3b
読売アンデパンダン展の廃止
Discontinuation of Yomiuri Independent Exhibition

【本文確定】

１９６１年の第１３回読売アンデパンダン展では、前年の活動で弾みをつけたネオ・ダダとその周辺の作家たちが、ますます巨大なガラクタ的オブジェを出品しました。家具に無数のウィスキー空き瓶を貼り付けた吉村益信「殺打駄氏の応接室」や、ドラム缶を多数積み上げた田辺三太郎の「不協和音音階」等です。

１９６２年の第１４回展では、一室全体を初めて使った作品として、工藤哲巳の「インポ分布図とその飽和部分に於ける保護ドームの発生」が出品されました。また、音あるいは音楽を初めて出品しようとしたものとして、「グループ・音楽」のメンバー*3b1、刀根康尚の「テープレコーダー」がありました。展覧会場を行為の場とみなす傾向も目立ち、小島信明は会期中ドラム缶の中に立ち続けました。これは「生きる彫刻」としてはギルバート・アンド・ジョージに先行します。観客参加型の作品も現れ、時間派のメンバー*3b2、長野祥三は、床に置かれた多数のゴムボールを観客に蹴らせました。同じく時間派の中沢潮は、床に敷いた大きな布の下に塗料を入れたビニル袋を多数仕掛け、観客がその上を歩くと塗料が破れ出て布が染まるようにしました。ところがこの作品は、対策が講じられていたにもかかわらず、床が汚れるという理由によって美術館員が作者に無断で作品を撤去するという事件へと発展しました。ほかに撤去事件が起きたものとしては、風呂桶に潜む強盗を模したハリボテの人形に出刃包丁を持たせた広川政文［広川晴史］の「そろそろ出かけようか」や、吉岡康弘による女性器の超拡大写真等がありました。

アンデパンダン展は出品料さえ払えば誰でも参加できる無審査自由出品が原則ですから、数年前から増えてきた受付拒否事件や会期中の撤去事件は由々しい問題でした。１９６２年１２月、会場を提供している東京都美術館は「陳列作品規格基準」を制定し、不快音または高音を発する作品、悪臭を発しまたは腐敗のおそれのある作品、刃物等を使用した作品、公衆衛生法規にふれる作品等々の出品を拒否するとしました。

１９６３年の第１５回展には、次に列挙するような作品が出品されました。中西夏之の「洗濯バサミは攪拌行動を主張する」は、観客の行動を誘発するタイプの作品。高松次郎の「カーテンに関する反実在性について」は、会場の美術館から上野駅の線路のレールまで紐が延ばされた作品*3b3。赤瀬川原平の「梱包」は、クリストの同様の試みとたまたま同時期のシリーズ。同じく赤瀬川原平の「模型千円札」は、のちに通貨偽造として起訴されることになるもの。ゼロ次元のメンバー*3b4、加藤好弘の「ある入滅式マンダラ」は、布団に集団で横たわっているパフォーマンス。風倉匠の全裸パフォーマンスは「事物」と題されることによって、自身の行為（事）と肉体（物）をともに作品へと回収しようとするもの。「グループ・音楽」のメンバー、小杉武久は、ファスナーのついた大きな布袋に自身が入って会場を這う作品。そんな中で、赤瀬川原平、中西夏之、高松次郎、刀根康尚は、会場片隅で「ミニチュア・レストラン」を開きました。これは調理の音をマイクで増幅して会場に鳴り響かせ、カレーライスや目玉焼き等の食券を市場と同価格で観客に販売、しかし食券を買った客に実際にふるまわれたのは子供のママゴト用の容器にごく少量盛られたもので、たとえばカレーライスは親指分くらい、目玉焼きはウズラの卵、調理の火力は煙草のライターでした。そうとは知らずに食券を買った人たちがいました。

１９６４年１月、読売新聞社企画部長名で、同展の廃止通達がなされました。同社としては、同年３月の本展のためにすでに会場を美術館から借り上げており、作家たちもすでに出品の準備を始めていました。この突然の廃止は、出品者である作家たちと、会場すなわち東京都美術館とのあいだで、板挟みとなった主催者内部の混乱を物語っています。もちろん、「陳列作品規格基準」制定にもかかわらず相次いだ作家たちの暴走が原因でした。

同展廃止を承けて、評論家の針生一郎らの呼びかけによって、作家たちの自主管理によるアンデパンダン展が急遽１９６４年６月、東京都美術館で「アンデパンダン６４」として実現しました。しかしネオ・ダダの元メンバーを中心に、それには参加しない一群もいました。赤瀬川原平は著書の中で、「自主的なアンデパンダンをやろう」というメッセージを受け取ったときに、頭ではそれを正しいと思いながらも、心の底ではいっこうに気乗りしなかったと告白しています（『いまやアクションあるのみ！　〈読売アンデパンダン〉という現象』、のちに『反芸術アンパン』と改題）*3b5。

その理由は、企業主催の「読売アンデパンダン展」が、１９世紀末のフランスの作家たちが自主的に始めた本来のアンデパンダン展とは根本的に異なるものだったからでしょう*3b6。つまり本来のアンデパンダン展の出品者たちとは異なり、読売アンデパンダン展の出品者たちは運営の責任を何ら負っていませんでした。そして、逆にいえばそれゆえにこそ、世界に類例のない自己破壊的な熱気を帯びることができたのだという言い方も可能となるでしょう。

芸術が社会的存在でありかつ芸術的存在であるためには、「社会のための芸術」と「芸術のための芸術」の両面を併せ持たなくてはなりません。読売アンデパンダン展では読売新聞社という企業が前者を受け持ってくれる格好となったため*3b7、出品作家たちは後者にのみ邁進できました。ところが「芸術のための芸術」のラディカルな追求は、本来的に、反社会的で自己破壊的な方向に傾いたとしても仕方ありません*3b8。それゆえ同展のエッセンスを凝集したネオ・ダダはマニフェストで殺戮者を自任し、美術館の爆破を企て、「ミニチュア・レストラン」は詐欺であり、「模型千円札事件」には有罪判決が下されたのです*3b9 *3b10。

At the 13th Yomiuri Independent Exhibition in 1961, artists of Neo Dada and those around them, who had gained momentum from the performances in the previous year, exhibited much larger junk objects. For instance, "Mr. Sadada's Parlor" (Sadada in Japanese can be read 'Kill-Dada' too) by YOSHIMURA Masunobu 吉村益信 stuck a number of empty whisky bottles onto furniture, and "Dissonant Scale" by TANABE Santaro 田辺三太郎 piled up many oil drums.

At the 14th Exhibition in 1962, "A Distribution Map of the Impotents and the Generation of Protection Dome at Its Saturation Point" by KUDO Tetsumi 工藤哲巳 was the first work using the whole space of an exhibition room. Besides "Tape Recorder" by TONE Yasunao 刀根康尚 from Group Ongaku was the first attempt to exhibit sound or music*3b1. Also tendency to regard the exhibition as space for actions was also prominent. KOJIMA Nobuaki 小島信明 kept standing in an empty oil drum through the whole exhibition period, which preceded Gilbert & George as a "living sculpture." As works involving audience participation appeared, a member of Jikan-ha (Time School) NAGANO Shozo 長野祥三 let the audience kick numerous rubber balls on the floor*3b2. Similarly from Jikan-ha, NAKAZAWA Ushio 中沢潮 set many plastic bags filled with paints under a large cloth laid out on the floor, then had the audience walk on it so that the plastic bags would tear open and to splatter out paints and stain the cloth. However, this work resulted in an incident in which the museum staff removed it without previous notice on the ground that it would stain the floor, even though the artist had taken measures against it. Among other works that caused removal incidents, "I Suppose I Should Get Going" by HIROKAWA Masafumi 広川政文 [HIROKAWA Harufumi 広川晴史] had a paper doll in a bathtub holding a broad-bladed kitchen knife, and YOSHIOKA Yasuhiro 吉岡康弘 photographed super close-ups of a vagina.

Because the fundamental rule of the Independent Exhibitions allowed anyone to participate in the open entry with no juries as long as they paid for the exhibiton fee, it became a significant issue that such accidents of refusal to exhibit or removal during the exibition period had increased in the past few years. In December 1962, the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, which provided space for the exhibition, enacted the "Standards for Showing Exhibits," stating to refuse works making unpleasant or high-pitched sound, giving off bad smell and being perishable, using sharp-edged tools and similar items, interfering with the public hygiene law, and so on. In other words, such works had already been exhibited at the Yomiuri Independent Exhibition.

At the 15th Exhibition in 1963, the following types of works were exhibited: "Clothes Pins Assert Churning Action" by NAKANISHI Natsuyuki 中西夏之 intended to provoke audience into actions, "About the Reality of a Curtain" by TAKAMATSU Jiro 高松次郎 extended a string from the museum to a rail at the Ueno Station*3b3. AKASEGAWA Genpei 赤瀬川原平's "Packing" series showed coincidence with Christo's similar experiments in the same period, and his "Dummy 1000-Yen Note" was to bring him to the court on suspicion of counterfeiting the bills. "An Entering-Nirvana Style Mandara" by KATO Yoshihiro 加藤好弘 from Zero Jigen was a group performance of all lying on futons. KAZAKURA Sho 風倉匠 titled his stark-naked performance "Things and Object," by which he attempted to incorporate his own actions (Things) and body (Object) into the work. KOSUGI Takehisa 小杉武久 from Group Ongaku zipped himself into a large fabric bag and crawled around. In such atmosphere, AKASEGAWA Genpei 赤瀬川原平, NAKANISHI Natsuyuki 中西夏之, TAKAMATSU Jiro 高松次郎, TONE Yasunao 刀根康尚 and others opened "Miniature Restaurant" in the corner of the exhibition space. They amplified sound of their cooking through a microphone, and sold food tickets for curry rice or fried eggs to the audience at the same price as in the actual market. However, what the audience was actually served were very small amount of food on a dish for children's playing house. For example, curry rice was the size of a thumb, fried eggs were quail's ones, and the fire to cook was provided by a cigarette lighter. Still, some audience bought tickets without knowing it.

In January 1964, under the name of the chief of the planning department, the Yomiuri Shimbun Company notified the public of the discontinuation of the exhibition. The company had already rented the exhibition space from the museum for coming March*3b4, and artists too had already begun preparing works to exhibit. This sudden discontinuation suggested the confusion inside the host organizer torn between conflicting demands of artists as the exhibitors and the museum as the space. It was certainly caused by exhibitors getting out of control despite the enactment of the "Standards for Showing Exhibits."

In response to the announcement of the discontinuation, the critic HARIU Ichiro 針生一郎 and others called upon the artists to create an artists' self-managed independent exhibition, "Independent 64" in June of the same year at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. But some of artists, mainly those around the former members of the Neo Dada, refused to participate. AKASEGAWA Genpei 赤瀬川原平 confessed later in his book that when he received the message, "Let's begin another independent exhibition independently," he thought it was the right thing to do while at the same time he felt no inclination at the bottom of his heart (from "Now Is the Time of Action! -The Phenomenon Named Yomiuri Independent Exhibition-." The title changed later to "Anti-Art Anpan")*3b5.

The reason behind his reluctance was probably that the company-sponsored "Yomiuri Independent Exhibition" was fundamentally different from the original idea of the independent exhibition which French artists in the late 19th century began spontaneously by themselves*3b6. That is, the exhibitors for the Yomiuri Independent Exhibition did not shoulder the management from the beginning, which conversely provided the situation to allow artists to fill themselves with even self-destructive fever unexampled in other parts of the world.

In order for works of art to exist as being both social and artistic, it should have the quality of "art for society's sake" and "art for art's sake" together. As for the Yomiuri Independent Exhibition, because the company took care of the former*3b7, the artists were able to proceed with the latter alone. However, radical pursuit of "art for art's sake" is, by its nature, to become anti-social and self-destructive*3b8. The Neo Dada group, having represented the essence of the Yomiuri Independent Exhibition, therefore regarded themselves as the slaughterers in their manifesto, and came to a point where they planned to blow up the museum. Similarly, "Miniature Restaurant" swindled the honest citizens, and "Model 1000-Yen Note Incident" ended up with the artist's being found guilty in the final decision by the Supreme Court*3b9. It was natural for some artists to prioritize their getting out of control over maintaining the exhibition, as natural as some artists no longer want to go back to the origin of the independent exhibition*3b10.