3・11とアーティスト: 進行形の記録
2012年10月13日[土]～ 2012年12月9日[日]
水戸芸術館
■企画展
時間の推移を体感する展示構成
2011年3月11日、東日本大震災が発生しました。被災地の内外で市民によるさまざまな支援活動が立ち上がっていくなかで、表現を生業としているアーティストたちも行動を起こしました。本展では、震災を受けて現れた27以上に及ぶアーティストのアクションと表現を、2011年3月から今へ向かって時間軸をたどる形で振り返ります。
「アート」という概念の再定義
工夫に富んだヘドロ撤去活動、コミュニティの立て直しを手伝う継続的なプロジェクト、被災地の状況を撮りつづける記録映像・写真、そしてこの災害によって表出した問題をテーマに扱う作品など。そこには、「アーティスト」というアイデンティティをいったん棚上げにして行われた活動、作品として発表することを前提とせずに行われたプロジェクトなども多く含まれます。こうした作家らの姿勢や行動は、近代が築いた「アート」の概念を問い直し、社会におけるアートのあり方をこれまで以上につよく示すことにとなったといえるでしょう。
「小さな状況」への注目
震災後のアーティストのうごきを聴き取るなかで、彼・彼女らの意欲ある活動の裏には、葛藤や迷いがあったことが明らかになりました。また、時が発つごとに、現地の状況にあわせ活動の内容が変化していったものもあります。それらの多様性、複雑な経緯そして展開は、マスメディアには現れにくい震災後のさまざまな小さな状況を浮かび上がらせ、私たちの戸惑いや逡巡を鏡のように映し出します。あれから私たちは何を考えたか。地域社会における個人とは？ 社会のなかの市民とは？ そして、あのときの考えは今……。
記憶を紡ぎ、かんがえる装置としての展覧会
会期中、展覧会をとおして未完了・進行形の作家のうごきを見つめ感じたことを、自分の言葉にして対話していく場、また手を動かし表現していくワークショップなど、子どもから大人までが参加できる多彩なプログラムを設けます。こうしたさまざまな企画がそれぞれの入口となり、私たち一人一人が3.11の個人の記憶を紡ぎ、「あれから」を見つめ「これから」を考えるきっかけとなることを望み、本展を開催します。
▼参加作家
荒井良二、遠藤一郎、開発好明、加藤翼、北澤潤、小森はるか＋瀬尾なつみ、眞田岳彦、高山明（Port B）、タノタイガ、Chim↑Pom、椿昇、照屋勇賢、トーチカ、中島佑太×ビルド・フルーガス、ニシコ、畠山直哉、日比野克彦、藤井光、宮下マキ、村上タカシ（MMIX Lab）、ヤノベケンジ、山川冬樹、wah document
After the Disaster: Progressing Documentation (provisional title)
Art Tower Mito
October 13, 2012, to December 9, 2012
An exhibition configured to allow visitors to experience transitions in time
The Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11, 2011. While citizens organized various activities that offered aid and assistance to victims both inside and from outside the disaster zone, artists who make their livelihood through artistic expression also took action. This exhibition looks back on the actions and artworks produced by 23 artists that emerged as a result of the earthquake, tracing the ways in which their work unfolded between March 2011 and the present in chronological sequence.
Redefining the concept of “art”
The works of these artists include ingenious attempts at sludge removal, ongoing projects that contribute to the rebuilding of communities, documentary videos and photos that continuously record the situation in the disaster-stricken areas, and pieces dealing with problems and issues that emerged as a result of the catastrophe. Many of these encompass activities that were carried out by temporarily shelving one’s identity as an “artist”, as well as projects carried out without the expectation that they would later be exhibited as an artwork. The attitudes and actions of these artists represent a renewed questioning of the concept of art as established by modernity, and demonstrate the sort of role that art ought to play in society – perhaps more strongly and forcefully than ever before.
A focus on the “little situations”
Following the activities of these artists as a result of the earthquake, it soon became clear that a certain sense of conflict and hesitation lay beneath their ambitious projects. At the same time, there were several projects that adapted to local conditions, changing in content as time went by. The diversity of these approaches and the complex ways in which these experiences developed shed light on the various small-scale occurrences that emerged as a result of he disaster ¬– “little situations” rarely picked up by the mass media that seem to reflect our own sense of bewilderment and indecision. What has been on our minds since then? What role should the individual play in relation to the local community and society at large? What does it mean to be a citizen within society? And how have our thoughts and feelings about the disaster evolved since then?
An exhibition that generates memories and functions as a device for thinking
During the exhibition period, there will be a varied program of related events that will allow visitors to express their thoughts after having observed the unfinished and ongoing actions and projects of the various artists on display. There will be opportunities and spaces for people to have free and uninhibited conversations about these issues, and participatory hands-on workshops open to people of all ages will also be held. This exhibition is being held in the hope that these assorted events will serve as different entry points for each person to get involved, helping each of us to generate individual memories about the March 11, 2011 disaster, and prompting us to look back what happened and to reflect on what one should do in the future.
ARTISTS
Ryoji Arai, Chim↑Pom, Ichiro Endo, Hikaru Fujii, Naoya Hatakeyama, Katsuhiko Hibino, Yoshiaki Kaihatsu, Tsubasa Kato, Jun Kitazawa, Haruka Komori + Natsumi Seo, Maki Miyashita, Takashi Murakami (MMIX Lab), NAKAJIMA Yuta×birdo flugas, Nishiko, Takehiko Sanada, Akira Takayama (Port B), Tanotaiga, Yuken Teruya, TOCHKA, Tsubaki Noboru, wah document, Fuyuki Yamakawa, Kenji Yanobe
Art Tower Mito Website