SICF のインタビューの様子が掲載されました。
作品について、制作活動のきっかけ、今後の活動や十和田での滞在制作などについてお話しさせて頂きました。
http://www.sicf.jp/interview/vol5.html
My interview conducted by a member of the staff for SICF (Spiral Independent Creators Festival, an art festival, for which the public is invited to send in entries, planned and held by Spiral, a cultural complex in Aoyama, Tokyo) has been published. In the interview, I was given an opportunity to talk about my works, the motive of my creation, and activities I'm going to do in the future. I also described how I produced works in Towada while staying there, and so on. On the Website, information is provided only in Japanese: You can read the article translated into English here.
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Special Interview Vol.5
Ryo Shimizu / Ambiguous Relation Oscillating between Something and the Other
Mr. Ryo Shimizu, who was awarded Spiral Incentive Award at SICF11, gave an installation that overwhelms the audience at the Award Winners Exhibition at SICF12.
We interviewed Mr. Shimizu, who is currently active not only in Japan also in other countries.
About his Work
I produce my work by focusing on our consciousness and force that cause us to divide unconsciously the environment surrounding us into "something" and "the other," such as what is friendly and what is hostile, as well as on the ambiguous and ambivalent relationship that oscillates between the two.
For instance, "CNJPUS TEXT", which was submitted to SICF, is composed of alphabets as "converted characters," which are created through the process of extracting CJK strokes from existing Chinese characters. By spatially exemplifying that process in the form of (English) text written in CNJPUS and scattered CJK strokes, it is intended to represent the unique character of Japanese, who have immediately adapted what they adopted from the external world to their own environment since ancient times by imitating and experiencing it.
The CNJPUS TEXT / Photo : Ryo Shimizu (Scenes of the exhibition at Towada Art Center)
In the early period of this work (2009), factually existing texts including cipher text or statements during World War II were used as text written in CNJPUS. In the recent work, I've written a fable of a kind of parallel world constructed from my own memory and dream scenes, actual accidents and social phenomena, my conversations with people living in a town where a given exhibition is held, and traditional events of that town.
Left: the CNJPUS TEXT on the Wall / Photo : Ryo Shimizu
Right: the CNJPUS TEXT (CJK strokes scattered on the floor) / Photo : Ryo Shimizu
(Both are scenes of the exhibition at Towada Art Center.)
Recently I have been working on the "subtitle", a video work with subtitles in CNJPUS depicting my interview with people living in various cities in Japan and abroad which I have visited about characteristics and customs of those cities. Subtitles, which are indispensable to movies and TV shows, both overcome a language barrier and indicate the existence of a decisive boundary. Subtitles in CNJPUS reveals such a boundary in a humorous manner. In the interview I asked interviewees to talk about the city they live in without indicating its name, that is, in the absence of the subject. By exhibiting both the video and subtitles, I have attempted to rethink the place we are at "now" by making the relation vague between the venue of exhibition and locales described in the video.
Left) the Subtitle and the CNJPUS TEXT / Photo : Ryo Shimizu (Scene at the SICF11 Award Winners Exhibition）
Right) the Subtitle / Photo : Ryo Shimizu (Exhibition Scene at Towada Art Center)
How He Started Artistic Production
I had an interest in the structure and background of a culture and studied architecture and urban design when I was a student. After graduating from my university, I was in charge of branding and art directing as I worked in the field of architecture and interior design. As I worked with a variety of people running companies, hospitals, and stores, I necessarily came to think about the role and possibility of art in the society as well as art literacy. I started to materialize my thinking by producing my work.
I think the repetition of such experience and practice is related to the "ambiguous and ambivalent relationship that oscillates between something and the other" that I mentioned at the outset. While making trials and errors in identifying my work with the context of art, I always have a question at the back of my mind: can art act on the imagination of an individual to provide a moment to think about how an individual can live as an individual?
The special exhibition which was held at Towada Art Center and places along the main shopping street of Towada from January to February this year was indeed an attempt to embody the repetition of experience and practice. This exhibition displayed my work and selected works on the topic of people living in Towada submitted by the public in the special exhibition room of the art center and along Towada's main shopping street. I stayed in Towada for about a month to produce my work and played the role of bridging the art center and people in the town through a workshop and other events.
Left) 31 pieces of work created in the workshop on drawing Shimizu's portrait (during Shimizu's stay in Towada) / Photo : Ryo Shimizu
Right) 31 pieces of work finalized after open production (during Shimizu's stay in Towada) / Photo : Ryo Shimizu
«I who want to be Towadabito Portrayed by 31 Towadabitos or I as of January 30, 2011»
... Shimizu's portrait made by equally dissecting each of 31 pieces of work produced at the workshop on drawing his portrait and exchanging their parts with each other
About his Future Activities
There are several exhibitions scheduled, including those under planning, and I am producing new pieces of work and polishing existing pieces of my work for those exhibitions. I also have more opportunities to be interviewed by the media from various countries, which provide me with good opportunities to reflect on myself again. I would like to have more experience in various places in Japan and abroad to move into next stage.
The world surrounding us is beginning to change drastically to step into the age in which it is questioned how an individual who does not depend on the nation, company, or organization he/she belongs to should be. This is precisely the reason why we are in such a period that the way art should be and the importance of art literacy are questioned and that one should think about what one can do in one's own way. Since I am an artist, however, I will not be able to survive unless my work has power. I would like to proceed step by step without being rash and by facing squarely with what confronts me.
Lastly, one more thing.
A book will soon be published which looks back on the exhibition and my stay at Towada in winter this year and describes the regional and locational characteristics of Towada, relations between urban and rural areas as well as between a community and an individual, my relation with art, and my future outlook. I sincerely hope that you will take a look at it.
His Profile
Ryo Shimizu
Born in Kagawa Prefecture in 1977.
Participated in the Second Moscow International Biennale for Young Art in 2010.
Presented the Toawdabito: ⇔ Ryo Shimizu at the "Anonymous Coward Exhibition: Art Museum in Town" held in Towada Art Center and various places along Towada's main shopping street in January, 2011.
Homepage Address
http://ryoshimizu.jp/
2010 / Selected Work in the Two-dimensional Category at Tokyo Wonderwall 2010
2010 / Spiral Incentive Award at SICF11
2010 / Jury Recommend Still Image Work in the Art Category at the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival
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