Hammering out a fruitful life

The Kyoto Goldsmith Ren Nakane

金工藝家中根嶺的個人介紹中,放了很多他在日本各地山上拍攝的圖片,白雪藹藹的長野縣白馬岳、雲海裡的山梨縣赤岳、日落時的群馬縣谷川岳⋯⋯就跟他的名字一樣,他熱愛著山嶺、大自然,與動物。他用自己的腳攀上一座座山,用手一敲一打著大自然贈予我們的金屬資源,製作出各種日常器具與裝飾品。在雷射砌割與立體打印如此便利的時代裡,他深信手的一舉一動,在作品上留下的痕跡,會讓人們的生活更為豐盛。

On his biography page, the goldsmith Ren Nakane added many photos of his hiking trips in various Japanese mountains, such as the snow-covered Mount Shirouma in Nagano Prefecture, Yamanashi’s Mount Aka sitting in the cloud, Mount Tanigawa in Gunma Prefecture under the sunset. He has a passion for mountains, nature, and animals. Step by step, he conquers mountain after mountain; and with patience, he hammers on the metal provided by the nature, and turn it into various types of homewares and decorations. In this age where laser-cut and 3D-printing prevail, he still holds a firm belief that handicraft gives products an actual touch which would, in turn, enrich people’s lives.

中根嶺1989年生於滋賀縣,二十歲前便獨自到東京闖蕩,做過各種各樣的兼職,當過舞台佈景製作等。「規模太大了,我比較喜歡製造細小的東西,剛巧之前兼職過的工房在進行招聘,我便應徵當首飾工匠。」那是一個名為ICHI的品牌,以承傳傳統工藝為理念,嘗試將之應用在當代生活用品之上,其中一項是鍛金,以人手敲打的方式製作婚介。初進公司時中根嶺對金工一窺不通,由零學起,數年後他被委派管理鍛金的部門,但他卻開始對前途猶豫,覺得是時候自立門戶了,另一方面,又希望到別的工房學習其他金工藝的技術。

Born in 1989 in Shiga Prefecture, Nakane went to Tokyo alone at the age of 20 and worked different mini-jobs, he once worked with a theatre set production team. “The scale was too massive for me. I am more keen on making small things. Meanwhile, a studio I worked for happened to be looking for a jewelry craftsman, so I just threw in my application.” That studio belongs to a brand called ICHI that aims at sustaining traditional handicrafts by applying the techniques onto modern housewares. The hand-hammered gold wedding ring is one of their works. At the start, Nakane knew nothing about metal work and had to learn everything from scratch. After several years, he was assigned to manage the department of gold-beating. Despite the opportunity he was given, Nakane began to have doubts about his career path and thought it should be time to set up his own business. He was, however, also hoping to further acquire more techniques from other goldsmith studios.

「某天跟居於京都的朋友Kai談起,他說這幢房子空著,看看我要否一起做點甚麼。雖然也感到不安,但是也決心一試。」 中根嶺決心下定了,卻必非一蹴而就。工房地點有著落了,但要將一間人去樓空的房屋,變為集工房、展覽室、Cafe、商店的空間,整整花了他兩年半的時間,因為整個空間,從地板到牆壁、展示架,一磚一瓦,都是他自己舖砌塗抺的。工房完成後,他總算自立門戶了。當年他才只有24歲。

中根嶺與他的伙伴Kai把這空間命名為Polar Sta。Polar Sta位於與金閣寺相距十分鐘路程的小街內,空間的正面是一整面的玻璃窗,每個營業天都能看到中根嶺坐在近正門處,埋首在他小小的工房裡。以往他只製作首飾及婚介,而在自己的工房裡,他開始製作其他生活道具。

“I was chatting with this friend Kai from Kyoto the other day. He said he found a vacant house and wanted to see if we could have some collaboration. Although I was hesitating, I finally decided to give it a try.” Unfortunately, his determination did not reward him with an easy start. It is never a painless work to turn a completely empty house into a space that can accommodate a studio, an exhibition room, a cafe and a shop. He ended up spending two and a half years to finish setting up the space, as he basically did everything himself — from laying down the flooring, painting the wall to setting up the display racks, and even the bricks and tiles. Upon completion, he finally got his own entity. By that time, he was only 24 years old.

Nakane and his partner, Kai, named the space Polar Sta, which is situated in a small alley only ten minutes away from Kinkaku-ji. Walking past the storefront during the work days, you can easily spot Nakane focusing on his work behind the glass window. While he used to make only jewelry and wedding rings, he began to make other homeware and utensils after setting up his studio.

「婚介及首飾都只在特定時間會用,像刀叉、湯匙、燈飾等則與日常生活更貼近。另外,我也嘗試單約為滿足自己興趣的作品。」他在高中時便參加雕塑班,享受自己的雙手雕刻出各種形狀的過程。說要製作自己喜歡的事物,他最先想到的是動物,於是創作了他第一隻小鹿雕塑。用銅片折成的小鹿,折法與用咭紙相近,然而金屬會延展,敲打折曲的過程費盡工夫,幾番嘗試,總算明白了要領。他造的小鹿不長角,角是他撿來的樹枝,不小心拆斷了,又換一根,小鹿就變了個模樣。

中根嶺現時不用銅造動物了,因為太費工夫,定價便太高,他改用黃銅,除了因為質料較易處理外,也喜歡它們隨著歲月變色調的特點。工房之內,掛著他造的鯨魚燈、燕子、北京熊等,他漫無目的的造,從心而發,若人們看了匯心微笑,他便感到快樂。

“Wedding rings and jewelry are only used on special occasions, but objects like cutlery and lamp shades are what’s truly connected to our everyday life. I also try to create works purely for my personal satisfaction.” The first time he joined a sculpture class was back in his high school days. When it comes to sculpturing things he liked, animals instantly came to his mind, and that was how he made his first deer sculpture. Folding copper sheet into a deer shape is rather similar to folding with cardboard. However, unlike paper, metal can expand. Nakane, therefore, spent quite some effort in figuring out the proper way to hammer and bend the copper sheet. The deer he makes does not have antlers; the antlers are simply sticks he randomly collected. Sometimes he would change the broken stick with another one, which gives his deer a different appearance.

Making animals out of copper sheet was a very demanding task. The price was high as a result. Mainly for this reason, Ren Nakane shifted from copper sheet to brass sheet. Nakane likes brass partly because it is easier to handle, and also for how its color changes with age. In his studio hangs a whale lampshade, a swallow, a polar bear and some other creatures. These are all works that he made for no particular reason except for lightening the heart of the viewers.

這次他為OBSCURA製作吊飾特別為動物團隊多加一名成員——企鵝。企鵝、燕子與鯨魚在空中相聚,看來非常可愛。我問他設計意念為何,他腼腆地笑著說:「只是覺得生活在海洋、陸地及天空的動物,能一同飛起來的話,一定會非常快樂。」沒有很高深的意念,快樂便好。

The pendant Nakane exclusively made for OBSCURA brought an additional member — a penguin — to the animal crew. It is a lovely scene seeing a penguin, a swallow and a whale gathering in the air. When asked about the concept behind this design, he looked a little shy, smiled and said, “I simply found it delightful if animals from the sea, on the land and in the sky could all fly together.” Free from any profound thoughts, such happiness is simple and real.

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