Sushi

Sushi is in place of nothing.

I’ll move to the bottom of the page or somewhere thereon... and I have been sharpening a pencil for some ten years now - as it happens the pencil that gets shorter and shorter until it can’t be sharpened is left to float about and finally gets lost.

In the meantime a new length has already gone through the shave numerous times, so over a period of ten years you can imagine how many pencils have got lost, disappeared, left nothing of themselves except a mark on somewhere on something and often too that gets lost or returns to nothing. I end with nothing - yet sometimes something remains. Is it sushi?

Anything or everything is sushi if you strain hard enough - and perhaps too in on the wall there is sushi too. While straining looking for the sushi, hopefully exasperated, and given up - there is a nothing kind of attitude maybe still floating round. And it is with the nothing-floating attitude you can best enjoy. Retain, though, the memory that this is sushi, the title of the exhibition and the work - there is nothing else.

Rina met Saille at the Hachiko exit. Back and forth quick jabs of noise confirmed it time to take sushi as one back turned and the two became lost in the sea at Shibuya’s crossing.(I’m going to tell something about Rina and Saile that not many know - it is not that they are keeping it hidden - it’s not really a secret. Well anyhow you would probably like to know as you have every right to. It’s not personal so don't start getting into moral dilemma - distend them flapping ears - but stay with it as it’s kind of long and if you miss - anything, well, you might misunderstand.)

A rushing violent red quadrilateral screaming ‘peeporpeepor’ pushed between the wave and shore and shocked Rina’s hair into rearranging itself. Automatically Rina swiped at the tangling and brought it back close to where it sat before, then let the shoulder down and her arm dangle.

The sea turned into diverging slow moving rivers. Rina and Saille took a right. Not far down was Masa’s-a dikey keitenn sushi joint with dirt-cheap coffee. They had already each stacked five plates as they sat back to the door eyes darting round ready for the next pull from the merry-go-round. Saille’s elbows were perched on the bench-top and bent over hands one on the other made a perfect chin rest. Rina’s head swished round and back as the tingle of the door started up again. She nudged Saille. They’re gone!

Brent Hallard May 2002