Chikako Yamashiro The Beginning of Creation: Abduction/ A Child

 ©Chikako Yamashiro, Courtesy of Yumiko Chiba Associates
Chikako Yamashiro The Beginning of Creation: Abduction/ A Child (Original Video Work, Aichi Arts Center, 2015)
September 9 (Fri) - October 15 (Sat), 2016
Venue：Yumiko Chiba Associates viewing room shinjuku
Park Grace Shinjuku Bldg., 206,
4-32-6 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023
Chikako Yamashiro
The Beginning of Creation: Abduction/ A Child
Dancing
Figure Drawing with Takao Kawaguchi： September 10 (Sat) 14:00 – 16:30
*Advance booking required
Talk
Event: September 10 (Sat) 18:00 – 19:00 *Advance booking required
Chikako Yamashiro & Takao Kawaguchi & Ryudai Takano Reception
Party: September 10 (Sat) 19:00 – 20:30
Yumiko Chiba Associates viewing room shinjuku is pleased to present from September 9, 2016,
a solo exhibition The Beginning of Creation: Abduction/ A Child by Chikako Yamashiro.
Chikako Yamashiro has continued working up to now, inheriting records and memories of the Okinawa Battle as well as
facing with the complex circumstances Okinawa has had such as environmental disruption caused by the US military base
and a violation of woman's rights. Her works do not show messages explicitly. But, using a high-level metaphor, they were
produced as videos in a gap between reality and fiction. Then, they have inspired viewers to make various interpretations.
In The Beginning of Creation: Abduction/A Child presented in the exhibition, Yamashiro closely covered a process of
Takao Kawaguchi, the dancer and former Dumb Type member , who "reenacts" the legendary stage by the late butoh
performer Mr. Kazuo Ohno. The record of Kawaguchi's performance to take another person (Ohno) into his own body does
not remain just as a documentary, but is shown with a mysterious bared body in front of the viewers.
The intense space
will be presented, which only Yamashiro could shoot, who has kept working with a consistent theme, "to contact with other
people and to inherit it" through Okinawa.
This exhibition will screen The Beginning of Creation: Abduction/A Child as a main feature. Also, the other video meant to
be supplementary and those stills from The Beginning of Creation: Abduction/A Child will be shown.
■ Artist Statement
Before I started working on The Butcher Woman, I visited a poultry farm run by my relatives in Kumejima
Island. It was a big farm one can see from the time chicks hatch from eggs till they are processed as meat
served at a table. There were some lucky chickens which were kept to lay eggs so that they did not to have to
be eaten as meat, and other old chickens were too late for meat processing, having finished the egg-laying
season. Those old chickens were not fed with special ones for them, but a heap of bitter gourds. It was
unusual, funny and interesting as an image. Bursting out laughing in spite of myself, I was rolling the camera.
I needed to shoot a process where a living chicken turns to meat usually seen in a supermarket. Although I
took my time to pursue every process, 90% of the resource I shot could not be used as a result. However, I
was fully satisfied as I had a desire to look at the chickens carefully and shoot them as a lead to start the main
story. I wanted to capture the lump of chicken as the feel of my body, which is cool, jellylike, and soft, and will
come out when the skin is ripped off.
There is a scene a little girl saw the lump of meat by accident at the beach, which came from the bottom of the
sea. When I was putting the scenes together for editing, I had an irresistible thought that the next shot must be
the hordes of chicks. The lump of wet and moist meat secretly hiding in the grass of the sands reminds me of a
calf or a lamb recently born in the world. The meat has managed to arrive at this world; it is unsteady as its
legs are too weak to stand or walk. Then there were the hordes of chicks in the next shot, cramming the dim
light of the poultry farm.
The story has just started, I thought. This scene convinced me the whole story will be constructed.
Also in The Beginning of Creation: Abduction/ A Child, a bird is perceived at the moment something is coming
into the world. Takao Kawaguchi is making a sketch. Drawing minutely a still picture captured from the video,
he lets the scene go forward, and turning the page of the sketch book, he still keeps drawing. It seems an
extraordinary repetition but each scene moves on carefully and slowly. Meanwhile, he stands up. His body
starts looking for the movement in the still picture, connecting the scenes. His breathing makes his body swell
and shrink, and the sound by the sole of his foot rubs the floor. Then the sound of turning pages of a sketch
book combines with the scratching sound with a pencil. I could hear unexpectedly all of these sounds like a
bird flapping the wings.
“Ah, it’s a bird. Just born.”
I do not know why, but I felt that a bird has something to do with creation of the above two works. Takao
Kawaguchi, who looks up the sky, seems a chic opening its wet and trembling body and imitating flapping of
the wings.
Chikako Yamashiro
August 23, 2016
■ Dancing Figure Drawing
Takao Kawabuchi “SLOW BODY - Brain does not have sensation” vol. 26
“There is no time but now when it is necessary to watch closely a human body.
Stare hard at the body in the face! It is a try at looking at the body in front of you
and make the senses directly connect to your body.”
Mr. Takao Kawaguchi will dance in the nude and participants will sketch his body.
There will be a get-together after the drawing with Mr. Kawaguchi and the participants, showing the sketch
mutually.
Performer: Takao Kawaguchi (Human Body), Tsubasa Wada (Sound?)
September 10 (Sat), 2016, 14:00-16:30 (Doors open at 13:45),
Venue: Yumiko Chiba Associates viewing room shinjuku
Entry fee: ¥2,000 (including one drink)
Applicants: 15, Booking required
*For booking, send an email with your name, address, and telephone number to [email protected]
*Please bring your drawing materials and sketch book.
Takao Kawaguchi (Performer)
Kawaguchi joined the Japanese multimedia performance collective Dumb Type from 1996 to 2008. Then,
since 2000, he has been exploring the fertile field of live performance in the intersection of theater, dance,
visual image and fine arts, mainly through solo works and collaborations with artists of different disciplines.
th
From 2008 he started the solo performance series a perfect life. The 6 series, from Okinawa to Tokyo, was
th
presented at the 5 Yesbisu International Festival for Art and Alternative Visions (Tokyo Metropolitan Museum
of Photography, 2013). More recent works include: About Kazuo Ohno - Reliving the Butoh Diva’s
Masterpieces (Kazuo Ohno Festival 2013, currently touring around the world ) and TOUCH OF THE OTHER
(ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives in Los Angels, 2015, and Spiral Hall in Tokyo, 2016).
■ Talk Event
September 10 (Sat) 18:00 – 19:00
Venue: Yumiko Chiba Associates viewing room shinjuku
Chikako Yamashiro & Takao Kawaguchi & Ryudai Takano *Advance booking required, Free of charge *For booking, send an email with your name, address, and telephone number to [email protected]
Ryudai Takano
Photographer, Born 1963 in Fukui. Received the 31st Kimura Ihei Commemorative Photography Award in
2006. Recent exhibitions include: “Our Beloved World” (2015, The Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum
of Contemporary Art), “Photography Will Be” (2014, Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art), “In the order
corresponding to shooting from January 2014 to recent date” (2014, Yumiko Chiba Associates viewing
room shinjuku), “Face Value: Portraits from The Kinsey Institute” (2013,The Kinsey Institute Gallery), etc.
Recent publications include: “String and Coke”(2014, Seidosha) and “Manazashi ni Fureru”(2014,
Suiseisha, co-written with Ikuo Shinjo, Literary Researcher).
■ Other Information
Chikako Yamashiro is participating in 2016 Aichi Triennale, being held presently in various places, Aichi
Prefecture.
2016 Aichi Triennale http://aichitriennale.jp/artist/yamashirochikako.html
August 11 (Thurs) - October 23 (Sun), 2016
Venue for Yamashiro’s work: The former Meiji-ya Sakae Building, Sakae Site (Naka-ku, Nagoya)
■ Artist Profile
Chikako Yamashiro
1976
Born in Okinawa
2005
Award for Excellence, awarded at Kurashiki Contemporary Art Biennial West
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2012-2013
MAM Project 018:Chikako Yamashiro, Mori Art Museum Gallery 1, Tokyo
2012
The Body of Condonement , Yumiko Chiba Associates viewing room shinjuku, Tokyo
2010-2011
Choros of a Song ,Yumiko Chiba Associates viewing room shinjuku, Tokyo
2008
2007
2005
2004
2002
Virtual Inheritance, gallery rougheryet, Okinawa
Garden Talk, KANDADA, Tokyo
Anyway… , gallery rougheryet, Okinawa
OKINAWA TOURIST, Maejima Art Center, Okinawa
Woman at Graveyard, Maejima Art Center, Okinawa
Selected Group Exhibitions
2016
2015-2016
2015-2016
2015
2015
2015
2015
2014
2012-2013
2012
2012
2011
2011
2011
2011
2010-2011
2010
2010
2009
2009
2009
2009
2008
2008
2008
2016 Aichi Triennale, The former Meiji-ya Sakae Building, Nagoya/Japan
The 1st Asia Biennial/The 5th Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art
Guangzhou/China
The 8th Asian Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery /Gallery of
Modern Art, Brisbane/Australia
Local Prospects: Time, space and the sea, Mitsubishi-jisho ARTIUM, Fukuoka/Japan
East Asia Feminism: FANTasia, Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul/Korea
MOMAT Collection, The National Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, Tokyo/Japan
"Beyond Hiroshima: The Return of the Repressed Wartime Memory, Performativity and the
Documentary in Contemporary Japanese Photography and Video Art,
The Genia Schreiber University Gallery, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv/Israel
The Spiritual World Collection Exhibition 2014, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of
Photography, Tokyo/Japan
"Women In between: Asian Women Artists 1984-2012, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum,
Fukuoka/Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum Okinawa/Tochigi Prefectural
Museum of Fine Arts, Tochigi/Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Mie (touring in Japan)
"ARTLINE KASHIWA2012 "Kashiwa City Jack" - Asia Pacific Contemporary Media Arts
from Daisuke Miyatsu Collection - Kara de Ganal, Chiba/Japan
Art, Performance and Activism in Contemporary Japan, PUMPHOUSE GALLERY, London, UK
Invisibleness is Visibleness, MOCA TAIPEI, Taipei/Taiwan
Sightseeing - A Journey Into Okinawan Art , Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum
Okinawa/Japan
Body Talks? SYMPOSIA Roppongi AXIS Building, Tokyo/Japan
Okinawa Art Action! Video & Performance, Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum,
Goza Z Space, Okinawa/Japan
Radiant Moments, The New Snapshot, Contemporary Japanese Photography,
vol.9,Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo/Japan
Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions: Searching Songs, Tokyo
Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo/Japan
When I Love You and When I Hate You , Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum
Okinawa/Japan
Into the Circumstances, SAKATA Kiyoko and YAMASHIRO Chikako Exhibition, Okinawa
Prefectural University of Arts, Okinawa/Japan
Hiroshima Art Document 2009,Old Factory of Army Clothes, Hiroshima/Japan
Into the Atomic Sunshine in Sakima, Sakima Art Museum, Okinawa/Japan
Into the Atomic Sunshine in Okinawa,Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum
Okinawa, Okinawa/Japan
OKINAWA PRISMED 1872-2008, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo/Japan
Hiroshima Art Document 2008, Former Hiroshima Branch of Nippon Ginko, Hiroshima/Tokyo
To-Lo video screening: Tokyo-London artists’ exchange,the Stephen Lawrence Gallery,
The Stephen Lawrence Gallery, London/England
2007
The Tracks of Okinawan Culture,1872-2007, Okinawa Prefectural Museum &Art Museum
Okinawa/Japan
2007
0 year of Photograph,Citizens Gallery PALLET, Okinawa/Japan
2007
VOCA 2007 - the vision of cotemporary art 2007, The Ueno Royal Museum, Tokyo/Japan
2005
Crossovers & Rewrits: BORDERS over ASIA, World Social Forum 2005, Museum of
Contemporary Art Porte Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
2005
Kurashiki Contemporary Art Biennial Exhibition West, KAKE MUSEUM of ART,
Okayama/Japan
2004
Asahi Art Festival, Okinawa Cafe “Kanasan” Rice＋, Tokyo/Japan
Selected Film Festivals/Screenings
2016
Aomori Museum of Art 10th Anniversary Art Film Encounters, July 30-31, AOMORI
MUSEUM OF ART THEATRE, Aomori/Japan
2016
AAS in ASIA 2016 “HORIZONS OF HOPE" Film Screenings “Islands - Across And Between",
June 26, Doshisha University, Kyoto/Japan
2016
Event Celebrating the Publication of Circulating World The Art of Chikako Yamashiro, June 4,
D & DEPARTMENT OKINAWA by OKINAWA STANDARD, Okinawa/Japan
2016
Artists' Film Biennial: Next Year I Will Be Somewhere Else selected by artist Ming Wong, May
29, 2016 30th Image Forum Festival, May 14 - July 18, Theatre Image Forum, Shibuya,
Kyoto Art Center, Kyoto, Fukuoka City Public Library, Fukuoka, Aichi Arts Center, Nagoya,
Yokohama Art Museum, Kanagawa/Japan
2016
"TEGAMI - Japanese Art - Tomoko Inagaki "Video evening: Melting Point", FRISE,
Hamburg/Germany
2015
20th Art Film Festival, November 29 - December 6, Aichi Arts Center, Aichi/Japan
2015
Hiroshima Peace Festival 2015-16, “Artist Talk Chikako Yamashiro & Katsuya Okuma /
Screening of New Film”, January 27, Hiroshima City University, Hiroshima/Japan
2014
“Lecture by Chikako Yamashiro - Screening & Commentary on Her Work” November 1,
U-cala, Hokkaido/Japan
2014
10th Anniversary Screening Event for Film Production, Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art
Museum, Okinawa/Japan
2013
Roppongi Art Night 2013 “Special Screenings of Chikako Yamashiro’s Film Work”, March 23
- 24, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo/Japan
2012
Women In-Between: Asian Women Artists 1984-2012 “Video Feature Week” October 4 - 8,
Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka/Japan
2005
43rd Okayama Art Festival, Okayama Film Festival 2005 “Eiga no Kioku [Memory of Films]”,
Okayama Oriental Museum, Okayama/Japan
Collection
Aichi Arts Center/Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum,
Queensland Art Gallery Shuri Jokamachi Clinic, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, The National
Museum of Modern Art Tokyo, Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Mori
Art Museum, and more.
■■ For further information or images, please contact Yumiko Chiba Associates.
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel. +81-3-6276-6731
Yumiko Chiba Associates viewing room shinjuku URL:http//www.ycassociates.co.jp
Park Grace Shinjuku Bldg. 316, 4-32-6, Nishi-Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0023 Japan.
Opening Hours: 12:00 - 19:00 (Closed on Sundays, Mondays, National Holidays)