A kind of beggining

"De-installation is an opportunity to find hints and clues for the next work." This is the advice from the artist who had a temporal studio at youkobo 2 years ago when I had a studio residency there. I hesitated to be more playful in regards to presenting the relational dynamism of works by 4 artists. "Installation process could put artists pressure to complete exhibition, but de-installation could make artists relaxed." He told me when he made a visit to the project with my favorite summer fruits. I appreciate the encouraging supports and dialogues which Youkobo receives from art communities in Tokyo and beyond. During the de-install, I played to have more frank conversation with each component of works in the space.

      

Last Day to Open

On the last day, I had two pairs of visitors whose places I usually visit to. It was an interesting and honorable experience to be in the opposite position. In discussion of working in a gallery space where the staff members are expected to welcome visitors, it teaches me when I see how people in other businesses welcome visitors. And those people who I welcomed today has an excellent attitude to their visitors in different ways.

Gu-no-Ne is a shop near my parents, Sakurajousui which is the area where I grew up. The shop sells mostly hand-made or selected products with a working studio space at the back. They only open once or twice a week, but you can view what's inside from the front which is all glass window. It was really exciting to find such a creative and interesting space in the neighborhood where there are hardly any contemporary products or art you can find. The two young creators who run the shop seemed to very much valuing the joyful moment in a day, with the belief that creativity grows from the beauty of day-to-day living. Last year when I was living there I walked pass the street in rush all the time due to the business. I wished to have an opportunity to share my creativity with them. So it was very happy to welcome my project which was slowly constructed day by day.

Hirodi is a restaurant in Ginza, where I worked a couple of years ago to support my first studio residency at Youkobo. I used to rely on hospitality industry to support my income like many artists, of course tough but it gave me a chance to contact closely with culture and people of particular localities. With Hidori, it was like in the crossing of high-end Japanese modernity and contemporary western culture. Being near Imperial Hotel and offices of white-color people, I imagined that some of them might be the clients for commercial galleries in Ginza. Even now, I cannot count the number of zero properly on their price lists but I learned human needs to appreciate something special, different from what's in the everyday. Hidori sincerely offers people dreams to eat.

Coming back to the question of what youkobo gallery can offer, I start to think, each artist who use the space will decide, direct and enjoy the encounter with visitors. What is important is really to spend time with the place and its specificity as much as exploring their own works. Once artists decide to show their works, it is decision also to present works for communication. How to communicate with viewers are up-to artists but it is fun to be original about the regards, as people do offer so many insight to artists like how it was across the 5 weeks for the project.

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.

Gazes and Voices 5

There was an opening party up-stairs, for Austrian artists who returned to Youkobo after 10 years of their first residency. Youkobo residency's beauty is, I think, about being in residential neighborhood. The idea of living everyday partly came from its locational specificity and its philosophy of being a place for artist's residing. I very much enjoy when the local residence visit youkobo as if art is a part of their everyday. Tonight, the two frequent visitors (sometime voluntary work for us) came in with their friend. Their professions are design and cultural policy, and hearing their thinking and feeling towards art are inspiring. It seem that art is wanted by people more or less....

Gazes and Voices 3

 

 

Sunday afternoon, people came on the bicycle, by car, by bus and by walk. Questions were asked about the project, title, status of exhibition, concept of the project and so on. Different artists, different art viewers interpreted the project in various ways and expressed their feelings and expectations.

Discussions arised mostly in relation to the meaning of the word, 'exhibition' and 'work in progress', and 'studio practice'. It was questions, how to convey the sense of progress in an exhibition format which implies somewhat finalized work of art? Then another thought came into my mind. Has the concept of this particular project actually never end to be 'completed' work of art? The basic idea of accumulating an everyday making and process should be carried over as long as you live your life everyday?

The graphic designer, who was visiting youkobo for another meeting, said that he also tends to keep working on and on. If there is no such thing called 'deadline', he would not stop. Deadline is like an architecture, structure which decide the duration of time you are inside. Maybe an exhibition is a deadline for artists, to structure their times to make and show works. In the case of the project, I think we might have not needed to have an exhibition, as the core concept, 'making works everyday' would not have an end. Or, the exhibition is not about showing finished artwork, but presenting the status of artwork being produced everyday. It is bit like a live performance piece. Audiences witness the moment of artwork being generated.

Akira Mori who did a project early this year at youkobo came in with his collaboration partner. He also makes a work in combination with concept, object and performance. I was thinking maybe the aspect of work-in-progress has a performative element to the whole project. Artworks moves across continents and across days&weeks. Visitors to the project also shift and change the project slightly, as often their observations and feed-backs give a new perspective to the project.

It was great to see Akira enjoying the various art languages in the gallery. Thea's postcard piece which resonates with her video postcard and Gaku's weekly Manga stays on-line to be downloaded. They point out clearly the relationship between physically being there and not. It was also Mori's project's 'All day 23 wards' theme where things happened outside of gallery and gallery became a container for the conceptual drawing and.

       

Kind support, family and mentor

Before the idea for the project was shaped, I had shared a dialogue with Elizabeth. I was very much struggling, how to balance my life, job and making of art. She wrote, me how she tries to connect those, to reflect them onto each other.

I was very grateful to have my family and the mentor into the space for the work-in-progress. They kindly supported the last stage of building up the projects. It was literally the moment when life, job and art became one, procssed into living everyday.

Reading Night #2

The second night of reading 'Makura no Soushi' was held also at lovely early summer evening.

The wind and people came through the gallery space, whose entrance were screened with NOREN, fabricated with Elizabeth Text piece printed at KURIYA Graphic earlier this week.

We had many visitors: a translator and musician who shared thoughts on translation between languages, different cultures and various forms of art; the local theater people, residency artists, neighbor school kids, youkobo staff members, friends, family and so on. Thea also joined from Berlin through skype!

At the end of night, Elizabeth requested participants to read their own poetry by referring to the sub-theme which Seishonagon used. 'Things that is disillusioning."

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who joined the night and shared their stories from and observations on their everyday living.

              

 

 

          

Translation matters

Elizabeth and I worked on the materials for Reading Night on Tuesday.

Kuriya Graphic, a silk screen workshop since 80s, in Mitaka, the neighbour city of Zempukuji, is supporting us creative Text on Fabric, written by Elizabeth and translated by Utako. The director of Kuriya Graphic worked for making a lecture poster for French Institute for 20 years. He has even a record of Derrida giving lecture on languages. As a sculpture who pays attention to any detail in the world, including a warm on the street, what will she translate from everyday ordinary to extraordinary... from language to object. Only I could do might be weaving my little thoughts as I translate languages.

 

Works in progress: Week 1

Thea's work (post card sent from Berling to Youkobo. Video work filmed at Berline to be shared through Drop Box with Utako). The time lag and the intervention of someone's time in distant are merged in the gallery. Let me now the special thanks to my partner who fixed the problems with playing the movie at Digital Photo Frame.

    

Elizabeth has sent me her own text inspired by Seishonagon's Pillow Book. She sends a photo associated with her text via email. She will also bring her sculptural piece into the work. She will have Night Reading at Youkobo this Friday and Saturday. 

Gaku up-loaded her Art Manga at her website. She also give a receiver the instruction how to construct her Mange into a sculpture. While she keeps working on her weekly Art Manga in New York, I will work on figuring out it this Wednesday. it is like a separate gift appended to a cartoon magazine which I used to buy every month in my youth :)

  Utako records what is happening in and outside of her studio. Drawing trace the shadow of her corrected nature inside associated with someone she knows while the photo captures the movement of nature with which someone unknown interact without conscious.

A clear day in rainy season

On Sunday morning, I traveled to Oyama City, to see an exhibition Cantos Familia by Jun Itoi at Kurumaya Museum of Art. I was wonderful indeed for both work wise and exhibition wise. As a city museum, which has a mission in may ways, to present art for citizens while engaging the context of contemporary art. The museum curator, I work with last year for my project which was hosted by the museum, considers and experiments as much she can at any situations for the museum, and beyond. (it is shame that I don;t have a picture with me here, I was too focused to see things there... but probably it is really good for people to actually visit there. The show ended already, but her next curated show will start in September.)

The visit was a great reminder for myself that there are people in the art world who challenge everyday what they can contribute to art, by re-evaulating things and rethinking approaches constantly. They are indeed always in the process.

The owner of the land where the museum is located love flowers. She gave me her favourite seasonal flowers. The bunch made a sweet link between where I traveled in the morning and where I returned in the afternoon, where I had other travellers visiting Youkobo.

My friend curator from Melbourne is now traveling Japan with her daughter. We were once belong to a group of researchers who related a scholar at Melbourne University. She pays wonderful attention to the process which an artist takes to get some achievement or finalised artwork, in considering the social and artistic contexts where the artist was/is. Now that she has moved on, from being national museum curator to an freelance curator, her focus is now creating pathway for artists to archive their processes to the level or public cultural heritage (if I can express in this way)

I wonder how she saws the process in the gallery and also the support which youkobo provides for artists to spend hours in studio.

Her daughter, who gave an kind and caring company to her visiting my work, is in early 20s, has very long way to process her life.

Just before they were off to the next destination, coincidentally they paused in front of the wall paint done by school kids at 'momoshi' elementary school next door. 

At any stage of our life, you can always find the dream toward which we live a life as a journey, everyday there will be a new encounter, I hope to think so.

Visitors who knows about the important

I was hesitating and struggling at the gallery, being nervous about up coming opening days. This March, I completed a big project. It was nearly too huge to keep my sense of being an artist, and what is meant to be having artwork in the public (meaning put art out in the world to be seen, be participated etc). 

So this project was a new beginning of my journey and to find out my own relationship to art, at the youkobo gallery which intends to let artists to experiment. I invited other three artists to share questions, thoughts and actions in each way.

but I was still hesitating to take an action, because I was feeling pressure and hasting to reach the final and resulted answer, about HOW TO DISPLAY or INSTALL or PRESENT artwork in the gallery context. I must had known (and I repeated in my head hundreds times) that Youkobo meaning You=Play (in japanese) , you and workshop. So you are allowed to play. what does it mean by play, though?

My very old and lovely friends visited Youkobo on Thursday night. We used to study at VCA (Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne) in mid 2000s. I asked them for help, what will you do if you were me. I know it is immature to ask, but. 

She looked very much taking the situation serious (she was and is still present same expression when she hears my problems.. she put all her concentration into her eyes. very beautiful), "Utako, often people go through depression after competing big job. Even, Virginia Wolf does. So that is natural to question. About play, well, when children plays, they do have a vision what they want to achieve, not purposeless, in fact. say, building large construction with LEGO or gorgeous tower. what is your purpose?"

I replies... "that is the issue. I have nearly lost the purpose of doing art against art world. I love to recover or reinvent it."

He clarifies, "The theme is everyday. So the process is the key word, isn't it? You process things. You show it. that is it."

She continues, "Utako, you can trust and just follow your guts feeling!".

How simple and correct their suggestions were, but they indeed clicked something in my head and soul.

It was such a gift that they visited me on this timing. First time in 5 years that we gathered together.

Later I took them out to Kichijouji, a nearest large town of Youkobo, and had a nice meal and drink at , so called, Harmonica Street. It was happy and sad, as I knew that I wont' see them together again on the next day. We are no longer students who go to same college everyday. But I felt too that we will stay same tomorrow. She will research and investigate methods for making things in Singapore, and for herself and for others, including her family and students, to share what you can do with art. He will keep searching for his own aesthetic as a Japanese who but has lived outside of Japan for long time.

Moreover, I will love them everyday.