Megumi Fukuda

Each Day Begins with the Sunrising and Ends with the Sunsetting

In 2006 I started working with objects I found—mostly items left in the streets—in Berlin, where I live. These pieces of old furniture, appliances, and other discarded products of everyday human consumption, began to paint a picture about the lives of their previous owners. Through this connection I could examine the cycle of human life through lost belongings, revealing relationships, traditions, cultures, and the histories of different people and places. My idea was to breathe life into these objects to reveal these stories for all to see and hear.

I worked largely with two groups of these items: electronic appliances, and non-electronic objects. These repaired electronics, such as lamps, mixers, fans, and more, could be brought back to life with an energy source. For the humanlike quality of rising with sun and setting with the sunset, these appliances were connected to solar energy panels. A radio, for example, attached to a chair, would wake up with the sun and chatter away until dark. The non-electronic pieces required human energy and contact to come alive- these items were molded into different instruments across the set, and their sound was heard through the movements of a dancer that interacted with the installation. The result is a piece that changes with the weather, sings a mechanical chorus, and tells stories about a larger picture through individual memories brought to life from these objects. The space becomes an all encompassing experience, stimulating a feeling of connectedness while also addressing the question and limits of human and electric energy sources.