz1L7ADNWoyq1fjPHo59BifLNEkUb7V3SKrp/created
Ciao!
( Translation: Nuance Translation )
Qubibi
