Each year, all eyes are on the Tokyo University of the Arts Graduation Works Exhibition, arguably the premier event for viewing an incredible array of artwork by many of the nation’s most promising young artists. The exhibition provides a forum for collectors of all stripes to snap up enticing new work, while rubbing elbows with the great and good of the cosmopolitan art scene. Erudite editor Miho Sauser – expert in everything from traditional crafts to contemporary art, architecture, and design – offers a curated selection of her personal picks from this year’s crop of student artists. Read on to enjoy a vicarious tour of the distinctly twenty-first-century materials and other surprises the exhibition had in store.
The future of expression in a digital age
■The graphical intersection of technology and paper
Kakou Kami | KAWANA Taimu The artist reportedly created this graphical paper prototype with the aid of a cutting plotter, essentially a sort of digital die-cut machine that automatically cuts paper according to vectors rendered in Illustrator and other software. The finished result offers a slightly different feel from traditional analogue papercutting techniques, perhaps elucidating the differences between art and design. A transfixed crowd congregated around the extremely beautiful creations, clamoring for a closer look.
■Art in the age of digital reproduction
gosts | KASHIMA Yuka Now that copying content has become easier than ever in our digital world, the truly unique and original has a newfound cachet. It turns out that blockchain technology provides an antidote, and can be used to design one-of-a-kind, wholly uncopiable digital creatures. Leveraging the “Pepper’s ghost” illusion, Yuka Kashima creates digital creatures that appear to float in a shadowbox, presenting a new perspective on the nature of 3D and the moving image. Perhaps someday everyone will enjoy a digital pet of their own, on their PC or smartphone. Watching the squiggly little creature, I felt I had caught a glimpse of the future.
Making the most of modern materials
■A showstopper in a much-talked about material
prism-Rainbow Moutain | ONO Kai Over the past few years, Jesmonite has featured prominently in a number of works by Japanese artists. A composite material made from a combination of a reactive mineral base and a pure water-based acrylic resin, Jesmonite does not contain the organic solvents found in conventional resins, rendering it comparatively environmentally friendly. Easy to handle, Jesmonite has quickly garnered a loyal following as a composite modeling material. Perhaps created with the aid of a 3D printer, this organic sculptural form struck a delightfully conspicuous presence. The surface was not painted, but rather bound entirely in polychromatic acrylic yarn. It was hard to resist the temptation to reach out and touch the fluffy yarn. This large-scale work measures over two meters tall, but I would certainly want to own a scaled-down edition for my desk.
■Skyscrapers swaddled in carbon fiber
The Marunouchi Mountains | TAKASUKA Rin This architectural model imagines the skyscrapers of Tokyo’s Marunouchi district as a Marunouchi Mountain Range, enveloped in a sheet-like membrane. Made from carbon fibers, the proposed film would be thin and transparent enough to allow light through, while still being impermeable to water. The work is reminiscent of Christo, the Bulgarian-born, naturalized American artist known for wrapping the Reichstag and other prominent public institutions with enormous fabric sheets. However, Takasuka’s proposal would call for the creation of “mountain trails” along the membrane, where the city’s denizens could walk. Moreover, rainfall would be diverted via moats, built along the trails. In this way, the project fruitfully constitutes both visual art and architecture. I felt the project compellingly demonstrated the unexpected similarities between an urban skyline and a towering mountain range. Plus, now I really want to see Marunouchi under wraps.
■Typography as material
Typecollage | KATO Hironoshin Since time immemorial, man has made tools using merely the limited supply of materials he could get his hands on. But in the twenty-first century, what materials are readily available at our disposal in our modern society? This artist reasons that the answer may be typography. Armed with individual Chinese characters as elemental building blocks, Kato created self-referential furniture with these semiotic signs, reading “table,” “shelf,” “time,” chair,” “light,” “tape,” etc. Although typography has inspired a great many artists, I’m hard-pressed to recall actual furniture made in the shapes of type. I also enjoyed the supplementary video explaining the artist’s process, illustrating how individual letters became furniture.
Age-old themes find a voice in the present
■Visualizing faith
Buddha’s belongings | YAMASHITA Kimie This collection of work thematically explores the range of items the Buddha is seen holding, running the gamut from lotus flowers to vajras, swords, lassos, wish-fulfilling Cintamani jewels, and more. The artwork is particularly representative of the effects found in the hands of the Sahasrabhuja, a.k.a. the Thousand-Armed Kannon. Each illustration manages to deftly capture the symbolism and significance embodied by not only the Buddha, but even the very items he held. The graphical designs fostered a deeper familiarity and appreciation of these religious items, which are not necessarily seen too often in the course of daily life.
■Binding love in beautiful books
THE EDEN | TAKEDA Kanna Perhaps this work can be best described as a confessional collection of essays, each page brimming with uncontainable love for an adored sweetheart. The illustrations depict imaginary flowers that would bloom in the private garden of paradise known only to the two lovers. Meanwhile, the adjoining pages contain impassioned essays manifesting the depths of the author’s love. (So impassioned, in fact, the reader almost feels a little embarrassed at having been privy to such a personal account.) However, given the exceptionally gifted writing, uncommonly high-quality layout, and charmingly handmade sewn binding, the publishing industry will surely want to remember the name Kanna Takeda.
■The image of those who live on in our hearts
Tears | TAKENO Yumi Perhaps the artist was close to this elderly woman. Either way, we all can identify with the work as an embodiment of the image of those special someones near and dear to our hearts. A portrait of the woman’s back was displayed behind the sculpture, by way of juxtaposition. Simultaneously sad and subtly warm, the woman’s expression is hard to place, yet gradually begins to tug at the heartstrings.The University Art Museum and campus were filled with many interesting works by master’s program students. It would take at least two days to fully appreciate all the artwork on display.
Given the recent proliferation of projection mapping and teamLab-esque visuals, VR and AR technologies have increasingly become a familiar part of the ether. Admittedly, I rather expected the exhibition halls to be filled with immersive reality works, heavy on cutting-edge technology and external sensory stimuli. However, I was pleasantly pleased to find that the majority of the student work celebrated the analogue, and bore the hallmarks of inimitable human touch. I was also encouraged by the number of powerful conceptual works rooted in an experience of the real world. Ultimately, it was somehow comfortingly fitting how so much of the artwork served as a reminder of my own artistic roots and what I love about art, regardless of all the fuss made about specific eras or trends. At the end of the day, perhaps that’s what truly defines an art university graduation works exhibition.
Text/Photos: Miho Sauser
Miho Sauser Editor. Graduate of the Sophia University Department of History. Former deputy editor-in-chief of Esquire Japan. Having spent nearly a decade in Shanghai, Sauser currently serves as an active contributor to media outlets in both Japan and China. Her specialties include modern art, architecture, design, and traditional craftwork. To date, Sauser has interviewed numerous “living national treasures,” such as Kazumi Murose and Kozo Kato, as well as over 100 notable craft artisans including Masanobu Ando, Akito Akagi, and Ryuij Mitani. Interviews with contemporary artists include Hiroshi Sugimoto, Mika Ninagawa, Nobuyoshi Araki, Yoshihiko Ueda, Yoshitomo Nara, Hiroshi Senju, and Kohei Nawa. In the architectural design realm, she has interviewed Kengo Kuma, Kenya Hara, Naoto Fukasawa, Kenmei Nagaoka, and many others. Sauser is also the author of Chéngshí de shǒuyì (“Honest Handcrafts”), an engaging introduction to the world of Japanese craftwork.
68th Tokyo University of the Arts Graduation Works Exhibitions
Dates: Tuesday, January 28th through Sunday, February 2nd, 2020 Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum (Undergraduate Exhibitions) Tokyo University of the Arts Campus/University Art Museum (Graduate School Exhibitions) https://diploma-works.geidai.ac.jp
