Panya Clark Espinal

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, installation view

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, installation view

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, view through doors

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, view through doors

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, interior view

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, interior view

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, detail (ladder)

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, detail (ladder)

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, detail (paint cans)

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999, detail (paint cans)

First Snow, Tokyo, 1999

Site-specific Installation

artificial snow, various objects, installation
40 x 40 feet

A site-specific work for the Canadian Embassy in Tokyo, First Snow, Tokyo was only visible from the interior atrium looking through the gallery window and doors. Viewers gazed into a room that appeared to be frozen in time. A layer of newly fallen (artificial) snow covered the floors and installation equipment — ladders, tools, etc. — as though the forces of nature had suddenly brought everything to a standstill. The stereotypical view of Canada as a snow-covered land is delivered to the bustling city of Tokyo, and inserted as a moment of magical, but inaccessible, possibility.