“Gennama” (2017)
Material: Straw bales of organic rice
Dimensions: 45 x 45 x 80cm x three bales (60kg of rice in each bale)
Gennama in Japanese is slang for hard cash, the original word came from the Edo period, when it referred to money paid in the form of rice (as “the real thing”). This is an installation featuring approx. 180kg of rice, which was the annual salary of a low ranking Samurai during the Edo period in Japan. This rice was produced by the artists on their farm using organic traditional farming methods.