Date 2012.4.21(Sat) 4:00-4:45
Exhibition Title (Period): ‘T/here’
(2012. 4.5 - 4.29)
Exhibitors: Juka Araikawa, Xana Kudrjavc ev-DeMilner, Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees, Krister Olsson
Participants （titles omitted）：
Juka
Araikawa & Krister Olsson, Bart
Benschop & Leontine Lieffering (Youkobo residence artists from the
Netherlands, residence 1), Saran Youkongdee (Youkobo residence artist from
Thailand, residence 2), Teruyo Horie & Yuri Takeda (Japan Foundation),
Tatsuhiko & Hiroko Murata (Youkobo directors), Yuuri Kabata & Utako Shindo
(staff), Masako Shindo (visitor)
Moderator: Utako Shindo
Documentation: Yuuri Kabata, Utako Shindo, Jaime Humphreys
<Explanation on the project by the organizers>
Since
the start of the 2000s until now, a group of artists who had worked actively
together in LA have dispersed to continue their practices in various locations
around the world. Taking this condition as a starting point, they initiated the
Hayama Project and later, taking the observation of location and time as theme,
they initiated the project ‘T/here’. T/here aims to be an exhibition and a
magazine publication, the positioning of the magazine not simply taking the
form of an exhibition catalogue (explanation of the exhibition) but the
creation of texts exploring related ideas to be distributed in places other
than the location of the exhibition (including overseas). In Japan, when
considering the difficulty in searching for non-commercial exhibition spaces
that moreover, are not rental galleries, Youkobo was found to be the ideal
place for this exhibition, the Youkobo mission and structure of the exhibition
having a strong compatibility.
<Explanation of the work by the organizers followed by
Q&A>
‘Flamingos Forever’ by Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees
A non-linear stance can be said to be a particular trait
of the literature of Yvan’s home country Venezeula and the basis for the work. The
refined visual sense of Chicago born Joshua is an equally important component.
The work takes characters from a never-filmed John Waters screenplay and places
them in a new narrative written by Yvan. Using a technique of appropriation, characters
and locations are illustrated using photos of criminals taken by the Miami
Police Department available online and photos of generic hotels. Multiple
stories interweave and split to form multiple possible realities, loosely following
the principals of quantum theory. In this work images of surreal hotel hallways
seemingly upside-down are constantly repeated; ‘possible futures’ are revealed
while giving deep thought to the act of ‘choosing’.
From a
contextual point of view, the work cannot be said to be easily understandable
for a Japanese audience, but it can be appreciated as an object from a visual
perspective. The old projector is suggestive of a camera used in a film shoot,
and the projection onto a wooden board that blocks the window is also a
symbolic gesture.
‘Untitled’
by Xana Kudrjavcev-DeMilner
Xana
makes portraits of moving objects in the form of collages and drawings. Through
her emigration to L.A. from Berlin, dramatic changes occurred in her working
environment. In contrast to Berlin, where it is possible to navigate the city
using public amenities, in moving from one place to another by car on highways
in L.A. you are reminded of your isolation. It may be that the repeated pattern
and the layering of traces of wax-based pencil crayons reflect these
conditions.
The
work of Bart (session participant) in which selected landscapes are
photographed from expressways is different in style, but in the same way reflects
the speed and time processes of contemporary society where the buildings which
are caught while moving appear to resemble one another.
The artist is known for her technique of collage, but in
her drawings there are also structures which evoke movement both in-front and
behind, a form of layering in which her fundamental concepts remain constant.
‘Room 2
(After Dawn of the Dead)’ by Mike Chang
‘Dawn
of the Dead’, a movie critical of consumer society, is the focus of this work.
In the movie, a group of shoppers are trapped in a storage room inside a
shopping mall after being chased by zombies. They begin to recreate the life
they led outside the mall by stacking cardboard boxes to make furniture and
household amenities, ironically creating an alternate version of consumer
society. Mike draws parallels between the protagonists in the movie and
contemporary artists. Can an artist who places himself in his studio, a space isolated
from the real world-- living in an age where the pursuit of idealistic
expression has finished--make work that is relevant to contemporary society? Taiwanese-born
Mike moved to Singapore to continue his activities after completing his MFA at CalArts.
This work was shot in his studio space, which exists like an island in the
middle of the city. The unresolved nature of this work is suggested in the
posture of the main character (the artist himself).
The
artist may also appear to be a castaway. This trend of showing a sense of loss,
of expressionlessness, is something shared by the images captured in this
exhibition, and it may also be said to be an expression particular to the young
artists of LA.
If we
question the role and actions of ‘artist’ as a profession then it may be
interesting to consider the work here in relation to Youkobo’s concept of
providing a residence to artists where they may pursue creative production
while carrying out their daily lives.
'Pump'
by Juka Araikawa
Juka
paints artificial environments, such as indoor beaches. For her, these
landscapes are theatrical spaces or stages to explore the imaginations and
expectations of people. The behaviors of humans in these spaces are like the
movement of a non-turbulent wave, seemingly in eternal repetition.
There
was a comment that the tones in these paintings resemble frescoes, but the
colours in her palette appear more muted, like the colour of artificial skies
or, depending on the viewer, the colour of dreams. With a scale close to actual
size, the work produces a sense of presence.
This
landscape exists on the border of reality and unreality and by employing
painting as a medium the artist is also commenting on the artificial qualities
of painting. For example, there are people who try to realize an imagined
natural space by displaying a painting of the sky in their room. This work
makes us consider the painting not just as image, but also the position of the
painting itself in the real world.
'Easy
Target' by Krister Olsson
Moving from L.A. into a
traditional old house in Yokohama, Krister took notice of the visible dust
which built up within the house. As an act of meditating on the ownership of
time, he decided to gather the dust of the house that built up over the period
of a year. This dust was then placed in a specially made box that reflects the
domestic space. In contrast to this box that stands tall, supported by long
legs like a Shinto altar/shrine, domestic boxes imbued with a sense of
nostalgia are placed on the ground. While being suggestive of the relationship
between exterior and interior, top and bottom, the variations in the way of
perceiving the work differ according to location and environmental conditions. The sculpture is a document of one
year; the act of collecting dust and the time spent in creating the sculpture. The
collecting of dust (produced without human awareness) and displaying it in a
confined structure brings up the issue of control and questions to what extent
environment affects work. Also, the work diminishes the gap between art and
domestic space.
The method of making the box
also speaks to the process of change that is constantly present. What started as a minimal box gradually became a more complex
form, its transformation driven by practical considerations as well as chance.
Editor's comment
After
the session, the theme “reflection of the real world” came to mind. That is,
through physical observation, the speculation of narrative, the stage of an
artificial space, studio space, and sculptural space, each respective artist seems
to be investigating this theme through their own approach, which suggests a consideration
of the position of each work itself in the real world and the meaning of its
existence.
In
addition, the act of “repetition” is explored by all works. Our gaze is
directed from the ambiguous whole down to smaller details, exposing the reality
of the living environments of the respective artists. This supports the
definition of being an artist, of starting out from one’s own daily life as
someone who observes and considers. When artists produce in this way, art is
not the product of a make-believe world but contiguous to the real world.
Youkobo has a mission to support the activities of
artists, but this exhibition can be understood to be an attempt to answer the
question “what is it to be a sincere artist”.
Continuing on from this we must ask the question: to what
extent can those from different cultural backgrounds share, appreciate and
consider these works. And, if this is difficult, what sort of support (if any)
is necessary. The magazine may serve to deepen our understanding of, these
issues.
