p.s.

I would like to express my appreciation to those who participated, supported, joined, dropped by and enjoyed the project.
I hope that the spirit of 'living everyday by art' will continue to last within each of us.

Another layer for another Dimention

   

On the second last day of the project, there was a relatively big change in the content. The collaboration between the local silkscreen workshop, CLEAR GRAPHIC, and myself finally came into the shape.
Mr. Matsumura, the director of the workshop, pushed the project further to present the visual dialogue between each artist's works. It was organically developed, found and extracted, and linked poetically by my translation and mediation. This was only possible because of the length of 5 weeks' progress, and the encouragement by Mr. Matsumra.
He kindly shared his skill and interest. He says, "as a printer, I found most interesting when I understand the intention and essence of work, and I can emphasis the concept and let it stay firmly as a print work." Through his network, he printed works by various ways of printing and kinds of papers.

   

(top lef: Gaku, silkscreen print on cut out yellow paper / top right: Thea, digital print of a still image from her video work on paper & silkscreen print on film / bottom left: Elizabeth, laser print on tracing paper /bottom right: Utako, edited b&w image digital printed & colored area silk screened)

Skype Artists Talk & Closing Party

Quite a few people gathered for the artist talks and the closing party. Firstly let me express my appreciation for those who made their way to the physical space, the gallery, which got very hot! due to the weather against the floor cooling system, and the energy which people brought into. The artists joined the talks through skype, Thea from 11am Berlin, Elizabeth from 8pm Melbourne and Gaku from 6am New York. Thank you for the artists to be part of the night, it was wonderful to have your presence finally in the space, almost! and Also thank Youkobo to let me hold this project and the opportunity to meet and connect people through the project. Here are summery of each artist's talk.

Thea: After leaving university and moving places to live, my continuing art practice became in doubt. But this project allowed me to practice being artist while living my everyday life of having to work for survival. Post card and video postcard were the format i chose for the project in order capture what I see in between time of my everyday routine. I did not too concern about the relationship between what I do with each postcard. It was more important to pay attentions to each association that I made with each motif and encounters.

Elizabeth: Seisho Nagon wrote a lot her visual observation of everyday, and paid attention to human relationships in her writings. What she wrote about ordinary things from everyday have been lasting for long time, over hundreds years, while political history might have faded. That is wonderful.Translation between different cultures, different disciplines are very important as people are less and less facing with others, due to the division and categorization. Artists, who make artworks to communicate, are great translator and communicators, so it is important that artists join a project like this.

Gaku: It was natural to join the project as I have been presenting my artwork on my website daily, while I concern about the format of exhibiting in gallery - the idea lasts since before the Internet era. I gave sculptural shape to the weekly art manga, to be downloaded,  printed cut and construct. I find this process most exciting  so I wanted to people to also experience it. No problem that the outcome will different by each person from how I do. Most important as an artist to me now is the moment when I am making artwork, facing with the making. It is my question now, what I can leave, through those actions. 

Utako: In my work, there are always the question of belonging-ness. After long years of not belonging anywhere firmly, I moved in the place with people that I feel belong to. I took views outside of my studio window repeatedly as if I make my belonging stronger. I also trace the shadow of things inside of room with repetitive drawing movements to register my being in the space by referring to the shadow which does not have an physical existence. Also to visualize and introduce my invisible connections with other artists across the world in the context of youkobo was very important to achieve at this moment.

Outside and Inside of Artist

After my office work at youkobo, I print out, cut and construct Gaku's weekly Art Manga. The dialogue with her was recalled.

Gaku was a residency artist more than 10 years ago at Youkobo. She had moved to NY to have her life there. I felt so lucky to met with her early this year at youkobo when she was making her brief return to Japan. Once you are out of a community that you are used to and was welcomed, you become nothing again. You build from Zero. It is wonderful opportunity to re-evaluate your sense of value, what you think as normal. What is great about her is that her will and commitment in art are so strong that they stay clear in herself, and even get stronger when there are many questions.

Her question to the idea of putting an exhibition in a gallery as an 'normal' way to present artworks, led her to invent another way to communicate with the world through her work. She said, 'I want to focus on making works sincerely. That is most important at the moment. I become interested in the project as it focuses on artist's making works for the sake of making art, and it does value the process of making, not the purpose of making, such as towards an exhibition in the gallery. Utako is not galleryist nor curator. She is an artist, and to question about artists running space, such as Youkobo gallery, that  assist artist making, experiment. That makes valuable for me to be part of.

art in environment: Melbourne and Tokyo

Melbourne (left)
Elizabeth's practicing her Japanese writing in her office at CFI.
The window view from the former Drawing dep. studios.
Thea's work 2009 on outside wall of VCA Studios.

Tokyo (right)

Gallery Info in Japanese: Work in progress is Open to Public.

A street view, outside of Youkobo Studios and Gallery.

Thea's postcards and video-cards are on test display.

One of conceptual aspects of the project, Living Everyday by Art, is to connect everyday working

environments from different sites in the world. It is to propose the idea that whenever you are, artists make things and can put it on display, anywhere is possible really, if you wish for it to be happened. Artist can not only make art but also put it out in the world. Once it is put in the world, it can communicate with others beyond the makers intentions. That is simply wonderful. Attempting creating such an occasion. I am putting the project up in youkobo gallery, everyday, and opening the process every weekend to the public.

Elizabeth in Tokyo!

On Monday, Elizabeth arrived Tokyo early in the morning for the first time in her life to be in Japan! but she fit into Tokyo in a instance and began to organise her one-week of just doing her own work as an artist!

We started dialogue by exchanging what have been happening in our life as people.

Her teaching period in Melbourne has just finished last year for the semester. It seems always precious to secure studio hours for artist who are also educator. 

Anyway for this week, she will live for her own art, for who she is.

 Nishiogikubo Craft Shop and Shinjuku Craft by Gucci

Who We Are, How We Do

Here is our project flyer. It speaks about who we are, how we do.
For more information,
Elizabeth Presa
Thea Rechner

Gaku Tsutaja
Utako Shindo