Tokyo Biennale '70: Between Man and Matter
tokyo biennale ‘ man matter japanese 第回日本国際美術展「人間と物質 」 hepburn dai kai nihon hokusai bijutsuten ningen busshitsu opened may tokyo metropolitan art museum later traveled kyoto nagoya fukuoka tenth eighteen international art exhibition held sponsored organised mainichi shimbun newspaper long history organising significant art exhibition history biennial tokyo biennale marked shift nationalrepresentation prizeawarding model one focused forefront development contemporary art practice specifically conscious juxtaposition latest trend postminimalism conceptualism across euroamerica japan leading art critic nakahara yusuke selected commissioner minemura toshiaki mainichi reconceive edition biennale eventually settling theme man matter japanese subtitle exhibition literally translates man matter nakahara deliberately chose phrase man matter reflects nakaharas interest exploring intagibility site rinjōshugi insituismonsiteism nakahara picked title potential title real imaginary art concept minemura served organizer biennale joined mainichi cultural enterprise department key catalyst shifting direction biennale large part ability conceive new format due immersion contemporary art scene paris studied minemura chose nakahara background physic conceptual mindset despite relatively young age heavy responsibility commissioner tokyo biennale seen culmination nakaharas art criticism throughout alongside peer tōno yoshiaki hariu ichiro known big three art critic actively commented artist selfreflexive positionality affinity euroamerican practice noticed increasing polarisation discussion ultranationalism kokusuishugi verus ‘abroad’ kaigai ‘international art establishments’ kokusai gadan commenting transitional phase former latter argued true internationality would emerge one longer contested existence vice versa nakahara would continue working curatorial project developing notion internationality namely commissioner japanese pavilion th th venice biennale tōno hariu commissioned preceding three iteration nakahara note introduction catalogue concept exhibition inspired recent foreign exhibition attitude become form curated harald szeemann kunsthalle bern antiillusion procedure material held whitney museum american art year critical nakahara prioritisation conceptualisation work final execution nakaharas concept biennale understood formulation museum ‘matrix’ matrix place situation man encounter art matter rather nondescript space surround artwork matrix neutral regarded integral aspect relationship man matter best evidenced nakaharas essay exhibition catalogue opposed work’s basic quality something closed totality form density ‘stressing’ relationship human matter work something ‘experienced’ emphasize circumstance placement place distribution process time necessary order produce situation human matter come contact work participant simply make studio exhibit directly scout area produce work based see location longer something abstract undeniable ingredient contact human matter explicated nakaharas commentary biennale bijutsu techô initial showing focusing specifically concept life space privilege art object sacrosanct material widely known phenomenon appears integration art life became conspicuous work exhibited museum space word making noneveryday space museum everydaylike let alienation “space” happen repeatedly talked shift work “thing mono” work “space” instead regarding workasobject something transcends surrounding space suggested equating object space granting significance relationship object space real life like life space seikatsu kûkan live various object exist transcendentally life space act exists aggregate sense one say work “space” life space “structures” kenichi yoshida even characterised nakaharas concept matrix bear affinity notion total work art could reflected organizer tracked process putting exhibit together paper documentation minemura recorded trial exhibit museum resisted certain work art space work refused due museum’s reluctance accommodate request since mainichis international biennial usually accompanied two volume catalogue one introduction artist documentation exhibited work minemura took advantage publishing process documentation final installed exhibition first volume artist given free rein include many biographical detail image within assigned page resulting broad spectrum plan actual diagram manifesto inspiration image sketch rendering xerox scan etc detail construction exhibition meant critically considered presence artwork space thus minemura made sure bring international artist tokyo able produce work spacematrix well allow adaptation work response local environment kenichi yoshida note giuseppe penone’s dematerialization room sought dislocate space using series circular mirror measuring five centimeter diameter placed various location museum room ueno park museum located michio horikawa’s work nakanomata river plan consisted stone picked mailed exhibit record collected richard serra’s piece simply tree planted park would eventually become imperceptible blending rest environment okada takahiko remarked rather conceal christo wrapped thing order generate something cannot seen kawara living new york also invited date painting hugged wall entire room neatly organized almost minimalist manner repeating distending infinite space time matsuzawa yukata’s piece pointed immaterial pondering state death nonexistence played dichotomy presence absence duration exhibition several installation shifted original space artist whose work moved include rinke krasinski koshimizu van elk kaltenbach panamarenko barbara london also noted tokyo biennale first international exhibition feature video installation special video section included nakaya fujikos static egg yamaguchi katsuhiros la meninas – yamamoto keigos startracing game komura masaos junked car work buy wada morihiro kobayashi hakudō matsumoto shōji shigeko kubota however appears video section considered separate rest workinstallations aforementioned video artist included official list artist catalogue produced tokyo biennale also notable range photographic documentation available case produced practicing artist experimented representing cumulative form exhibition specific aesthetic style kai yoshiaki note nakaharas interest organising exhibition life space seikatsu kûkan strong affinity practice prominent photographer tômatsu shomei moriyama daido affiliated provoke although appeared divide photographic practice circulation visual art major art magazine bijutsu techô geijustu shinchô ōtsuji kiyojis photographic documentation tokyo biennale proved clear intersection within conceptual aesthetic interest japanese photographer international contemporary art kai characterises ōtsujis photograph unusual document art exhibition entire space central composition photograph compared conventional centering around artwork kai describes photographed gallery vacant without coldness modern art museum white cube space otherwise—in word without veneer austerity seriousness rather ordinary space accessible lay person ōtsuji also captured several artwork making process photograph volunteer executing sol lewitts work focused aesthetic labour finished artwork kai categorises ōtsujis work taken using typical style konpora photography use wide lens horizontal format distance main subject enables photographer depict surroundings preference undramatic moment anzai shigeo painter turned photographer late asked nakahara support several exhibiting artist including richard serra sol lewitt daniel buren production sitespecific work assisting began photographing production process completed work anzai took type photo showing artist process ofcreating work work art insitu closeup wide shot documentation artists’ performance artists’ portrait ‘snapshot’like photograph anzais personal relationship exhibiting artist status requested photographer reflected proxemical relationship camera subject providing close intimate perspective compared ōtsuji anzai description production process ‘not going straight artwork keeping distance’ contextualises photographic documentation position gaze ‘on side artist’ rather object initial reception tokyo biennale local lukewarm format edition biennale repeated subsequent year recent scholarly curatorial project revisited asserted importance biennale unprecedented platform international artistic exchange work included exchange taking place around tokyo biennale exhibited contextualised significant node international artistic exchange institution tate modern collected several work shown biennale exhibiting permanent collection gallery exhibition material object – curated mark godfrey symposium biennale also held conjunction opening display featuring paper presentation art historian yohko watanabe susumu koshimizu one youngest artist included exhibition given intensely collaborative nature work made installed tokyo metropolitan art museum space exhibition layout composition subject ongoing research project keio university art center research center endowed archival material belonging minemura toshiaki produced presentation exhibition layout render introduction art archive xiii tokyo biennale revisited keio university art space museum modern art new york recreated edward krasiński’s installation biennale curator shinji kohmoto collaboration artist koki tanaka organised twoday workshop kyoto municipal museum art included among thing reading nakahara’s statement ‘between man matter’ action fabric related christo’s wrapped floor installation art historian lucy lippard also included exhibition selection significant show seminal publication six year reiko tomii chart tokyo biennale belonging series large scale exhibition promulgated consolidated established formation group monoha alongside exhibition like biennale de paris trend contemporary japanese art national museum modern art kyoto august aspect new japanese art national museum modern art tokyo contemporary art exhibition japan tokyo metropolitan art museum also sponsored mainichi shimbun significantly contrast precedent establishing artist collectivesgroups selforganised group exhibition tomii also note tokyo biennale third major exhihition japan hosted inbound interface japanese artist able consider positionality relation postwaremerging contemporary euroamerican art world first “salon de mai” tokyo featuring modernist painting france “éxposition internationalede l’art actuelsekai konnichi bijutsuten” seminal presentation art informel japan tomii also note tokyo biennale unique mode abiding selecting criterion national representation context international exhibition unprecedented proposed viable alternative existing venice são paolo biennales already tried reform importantly tomii considers tokyo biennale proving japanese artist practice par exceeding innovation euroamerican counterpart month leading tokyo biennale concurrent planning expo attracting lot resistance artistprotestors nationalistic propaganda evoked exponentially developed technocentric vision metropolitan japan soon antiexpo sentiment among artist crystallized analogy expo participant war propaganda painter world war two july statement appeal artist bikyõtõ short bijutsuka kyõtõ kaigi artist jointstruggle council advocated destruction every artistic institution considered part modern rationalism including expo tokyo biennale list artist exhibited tokyo biennale according exhibition catalogue reiko tomiis article keio university art center research project almost half artist included exhibition participated year ‘when attitude become form exhibition nakahara seen earlier explicitly reference exhibition catalogue unlike preceding edition tokyo biennale unique selection artist whereas previous edition included anywhere artist previous edition focused competition aspect international exhibition well celebrating best modern euroamerican art featuring special display henry moore pablo picasso joan miró alberto giacometti also clear division domestic japanese selection work foreign section international artist travelled tokyo adapt install work artist present tokyo marked asterix city residence time exhibition included bracket dietrich albrecht stuttgart carl andre new york boesem gorinchem holland daniel buren paris christo new york jan dibbets amsterdam ger van elk amsterdam enokura köji tokyo luciano fabro milan barry flanagan london han haacke new york horikawa michio niigata inumaki kenji osaka stephen j kaltenback new york kawaguchi tatsuo kobe kawara new york koike kazushige shizuoka stanislav kolibal prague koshimizu susumu yokohama jannis kounellis rome edward krasinski warsaw sol lewitt new york roelof rouw london matsuzawa yutaka shimosuwa mario merz turin narita katsuhiko tokyo bruce nauman pasadena nomura hitoshi kyoto panamarenko antwerp giuseppe penone turin markus raetz amsterdam klaus rinke düsseldorf reinber ruthenbeck düsseldorf jean frédéric schnyder bern richard serra new york shõji satoru nagoya keith sonnier new york takamatsu jirõ tokyo tanaka shintarö hitachi gilberto zorio turin