On the remote island of Teshima in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, internationally acclaimed artist Chiharu Shiota has created a mesmerizing new installation that transforms an abandoned house into a web of memory and connection. Her latest work, "Memory of Lines," opened this spring as part of the prestigious Setouchi Triennale art festival and will reopen on August 1 for the summer edition.

The installation is tucked away in a dilapidated traditional Japanese house in the Ko area, located southeast of Teshima's Ieura port and southwest of the island's famous art museum. Getting there requires a 25-minute ferry ride from the mainland city of Tamano in Okayama Prefecture, followed by a journey across the quiet island where only the occasional car or town bus breaks the peaceful silence.

Despite its remote location, which might limit the number of visitors even by the standards of the lesser-known art islands in the Seto Inland Sea, Shiota remains unfazed by concerns about accessibility. "I don't think it's so important that many people see the work," the Osaka-born, Berlin-based artist explains via email. "Sometimes, when a place is hard to reach, the experience becomes more personal and meaningful for the people that do see it. I believe art doesn't have to be seen by many people to have value. It can live quietly and still touch people in powerful ways."

The artwork itself is a spectacular display of Shiota's signature red-thread sculptures, which have gained global recognition for their striking visual impact and emotional depth. Thick webs of crimson string burst forth throughout several rooms of the seaside house, appearing as if spun by an enormous, zealous spider. The threads are anchored to three old sōmen noodle-making machines, creating a dialogue between the industrial objects and the organic flow of the installation.

The sensory experience extends beyond the visual, as visitors can hear the gentle sounds of ocean waves and the swish of overgrown trees from beyond the house. During one recent visit, barn swallows had taken over the entrance to the property, fastidiously building their nest, adding to the sense that nature is reclaiming this abandoned space alongside Shiota's artistic intervention.

The red threads appear wild and untamed, suggesting that like the surrounding trees and wildlife roosts, the installation continues to grow and evolve even in the absence of human presence. While Shiota works with white and black threads in other pieces—representing purity and the universe respectively—it's her red strings that have become most recognizable in art circles and social media feeds. These crimson threads symbolize bodies, familial relationships, and human connection.

When Shiota attaches her red yarn to used objects, the energy seems to release from the items like blood spurting, creating a visceral and emotional response. "A sense of anxiety pervades the artist's work, and indeed her whole world," she acknowledges. "When I create, I put all of my energy into the work—my feelings, my fears, everything. Depending on how I feel, you can see it in the thread. The lines themselves can appear tangled or calm."

The concept for "Memory of Lines" emerged from Shiota's engagement with the local community. When developing the piece, she posed a thoughtful question to Teshima's inhabitants: "What objects do you no longer need, but still hold a lot of memories, something you wouldn't throw away, but also don't use anymore?" A local woman responded by showing her an old machine she had used for making sōmen noodles—the fine white wheat-based noodles that are a staple of Japanese cuisine. This machine, Shiota notes, had been well known throughout the community.

"I believe we are always connected by invisible lines," the artist explains. "My intention was to link not only the machine and its owner, but also the history of the village and the memories held within this house." This philosophy of invisible connection runs throughout Shiota's work, transforming everyday objects into powerful symbols of human experience and memory.

This marks Shiota's second major installation on Teshima. Her first piece on the island, "Further Memory," was created for the inaugural Setouchi Triennale in 2009. For that ambitious project, she gathered 400 doors, windows, and fusuma (traditional sliding screens) from seven different islands in the Seto Inland Sea, creating an immersive tunnel-like installation.

Although "Further Memory" wasn't originally intended to be permanent, the local community of approximately 900 residents embraced the work so completely that they requested it remain on the island. The installation became a gathering place for communal events and celebrations, including a wedding ceremony in 2016. However, after a decade of weathering and use, the tunnel of interconnected panels became structurally unstable and had to be dismantled for safety reasons.

For this year's Setouchi Triennale, Shiota initially planned to construct something entirely new and larger in scale. However, she encountered unexpected challenges when water was discovered in the soil at her proposed site, making construction difficult. Rather than compromise her vision, she decided to repurpose an existing structure, leading to the creation of "Memory of Lines" in the abandoned house.

While official plans for the installation's future after the triennale closes in November have not yet been finalized, the work represents Shiota's continued exploration of site-specific art. "These site-specific installations allow me to connect directly to the architecture, the light, the history and the feeling of the space," she explains. "I see my works almost like drawings in air; they stretch, connect and interact with the environment around them. That connection is essential."

Shiota's work has achieved remarkable international success, with her large-scale 2019 exhibition at Tokyo's Mori Art Museum traveling to the Grand Palais in Paris last year and scheduled to appear in Turin, Italy this fall. Despite this global reach and the masses of people who experience her installations worldwide, she continues to seek out quieter, more intimate spaces for her artistic practice.

The choice to work in such a remote location on Teshima reflects Shiota's belief that art's value isn't measured solely by the number of people who see it. Instead, she values the depth of connection and meaning that can emerge when viewers encounter her work in contemplative settings, away from the crowds and distractions of major metropolitan museums.

The summer session of the Setouchi Triennale runs throughout August, offering visitors the opportunity to experience "Memory of Lines" alongside dozens of other installations across the art islands of the Seto Inland Sea. The festival will then reopen for its fall session on October 9, providing additional opportunities to witness Shiota's latest exploration of memory, connection, and the invisible threads that bind communities together.

For art enthusiasts willing to make the journey to this remote corner of Japan, "Memory of Lines" offers a unique opportunity to experience one of contemporary art's most compelling voices in an intimate, contemplative setting where the boundaries between art, memory, and place dissolve into something altogether more profound.