Atsuko Mochida
TOKYO/IIDA
Two houses collided. One was sliced open and detached from its foundation, lodged into the living room of the neighboring structure. Titled Collision (or Rupture) (2021), this installation by Atsuko Mochida was shown at the 2021 Northern Alps Art Festival. The scene evokes tensions and conflicts between neighbors, while recalling the earthquakes that have shaken the work’s site in the Hida Mountains, an area known for its frequent tectonic movements.
In Mochida’s works, houses are not meant to last, but expand, transform, and interact with other entities, resonating with the principles of Metabolism, the post-war Japanese architectural movement. Her most well-known project, (2017), utilizes an abandoned sliding doors, the central part of the building rotates. The originally private rooms, blocked from sunlight, are spun into view. By simultaneously evoking conflicting elements—public and private, change and stability, risk and security—Mochida asks audiences to rethink the life of a house and how external and internal forces can reshape and intervene in a space.
