METHOD NO. 28 (NOVEMBER 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. 28, carries a text by Hideki Nakazawa and a web
piece by Shigeru Matsui, and word and info by the three Methodicists.
>>>METHODICIST'S TEXT OF THIS MONTH:
Preface for "The Japanese Part of Contemporary Art History"
by Hideki Nakazawa, artist
Seeing the words "The Japanese Part" in the title of this booklet
(*1), you may wonder how about "The European Part" or "The Chinese Part,"
or even "The World's Part." I think Japanese contemporary art history
is what is relative to the world's one, rather than being absolute as to
be called "The Japanese Contemporary Art History." That is why I dared
to give such a title to this booklet, clarifying the relativity, not the
absoluteness, in spite of my having no plan to write "The European Part"
or "The Chinese Part."
Let us think more about that. The relativity, speaking more
specifically, means localism which is the relative matter against the
whole or the center. Then, what is the center? As for the art after
the Second World War, I think it is the American Contemporary Art which
replaced the European one and has kept holding supremacy since then.
This booklet is my third writing on art history but the first one
grappled squarely with Japan, my homeland. It deals with the history
after World War II. In that war, Japan was defeated and occupied by
America. By that war, the American Art which used to be mere local art
jumped into the center of the art world.
Today's Japanese Art is local art. Some audiences may say local
art is interesting because of its provincialism. However, that remark
is nothing but colonialism from the center's point of view. Some
audiences may say local art is boring because of its provincialism.
However, that remark is nothing but exclusionism from the center's point
of view. Or, some other audiences may say local art has no originality.
However, more often than not, that remark shows the absence of
provincialism which they had expected unconsciously, or shows their
unconscious compulsion of their idea for art.
On the other hand, acknowledgment of localism from the local
artists' point of view is sometimes thoughtlessness and sometimes self-
torture. As for myself, I claim 'methodicism' refusing provincialism.
However, I think avoiding localism in such a way itself manifests the
matter of localism. ......In other words, why should we set the limit
called Japan to talk on art?
I wrote this booklet using both Japanese and English (*2). The
reason is not only to expand the range of readers. Rather, I believe
that the style using two languages is the best way to describe the field
of relativity named localism, where the Japanese Contemporary Art is
being placed.
(*1) This text was written as the preface for my booklet "The Japanese
Part of Contemporary Art History." It will be published and exhibited
at the "MOT Annual 2004" which will be held from next January. (MOT =
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo)
(*2) The layout of this booklet will include both Japanese and English
sentences on the same pages.
>>>METHODICIST'S WEB PIECE OF THIS MONTH:
"Summer in Tokyo"
by Shigeru Matsui, poet
http://www008.upp.so-net.ne.jp/methodpoem/SummerinTokyo.html
"Summer in Tokyo" is a Methood Poem based on the text of "Quantum Poem."
It is written in a graph and a score. The text was written from the
day of summer solstice in 2002 to the first day of the fall. "Quantum
Poem" consists of the anticipated temperature and the number of the
lines of "Pure Poem" written in the day. Temperature expresses a
nonlinear phenomenon. The number of the lines expresses a linear
phenomenon. Those juxtaposition is the concept of the work, which
becomes clearer when visualized in a graph rather than read in a text.
I think Methood Poems are replaceable with any media, if the concept of
the work is being reflected. The score part of "Summer in Tokyo,"
which has already been performed, is the auditorization of the graph.
Please refer to the text "To Quantum Poem" appeared in "Method No. 15"
and the web piece appeared in "Method No. 18."
>>>METHODICISTS' WORD & INFO OF THIS MONTH:
Hideki Nakazawa, artist:
nakazawa@aloalo.co.jp http://aloalo.co.jp/nakazawa/
- Just as I had expected, I was thinking the issue of identity during
the stay in the U. S. for a year till last month. Thus, it was really
timely and fortunate to me that I was asked to write a booklet on the
art history of contemporary Japan for "MOT annual 2004 : From Where Did
I Come? / To Where Will I Go?" which will be held from next January at
the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. I will spend all this month for
writing it. Please read the text "Preface" in this issue.
- Group Show "108" at Ise Cultural Foundation, NY Gallery (555 Broadway,
NYC. 212.925.1649) Curated by Tsutomu Ikeuchi (Roentgenwerke, Tokyo).
Nov 14, 2003 - Jan 10, 2004. Opening Reception: Fri, Nov 14, 6 - 8 pm.
I will show a small piece of Japanese arithmetic "cranes and tortoises."
Shigeru Matsui, poet:
shigeru@td5.so-net.ne.jp http://www008.upp.so-net.ne.jp/methodpoem/
- Now I am making my collection of poems. I am editing the poetical
works written in 2002, "Pure Poem" and "Quantum Poem" made of texts and
graphs.
- I am exhibiting "Pure Poem" and "Quantum Poem" for the theme
exhibition "YUMITSUHO" at Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Aichi, from
September 14 to December 28, 2003. "YUMITSUHO" is the exhibition by
Yutaka Matsuzawa, artist, and Mitsu Sakura, poet.
Toyota Municipal Museum of Art www.museum.toyota.aichi.jp
- Performance "The Poet Shigeru Matsui Reading His Own Poems" on
November 3, 2003, at Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
- I will exhibit "Quantum Poem" at my solo exhibition "Announcement on
Every Five Days" at appel, Tokyo, from December 4 to December 23, 2003.
Three related events will be held during the term. See the followings.
appel www.bit-rabbit.com/p1.html
- "Reading : Announcement on Every Five Days" December 10, 2003.
- "Method : Performance and Lecture" December 14, 2003.
- "Yuji Takahashi plays Katsue Kitasono and Tomomi Adachi plays Seiichi
Niikuni" December 17, 2003.
Masahiro Miwa, composer:
mmiwa@iamas.ac.jp http://www.iamas.ac.jp/~mmiwa/
- About my text "Listing for All Patterns of Matarisama-System" in the
last issue, I got the following opinion from a reader: "I have a feeling
that you (three methodicists) are trying to invent the wheel. That was
particularly the case with Miwa's sequences this issue. You know, many
mathematicians have studied these things a lot."
I agree. I am not proud of my mathematical discoveries in any way.
Through my text some might have had such an impression but the text was
just a part of a possible (mathematical in this case) explanation about
the three realizations of "Matarisama" (by computer, by human and by
mechanical dolls) or "reverse simulation music."
- 11/22 in the 7th Festival Beyond Innocence, Osaka, The Formant
Brothers (Miwa & Sakonda) will order (and eat!) a pizza by telephone
using a real time voice synthesizer called "Klavocode" for the first
time in human history..
- 11/26 Olympic-Center, Tokyo. World's first performance of my new
composition "The Art of Generating Endless Melodies" for chorus.
Group "METHOD":
http://aloalo.co.jp/nakazawa/method/
>>>POSTSCRIPT:
The next issue, NO. 29, will be published on December 1, carrying a text
by Shigeru Matsui and a web piece by Masahiro Miwa. 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. 28 published on November 1, 2003
(C) Hideki Nakazawa, Shigeru Matsui, Masahiro Miwa, 2003