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.

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.

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

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.

Positioning and Height

Friday night.
During the install... basic positioning are decided.
Top image:From right (Thea, Elizabeth, Gaku, Utako)
Bottom Image: Desk for visitors' note and for something... then things on the wall, and PC on the ground as a information section.
I imagine, everyday, the height of the display will go up....towards 'exhibition' period in July. I still question, the expectation and challenge about how to present artwork in the 'gallery' context... gallery? ground, wall, plinth, ceiling ,installation... without eliminating visitors who might be both not and very well familiar with the experience of being in the gallery.

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.

Am I Lost ?

I have just uploaded the first work of "Old Meets New Figure It Out !" on my site.  Check it out !
http://www.gakutsutaja.com/KOTATSU/OLD/OLD.html

It is so interesting to see what's going on over there through this blog!

Accidents can be fortuitous

On Saturday, after a whole day of working in front of the computer, I decided to take my dinner down to the canal outside our house, so that I could at least enjoy the last bits of sun. My usual seat had been occupied by a sleeping man, so I wandered further down to a quiet grassy spot where I could hang my legs over the water. I unwrapped my salad, and got out a photocopied article which J. sent me recently. It is titled 'Open Eyes', from the last issue of Frieze. How perfect for this project, and my current ideas,  I thought. Wanting to blog about it later and include a nice photo,  I balanced paper on one knee, bowl of salad on the other, fork and phone in one hand, at which point a gust of wind blew the papers and in a mad grab to save them I dropped the phone into the canal. Panicked and without a second thought, I jumped in after it. The camera was still on, showing a watery image of the algae on its screen. It was so beautiful, I wish I could show you a picture.

Now my phone is in a Tupperware container with a packet of rice. (According to the internet, this is what one must do if there is to be any chance of survival. Although, as I watch the screen flickering on and off like a failing heartbeat, I am not so convinced of its chances.) Strangely, though I have contemplated this moment often, I am not as upset as I imagined I would be. In fact, I have a sudden realisation that this might be the answer to my problem - that is, what on earth I am going to make for this project. My camera broke a few months ago, and has been gathering dust ever since. The iPhone was my substitute. Now I have two options left: an old video camera, which I haven't used for ages, and the iSight camera on my laptop. As it would be rather impractical to carry around the computer, I will use the video camera. And of course I will be drawing - the most analogue image recording process of them all!

Not having an iPhone also means I can't consult GPS when I am lost, check the weather from my bed without having to get up to look out the window, or ask Google when I can't remember something. It means (for now, anyway) not having an easy means of communication on the go. Arrangements to meet will have have to be planned ahead and stuck to. Really, it means one less interface between my daily experience of the world. Already this has led to interesting encounters, and changes in habit... Gaku is right - it is important to remember that things are not instant.

Now, I really wanted to write about the essay which was beginning of this whole story, but I am tired and will leave that until next time. Here's a link in the meantime.