METHOD NO. 24 (JULY 1, 2003)
Email-Bulletin "METHOD" is a free monthly on "Method Painting, Method
Poem, Method Music (Methodicist Manifesto)." Publishers are three
Japanese artists, Hideki Nakazawa, a (visual) artist, Shigeru Matsui, a
poet, and Masahiro Miwa, a composer. You can read the manifestos of
Methodicism at http://aloalo.co.jp/nakazawa/method/
This issue, METHOD NO. 24, carries a text by Masahiro Miwa and a web
piece by Hideki Nakazawa, and word and info by the three Methodicists.
>>>METHODICIST'S TEXT OF THIS MONTH:
Matarisama-Dolls And The Cult of Istamia
by Masahiro Miwa, composer
The remote Matari Valley, known for its strange "matarisama"
custom, is home to the Matara Myojin shrine. Though this shrine is
dedicated to the god Matara, protector of Sarugaku*, the actual object
of worship is the saint Istamia (sometimes referred to as Isidanomiya),
who is said to have saved the valley from peril by relaying a message
from the gods to the villagers. Only the highest-ranking priests are
allowed in the holy perimeter surrounding Istamia's shrine. The reason
for this is that eight gods are said to carry out an endless heavenly
"matarisama" in this hall. No one has ever seen these gods, however,
day and night, the echo of this perfect "matarisama" could be heard by
all outside the shrine. The people of Matari Valley, from the earliest
age, lived alongside "Istamia's matarisama" and when the autumn festival
came, following the rules of "suzukake," they performed their own
"matarisama" for the gods.
To perform the "matarisama" of Istamia's shrine without pause or
error was seen as something only possible for gods. At the same time as
being seen as proof of the existence of an orderly spiritual world, this
"matarisama" was believed to clean the suffering of the material world.
It was a symbol of the truth and beauty of the universe that endured
beyond generations. In other words, "matarisama" and the rules of
"suzukake" were in themselves a message from ancient times, a proof of
the existence of the gods, a testament for the ear.
In recent years, the people of Matari Valley suddenly committed
mass suicide in Matara Myojin shrine; not a single survivor was found in
this shocking drama. "New era," "the words of Istamia," etc. strange
inscriptions were found scribbled at the scene but the reason for this
tragedy remains a mystery. It is only after these sordid events that
the interior of Istamia's shrine came to be seen. Inside, eight
identical devices were arranged in a circle, moving in an orderly
fashion. Using water flowing from a nearby mountain these primitive
mechanical dolls were carrying out the same rules of "suzukake" that the
villagers had been using for their "matarisama." These eight dolls, in
modern words, can be seen as XOR logical computation devices with a 1-
bit memory. This shows that the ancient people of Matari Valley, who of
course could not have known of the computer, understood that symbolic
thought processes like memory and calculation could also be carried out
by machines.
A demonstration of this understanding is the existence of a koan**,
or starting state, that was strictly reserved for the "Istamia
matarisama," in other words limited for divine usage. This starting
state (that is, a given combination of bell and castanet states) is
known as the "Stellar Alignment ('Hoshiai' in Japanese) Koan." This is
the only pattern in an eight-person "matarisama" that repeats after only
three cycles. While the "Stellar Alignment Koan" repeats in only 24
steps (3 X 8), all other patterns repeat every 63 cycles (504 steps),
with the exception of every player in bell mode, which causes a single-
cycle loop. Even though there are 254 possible starting arrangements
that produce 63-cycle loops, there are only four 63-cycle patterns
(4 X 63 = 254). During the autumn festival, "matarisama" was always
performed using one of those four patterns, which shows that the
ancients understood the mathematical implications of the "suzukake"
rules.
*Sarugaku: Traditional Japanese theatrical form, predecessor to Noh.
**Koan: Usually used to refer to a type of Zen riddle, but here
describes the starting arrangements of Matarisama.
(Cf.) About the "Matarisama-Doll" carried as the web-piece of "METHOD NO.
23," please see: http://www.iamas.ac.jp/~mmiwa/MatarisamaDoll.html
About the "Matarisama" carried as the web-piece of "METHOD NO. 14,"
please see: http://www.iamas.ac.jp/~mmiwa/XORensemble.html
(New: Comments in English!)
>>>METHODICIST'S WEB PIECE OF THIS MONTH:
Sentence No. 1 Which Consists of 903 Palindromic Coined Words
by Hideki Nakazawa, artist
http://aloalo.co.jp/nakazawa/method/work024.html
This piece was shown at the ISCP open studio exhibition held in May. I
installed it in the size of 103 by 51.5 inches directly on the wall
using cutting sheets. However, I consider text data itself is my art
work. Thus the installation at the exhibition was just one of possible
ways to exhibit. I can print it in a different size on paper, or, I can
show it as a pdf file on the monitor of computers. I am just doing that
here on the website. In addition, you can also read how to make this
piece, and can see photos of the exhibition, and can listen to a sound
file read aloud, from the links in the above url.
>>>METHODICISTS' WORD & INFO OF THIS MONTH:
Hideki Nakazawa, artist:
nakazawa@aloalo.co.jp http://aloalo.co.jp/nakazawa/
- This July is the last month of my participation in the program of ISCP.
Those who have not seen my installation works yet are welcome to visit
to my studio. Appointment needed. See the above web-piece of mine also.
- METHOD NIGHT VOL. 7 presented by Hideki Nakazawa
"Talk Battle with Barbara Pollack"
Begins at 7 pm on Wed., July 16 at 323 W 39th, Studio 610 at ISCP, NYC.
... After a brief slide show of his works, Hideki Nakazawa will debate
with Barbara Pollack, a critic writing regularly for "ARTnews," "Art in
America," "the Village Voice," as well as creating her own art projects.
Last month, she visited Nakazawa's studio, where the critic and the
artist had a closed-door "talk battle." This will be the second "talk
battle" between Pollack and Nakazawa, but the first which will be open
to the public. Those who attend will be paid $3 each, as their
participation itself may be a part of Nakazawa's work.
COME AND WITNESS TODAY'S TRUE RADICALISM.
- My piece which won the premium prize at VOCA exhibition, "41193 Yen
Which Consists of 19235 Coins (Money Amount No. 24)," is now being shown
through July 18 as a collection at Dai-ichi Seimei Gallery, Tokyo.
Shigeru Matsui, poet:
shigeru@td5.so-net.ne.jp http://www008.upp.so-net.ne.jp/methodpoem/
- I participated in "marathon READING 2003" on June 28. I sat on a
chair on the stage turning my back to audience. "Pure Poem -arranged
for serial-" which had been recorded by Reisiu Sakai was replayed. The
audience and I listened to it. That is, I did nothing.
I wanted to clarify that reading was to experience poetry through a
realized text. Poetry reading is not an entertainment. It should be a
performance that stimulates audience to understand a work.
- Performance "The Crossing of Reading" on July 20, 2003 (Tokyo)
Gallery (1F) of Tokyo Community College, Kinki University International
Center for Human Sciences
Map: http://wsb.cc.kindai.ac.jp/ichs-html/tcc/map.html
Reservation needed (70 seats): 03-3351-0591
Masahiro Miwa, composer:
mmiwa@iamas.ac.jp http://www.iamas.ac.jp/~mmiwa/
- "Bolero by Muramatsu Gear-Engine," my first work for orchestra was
performed up to the end of the piece by Cairo Symphony Orchestra, even
though there was a lot of confusion and happenings. In any case, I
enjoyed the beautiful days in Egypt!
- 7/12 I will give the first presentation of the workshop called "Let's
invent a new folk entertainment!" at Sendai Mediatheque. This workshop
will continue up to the final presentation on January of the next year.
Please visit the website of the workshop! (only in Japanese)
http://www.smt.jp/geinou/index.html
Group "METHOD":
http://aloalo.co.jp/nakazawa/method/
- Those who want to work with us will be invited from any positions such
as advisors, assistants, brains, critics, doll-makers, editors, managers,
observers, patrons, performers, photographers, planners, publishers,
programmers, promoters, sponsors, theorists, translators, volunteers...
>>>POSTSCRIPT:
The next issue, NO. 25, will be published on August 1, carrying a text
by Hideki Nakazawa and a web piece by Shigeru Matsui. There are two
versions of this bulletin; one is only in English which you are reading
right now, the other is accompanied by Japanese translation which we can
send you at your request. To read the back numbers, visit the above URL
of "METHOD." To subscribe or unsubscribe to this bulletin, email any of
us at the above email addresses. You can send on this bulletin to
others freely, but corruption and appropriation are prohibited.
Monthly Email-Bulletin METHOD NO. 24 published on July 1, 2003
(C) Hideki Nakazawa, Shigeru Matsui, Masahiro Miwa, 2003