Koki Tanaka
A Poem Written by 5 Poets at Once (First Attempt) 2013
14 Dec 2019 – 19 Jan 2020
14 Dec 2019 – 19 Jan 2020
Koki Tanaka: A Poem Written by 5 Poets at Once (First Attempt) 2013
14 Dec 2019 – 19 Jan 2020
date: 14 Dec 2019 – 19 Jan 2020
opening hours:
Thu. and Fri. 12:00-19:00
Sat. and Sun. 12:00-18:00
closed on Mon., Tue., and Wed.
30 Dec 2019 – 8 Jan 2020 (New Year holidays)
venue: Aoyama Meguro
2-30-6 Kamimeguro Meguroku Tokyo Japan 153-0051
cooperation: Canon Marketing Japan Inc.
design: Tadao Kawamura
Translation: Katsumi Ota
Invitation to Appreciate Koki Tanaka’s 2013 Video Artwork “A Poem Written by 5 Poets at Once (First Attempt)”
The video artwork which will be shown in this exhibition, “A Poem Written by 5 Poets at Once (First Attempt),” was produced in 2013 and has the length of 1 hour. Even though it has exhibited in a group exhibition, etc., I wonder how many viewers could appreciate the artwork.
The video may not have been appealing to everyone due to its length; also, its complex theme and the content itself could be other reasons. To be earnest, I am the one who had felt daunted at first look, and that feeling continued until recently. With the confidence that it was a good piece of work every time I watched the video, I also felt a sense of tension due to the seriousness and solemnity of the artist and the participants.
The artwork showed the difficulty in creating relationship among individuals; the participants tried to do their best for showing respect, listening carefully while being adamant, and giving some space, to the others. Nonetheless, these attempts did not always turn out to be successful. It was likely that such atmosphere of sincerity and thoroughness of the recorded details gave me unusual awkwardness and prevented me from sufficiently accepting the content. Also, I felt a pressure by watching their careful behavior which seemed to reject any careless comments. (My misconception, maybe.)
Nonetheless, Tanaka continues to pursue this kind of approach even further.
It seems that, during this period, Tanaka’s basic idea regarding success and failure made a notable transition by focusing on “strong possibility of failure (e.g. ‘Precarious Tasks’ series)” which primarily had been “non-existence of failure and ending” and subsequently was “importance of the mixture of coincidence and inevitability (with 50% chance of success, nonetheless).”
Tanaka’s attitude reminds me of the fact that readability of a book and smoothness of an alcohol are not always their priorities.
Also, I have always had a desire to exhibit his video in our gallery. Despite of the repeated planning, the idea did not realize while having felt that there were elements which did not work very well.
Aichi Triennale 2019 was held during this summer.
Tanaka’s new work “Abstracted / Family” was a project which was meticulously designed and prepared for the international art festival. Its outcome was apparent not only in the content of the video, but also in the arrangement of the entire installation in which several exhibits were incorporated such as the abstract paintings produced in the video. Actually, his concept was evident even in the unusual words and gestures expressed by the participant of assembly which was held several times during the festival.
In the early period of the Triennale, organizers decided closure of a section entitled “After ‘Freedom of Expression?’” due to censorship pressure. In response to it, Tanaka issued a statement and expressed his intention to protest by “resetting the frame of the artwork,” and toward the end of the festival, restored it to the former state with the reopening of the section.
While the exhibits were altered by artists and the situation continued to change, the attitude (statement) of the artists and their artwork could have been considered separately even though these two factors came from the same individuals. However, while being sympathetic or puzzled by the circumstances in which the artists’ attitude and artwork interacted with each other, the censorship issue might have influenced my attitude as a viewer, provably same as many audiences and onlookers. On the other hand, there were people visited the festival without any concern and simply enjoyed the exhibits.
We all see things differently while being in the same place. Our perception regarding a single fact varies greatly from person to person.
After this experience, I noticed that now is the right time to exhibit Tanaka’s video artwork in our gallery.
Actually, I do not feel awkwardness any longer while watching the video. More or less, we ordinarily have opportunities to spend time with others who have different sense of values or who cannot get along with. In this video, viewer can find the individuals put in such a situation; they try to communicate with others while keeping distance, show differences in degree of commitment, and behave variously.
You can watch the video alone, or bring someone to share the experience. If you do not have enough time, you can come again.
Please take this occasion to appreciate the video artwork by Koki Tanaka.
Hideki Aoyama, Aoyama | Meguro
Koki Tanaka: AOMORI EARTH2019: AGROTOPIA –WHEN LIFE BECOMES ART THROUGH LOCAL AGRICULTURE (Aomori Museum of Art, JP)
5 Oct – 1 Dec 2019
Period 5 October – 1 December, 2019
Opening Hours 9:30-17:00(Last admission at 16:30)
Closed 28, 15 October 25, 11 November
Venue Aomori Museum of Art
185 Chikano, Yasuta, Aomori City, Aomori 038-0021
TEL +81 17-783-3000 FAX 017-783-5244 www.aomori-museum.jp
Admission:
Adults: 1,500(1,300) yen
Senior High School and University Students: 1,000(800) yen
Elementary and Junior High School Students: Free
*Amounts in parentheses are for advance tickets or per individual for groups of 20 or more.
*Those with mental or physical disabilities and one accompanying guest are admitted free of charge.
More info: http://www.aomori-museum.jp/ja/event/88/
Executive Committee for Aomori EARTH2019 will hold “AGROTOPIA –WHEN LIFE BECOMES ART THROUGH LOCAL AGRICULTURE”. This exhibition introduces contemporary art works mainly and try to expand the possibility of art through local agriculture.
Exhibition Structure:
Section I: Beginning from one apple
Artist: Amemiya Yosuke
Section II: Cultivating my land and spirit
Artists: Edo Tekirei, John Ruskin, Jean-François MILLET, Tsuneda Ken, THE EUGENE Studio, Iwana Yasutake
Section III: In transparent farmland
Artists: Li Binyuan, Niwa Yoshinori
Section IV: Gathering, Making, Cultivating
Artist: Takana Koki
Section V: Unto this lively earth
Artists: Ando Shoeki, olta, Kubo Hiroko, Tsukamoto Yoshio, Asano Yuriko, Ohkojima Maki+Agros Art Project, Mihara Soichiro
Abstracted / Family, 2019
Koki Tanaka: Aichi Triennale 2019 Taming Y/Our Passion (Aichi Arts Center, Aichi)
1 Aug – 14 Oct 2019
Period: August 1 (Thursday) to October 14 (Monday, public holiday), 2019 [75 days]
Main Venues:
Aichi Arts Center
Nagoya City Art Museum
Nagoya City (Shikemichi and Endoji)
Toyota City (Toyota Municipal Museum of Art and venues in the vicinity of Toyotashi station)
Theme: 情の時代 Taming Y/Our Passion
Curatorial Team:
Artistic Director: TSUDA Daisuke (Journalist / Media Activist)
Planning Adviser: AZUMA Hiroki
Chief Curator(Head of Curatorial Team): IIDA Shihoko
Curator(International Contemporary Art Exhibition): NOSE Yoko, Pedro REYES, WASHIDA Meruro
Curator (Film Program): SUGIHARA Eijun
Curator (Performing Arts): SOMA Chiaki
Curator (Music Program): OYAMA Takuya
Curator (Learning): AIDA Daiya
Consultant: HOU Hanru
Designer: MAEDA Yutaka
Organizer:Aichi Triennale Organizing Committee
More info: https://aichitriennale.jp/index.html
The Aichi Triennale, which has been held every three years since 2010, is one of the largest international contemporary art festivals in Japan. In 2019, the festival’s fourth iteration will feature an international contemporary art exhibition alongside film, performing arts and music programs, bringing together over 80 individual artists and artist groups across a range of expressive domains to showcase their cutting-edge works.
Koki Tanaka Exhibition venue: Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art 10F)
https://aichitriennale.jp/en/artist/tanaka-koki.html
TANAKA Koki Screening / Assembly Abstracted / Family
Duration: 120 min (TBC)
Language: Japanese
Ticket prices: ¥1,300
Sat, Sep 7, 19:00 / Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art 10F
Sat, Sep 21, 16:00 / Lecture Hall, Toyota Municipal Museum of Art
More info: https://aichitriennale.jp/en/artist/ext-tanaka-koki.html
Koki Tanaka, Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie), Courtesy of the artist, Vitamin Creative Space (Guangzhou), Aoyama Meguro (Tokyo)
Koki Tanaka: Theater Commons Tokyo ’19
“Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie)”」
Screening|Assembly
Date
February 22nd [Fri] / 19:00
February 23rd [Sat] / 19:00
February 24th [Sun] / 13:00
*A space will be set up for guests to mingle and engage in discussion prior to and following the film for each day.
Performance times
150 min.
Venue
Goethe-Institut Tokyo
7-5-56 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052
Tel: 03-3584-3201
How to Participate
Booking essential. Show general admission pass on entry.
Buy Pass
Language
Screening|English (with Japanese subtitles)
Assembly|Japanese
Credit
Concept and Direction|Koki Tanaka
Protagonist|Woohi Chung, Christian Hofer
Lecturer and Project Adviser|Tong-hyon Han
Lecturer|Masao Nishizaki (Housenka)
Legal Adviser|Takahiro Akedo
Lecturer for Preliminary Study Session|Tadahito Yamamoto (the Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage in Tokyo)
Director of Photography|Shinya Aoyama
Sound and Sound Editor|Ryota Fujiguchi
Production Manager|Saki Tanaka
English Subtitles|Dean Shimauchi Translations
Legal Translation|Maki Higashikubo
Supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
Commissioned by Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst
Thanks to Aoyama Meguro, Vitamin Creative Space
More info| https://theatercommons.tokyo/
In view of the worldwide rise of nationalism, populism, and xenophobia, the artistic social studies of Koki Tanaka focus on how we live together in societies. Commissioned by the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, the project Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie) (2018) highlights the mutual incomprehension and mistrust between ZainichiKoreans and ethnic Japanese, to plead for vigilance toward racism and discrimination. The project centers on a series of conversations in various settings between two protagonists – a Zainichi Korean living in Japan and a Swiss national whose Japanese great-grandparents immigrated to the United States around 1900 – who have not met before. Shadowed by the artist and his camera team, they travel to various locations where Zainichi Koreans experienced discrimination in Tokyo metropolitan area, to grapple with questions of (their own cultural) identity and how to take a stand against the simplistic worldviews of racist groups. The films that grew out of the project illustrate that coexistence and mutual appreciation are possible if we talk to each other: private as well as public conversations are key.
For this screening of the short version for Theater Commons Tokyo, we would like to create the opportunity for sharing experiences of the artwork as a group. An assembly space will be set up for guests to mingle and engage in discussion prior to and following the film.
Profile
Koki Tanaka
Koki Tanaka was born in 1975. His creative activities are centered around his interest in documenting phenomena such as the organization of happenings or the inner workings of groups. His art has been on view in numerous countries, including, most recently, at Kunsthaus Graz (2017), the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, Berlin (2015), the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2014), the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo (2013), the Museum of Art, Seoul (2013), the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2012), the Taipei Contemporary Art Center (2012), and the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2007). Tanaka was Japan’s official representative at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 and received Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year Award in 2015. In 2017, he contributed work to Skulptur Projekte Münster and the 57th Venice Biennale.
Koki Tanaka: Catastrophe and the Power of Art (Mori Art Museum, Tokyo)
6 Oct 2018 – 20 Jan 2019
Roppongi Hills and Mori Art Museum 15th Anniversary Exhibition
Catastrophe and the Power of Art
Period:
2018.10.6 [Sat] – 2019.1.20 [Sun]
Open everyday
Open Hours:
10:00-22:00 (Last Admission: 21:30)
* 10:00-17:00 on Tuesdays (Last Admission: 16:30)
* January 1 [Tue], 2019 open until 22:00 (Last Admission: 21:30)
Venue*
Mori Art Museum (53F, Roppongi Hills Mori Tower)
Admission:
Adult 1,800 yen
University / Highschool student 1,200 yen
Child (Age 4 up to Junior highschool student) 600 yen
Senior (Ages 65 & over) 1,500 yen
More info: https://www.mori.art.museum
Artists & Projects:
* In alphabetical order of artists’ (sur)names / project titles
Shiva Ahmadi
Ai Weiwei
Miroslaw Balka
Ban Shigeru
Miriam Cahn
CATPC in collaboration with Renzo Martens
Sheba Chhachhi
Chim ↑ Pom
Thomas Demand
Christoph Draeger
Fujii Hikaru
Felix Gonzalez-Torres
Hatakeyama Naoya
Mona Hatoum
Hirakawa Kota
Thomas Hirschhorn
Horio Sadaharu
Khaled Hourani
Huang Hai-Hsin
HYOGO AID ’95 by ART (*)
Ikeda Manabu
Isaac Julien
Hiwa K
Kato Tsubasa
Oliver Laric
Eva and Franco Mattes
Miyajima Tatsuo
Miyamoto Ryuji
Yoko Ono
Georges Rousse
Katerina Seda
Wolfgang Staehle
Helmut Stallaerts
Swoon
Takahashi Masako (ARTS for HOPE)
Takeda Shimpei
Tanaka Koki
Gillian Wearing
Yoneda Tomoko
Muhammad ‘Ucup’ Yusuf
* “HYOGO AID ’95 by ART” participating artists:
Akasegawa Genpei, Ay-O, Domoto Hisao, Hosoe Eiko, Imai Toshimitsu, Kano Mitsuo, Kikuhata Mokuma, Kusama Yayoi, Lee Ufan, Maeda Josaku, Moriyama Daido, Motonaga Sadamasa, Nakanishi Natsuyuki, Narahara Ikko, Noda Tetsuya, Okamoto Shinjiro, Shinohara Ushio, Shiraga Kazuo, Takamatsu Jiro, Tomatsu Shomei, Yamada Masaaki, Yokoo Tadanori, Yoshihara Hideo
Recent decades have seen a stream of catastrophes around the world – from 9.11 in 2001 to the global financial crisis of 2008, the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, and the list goes on – and many artists have produced works dealing with these tragic events, in an endeavor to inform the wider world of them, and ensure their stories are passed down to future generations. Unlike media coverage, with its emphasis on objectivity, such documenting from a personal perspective presents to us another kind of truth, difficult to discern in the shadow of numerically overwhelming public opinion. Such works may also be designed to expose contradictions and cover-ups in wider society, or express personal loss and grief.
Catastrophe and crisis can drive us to despair, yet it is also true that the energy released as we try to recover can simultaneously spark imagination, and boost creative output. The large cohort of artists from Japan and elsewhere is working for a better society since the 2011 earthquake; attempting to offer new visions, depicting ideals and hopes encompassing wishes for reconstruction and rebirth.
“Catastrophe and the Power of Art” will look at how art deals with the major catastrophes that strike communities, as well as personal tragedies, and the role art can play in our recovery; contemplating – amid today’s mounting crises of war, terrorism, burgeoning refugee numbers, and destruction of the environment – the dynamic “power of art” to turn negative into positive.
Koki Tanaka, Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie), 2018, production photo. Courtesy of the artist, Vitamin Creative Space (Guangzhou), Aoyama Meguro (Tokyo)
Koki Tanaka: Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie) (Migros Museum, Zurich)
25 Aug – 11 Nov 2018
August 25–November 11, 2018
Opening: Friday, August 24, 2018
Visitor address
Limmatstrasse 270
CH–8005 Zurich
Directions
Mailing address
Postfach 1766
CH–8031 Zurich
Tel +41 44 277 20 50
Fax +41 44 277 62 86
info(at)migrosmuseum.ch
Opening hours
Tue/Wed/Fri 11 am–6 pm
Thu 11 am–8 pm
Sat/Sun 10 am–5 pm
Public Holidays
Admission
Adults: CHF 12
Reduced: CHF 8
Thu 5-8 pm: Free admission
More
In view of the worldwide rise of nationalism, populism, and xenophobia, the artistic social studies of Koki Tanaka (b. Tochigi, Japan, 1975) focus on how we live together in societies. Realized especially for his exhibition at the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, the project Vulnerable Histories (A Road Movie) (2018) focuses on an example from Tanaka’s native country, the mutual incomprehension and mistrust between Zainichi Koreans and ethnic Japanese, to plead for vigilance when it comes to racism and discrimination. The project centers on a series of conversations in various settings between two protagonists who have not met before. Shadowed by the artist and his camera team, they travel to several locations in Tokyo to grapple with questions of (their own cultural) identity and how to take a stand against the simplistic and selective worldviews of racist groups. The films that grew out of the project illustrate that coexistence and mutual appreciation are possible if we talk to each other: private as well as public conversations are key. The exhibition provides a framework for continuing the exchange of ideas Tanaka initiates. “Live speakers”—representatives of the art and academic worlds whom visitors are encouraged to approach—will be available for the entire duration of the presentation to foster further discussion in a variety of formats.
The exhibition is curated by Heike Munder, director, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, and is the artist’s first solo show in Switzerland. An accompanying monograph will be released by JRP|Ringier during the second half of 2018.
Koki Tanaka lives and works in Kyoto, Japan. His work has been presented around the world, with recent exhibitions at the Kunsthaus Graz (2017), the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, Berlin (2015), the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2014), the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo (2013), the Museum of Art, Seoul (2013), the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2012), the Taipei Contemporary Art Center (2012), Centre A, Vancouver (2010), the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art (2009), the Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2007), and elsewhere. Tanaka officially represented Japan at the 55th Venice Biennale in 2013 and was Deutsche Bank’s Artist of the Year in 2015. In 2017, he participated in Skulptur Projekte Münster and the 57th Venice Biennale.
Supported by Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)
forms of time, the poiesis and the way – thinking from Koki Tanaka’s
artworks and texts
9.3 – 30, 2017
However, I have regarded Koki Tanaka as an artist who has written many interesting texts in which he discusses issues important for critique, along with the production of artwork. As an avid reader of Tanaka’s text, I have interpreted a series of his artworks from the viewpoint inherent in the artist himself through which I had a vague idea that there would be different ways of interpretation other than the preceding “from phenomenon to act, and to collective act.” In other words, I envisioned that Tanaka’s artwork might had been interpreted in ways different from his original purpose, and, fundamental but new issues would be depicted through rediscovering the problems and their solutions put forth by the artist himself.
Based on the above interest, in order to design this exhibition, I first deciphered Tanaka’s earliest artwork and enormous amount of texts. Based on that reading, I explicitly described the principle and attitude underlying his artistic activity. It was a journey to follow his path of production and thinking. By thinking back on a sequence of his artwork up until the present based on the point found by the description, the potential of the Tanaka’s artwork was maximally expanded in light of his original intention.
And, fortunately, while describing his production and methods, this process also prompted a rethink of the production and methods I use. Because his themes that he had confronted sincerely (differences in viewpoints among “creator” / “viewer” / “artwork” and styles of relationship among “act of creating” / “artwork” / “act of viewing”: they either confine or expand the “concept of time” under some conditions) were located near ones that I had intellectualized. Our thoughts resonated with each other and brought mine to a major transformation.
Tanaka published a text “The world – variation in speed – regarding ‘slowness’ of conceptual art” under the alias Nobi Chijimi and received the 3rd Musashino Art University Press Critique Award in 2000. He conducted an analysis of contemporary society in the text and brought to light two issues of “disconnection” and “intimidation,” and considered “artwork” as a means of resistance against them. In 2017, these issues became much more serious than when it was written, and the significance to learn from his artwork and methods seems to be intensifying. However, his “artwork” will accept diverse viewpoints even beyond the artist’s intention, and, as is shown in another text, varieties of different interpretations will be generated individually through multiple concepts of time. Needless to say, my interpretation is also nothing more than a partial and small (possibly huge) example against the fertile ground of time potentially contained in Tahaka’s artwork. However, I would be grateful if my trial could free the point of view and style of relationship that is conducive to one fixed understanding, in order to discover countless forms of time in the exhibition space, and subsequently, new paths to different relationships over his artwork can be generated through various viewpoints.
Koki TANAKA: 57th Biennale di Venezia | Viva Arte Viva (Venice, Arsenale)
5.13 – 11.26, 2017
curated by Christine Macel
Exhibition venues: Giardini and Arsenale
Date: May 13 – November 26, 2017
Opening: May 10, 2017
Vernissage: May 10th – 11th – 12th 2017
Official Opening and Award Ceremony: May 13th 2017
We are delighted to share that Koki Tanaka is participating in the 57th Venice Biennale:
His work is part of the main exhibition VIVA ARTE VIVA, curated by Christine Macel.
More info:
http://www.labiennale.org/en/art/index.html
Preview programme
Download brochure and maps
Koki Tanaka Provisional Studies: Workshop #7 How to Live Together and Sharing the Unknown 2017, (c) Skulptur Projekte 2017 photo: Henning Rogge
Koki TANAKA: Skulptur Projekte Münster 2017(Münster, Germany)
6.10 – 10.1, 2017
LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur
Domplatz 10
48143 Münster
Koki TANAKA
Provisional Studies: Workshop #7 How to Live Together and Sharing the Unknown, Skulptur Projekte 2017
Material
Action and workshops, installation of the video documentation in four rooms
Location
Johannisstraße 18/20,
48143 Münster
access via the passage between Johannisstraße 18/20 and 21, oppositeAegidiimarkt
Accompanying booklet available on-site
Participants’ workshops
Tasnim Baghdadi, Stephan Biermann, Isa Selçuk Dilmen, Annette Hinricher, Anna Mondain-Monval, JoAnn Osborne, Rolf Tiemann, Lina Zaher
Facilitators’ workshops
Ahmad Alajlan, Kai van Eikels, Andrew Maerkle, Hendrik Meyer, Tami Yanagisawa
Crew
Director of photography: Hikaru Fujii
Sound: Ryota Fujiguchi
Editor: Koki Tanaka
Camera operator: Shinya Aoyama
Boom operator: Kadoaki Izuta
Assistants: Lejla Aliev, Jakob Reuter
Workshop / filming coordination: Sophia Trollmann
Assistant: Alexandra Südkamp
Logistics: Jan Enste / jae kunst und medien
Textiles support: Kvadrat
Equipment rental and support: Kunstakademie Münster, Filmwerkstatt Münster e. V., Atelier Screen TV, ARTISTS’ GUILD, C-RENT, CAMCAR, cineOne
Subtitles: Eurotape – Media Services GmbH
via: https://www.skulptur-projekte.de/#/En/Projects/2017/844/TANAKA