'Autonom ist noch nicht einmal der mond' (Even the moon is not autonomous) was the title of a rare kind of exhibition about Japanese contemporary art. While most representations of contemporary art from Japan focus almost exclusively on art works - very often of the manga-anime type or else of a techno-sublime type - this exhibition, held at the Autonomous Cultural Center ACC in Weimar (a former squat) Germany this summer (July - September 2004), presented an overview of art works, collectives, non profit sector initiatives and publishing which all in various ways maintain a social/ political awareness. AIT was invited to take part, alongside artists groups such as Command N and Clean Brothers, artists such as Kenji Yanobe and Tsubaki Noboru and video collective Video Act!.
The curators were Frank Motz of ACC and the German artist duo Reinigungsgesellschaft (RG), who just made a project in Kassel where they met and spoke with Hans Eichel, German Minister of Finance (pictured). RG work in a variety of project based ways, and for the ACC exhibition they showed a video they made in Japan, comprising interviews with people working in the non-profit, alternative art sectors. They have recently been working on a project based around ideas of work, labour and its contemporary manifestations.
A catalogue of the ACC exhibition is currently being prepared and will hopefully be available in Japan early in the new year. In the last few years contemporary art has become a buzzword in Japan, appropriated as a lifestyle element in magazines such as 'Luca' and becoming widely known in its manga-anime manifestations through the mass media exposure of artist Takashi Murakami. At a time when Japan is totally implicated in global events through its close alliance with the United States and world markets, it is all the more necessary to identify and discuss the works of artists and groups in Japan which take a critical position against Japan's late-capitalist situation. The moon, traditionally a potent symbol for purity and mystery in Japanese art, is today fully implicated in relations of consumption and media power. The artists and groups included in the ACC exhibition investigate and at times, show different possibilities for living in this situation. There was little sense of utopian, anime-like escapism - rather socially aware, sustainable, pragmatic initiatives and outputs.
far left - ACC, centre - AIT documentation wall, right - recycled rubbish materials by artist Hiroshi Fuji.
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