The following is a brief preview - the full content of this page is available to premium users only.
Click here to subscribe...
Last summer, Tokyo’s Kiba Park witnessed an art performance on a laborious scale. A huge plywood container (5.8 metre x 6.7 metre x 2.7 metre) was laid out in the middle of an open court. Using dozens of ropes attached to the top and bottom of the object, artist Tsubasa Kato gathered friends and strangers to help him erect the heavy object and then pull it back down again.
It took quite a few attempts before the object became upright. In the meantime, more passersby decided to join in on the effort. Some watched from the sidelines—cries of ‘ooh’ and ‘aaaah!’ accompanied each attempt. Finally, the job was done, and participants congratulated each other with claps and cries of ‘Yatta! (We did it!)’. Everyone was sweating and suffering in the typical August heat—all in the name of art.
Fukugawa.Future.Humanity takes its title from the Tokyo neighbourhood of Fukugawa, in which Kiba Park is located. The second word, ‘future’, is to do with the Tohoku disasters of March 2011 and the artist’s thoughts about the rebuilding efforts. ‘Humanity’ indicates the artist’s broader vision concerning the origins of civilisation and his exploration of this theme through art. In order to raise the structure, participants had to use a kind of brute strength that is no longer a part of everyday life (outside of a gym or sports ground). The performance reminded me of pre-industrial times or Amish folk, and romantic images of villagers working together to raise a barn. In pre-industrial ages, shared labour was a good reason for people to stay close and get along with each other. In Japan, Shinto festivals also bring people together in order to