I heard that Douglas Gordon was in Japan, so I went to Kyoto to meet him for an interview. I did not meet him in Tokyo, where his piece "Confessions of a Justified Sinner" (1995) is currently part of the "History in the Making: A Retrospective of the Turner Prize" exhibition (at Mori Art Museum, through 7/13), but I wanted to catch the "Art Rules" show on May 3rd - the only one in Japan - at the National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto. The British top artist, who is primarily known for "24 Hour Psycho" (1993), a 24-hour extended version of Hitchcock’s classic, and his collaboration with Philippe Parreno in "Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait" (2006), was one of the performers.

 

The interview I made the day before the performance will be published in the upcoming issue of "ART iT" (out 7/17). The performance itself was charged with raw energy, and I found it quite surprising that a state-run institution like Kyoto’s National Museum of Modern Art offered to host it. Appearing next to Gordon himself were Chicks On Speed, a band of female art students, and other creators from the realms of art, music and fashion. This Kyoto edition of the performance featured also OOIOO, another girls' band around Boredoms member Yoshimi, as well as Berlin-based Hanayo’s rap (playback), and additional choreography by Strange Kinoko Dance Company leader Ito Chie.

 

The basic idea and message behind the event is expressed quite clearly in the theme song’s (originally English) lyrics that were interpreted in Japanese by Hanayo and her daughter Tenko, in order to spread the word better among the estimated 300 visitors, most of which were naturally Japanese.
"Art is a playground for people who have everything / the rich will always be with us / Art Basel, Miami / the Venice Biennale / more controlled than lottery, always modern / who’s on top, the artists or the dealers? / where are all the women, they're underneath the men / … art’s the rule, cash the tool! / are you a nobody, well die and get famous / your own retrospective at just 33! / what looks good today, will it look good tomorrow? / destroy your career in one brush stroke / art in public spaces / government funded crap / the buro-arty experts - their hands under the tap / project one hit wonders always in the front row / it’s Jeffrey Deitch, the heat seeking missile / … art’s the rule, cash the tool!"

 

The song’s maximum volume playback, accompanied by a video that was created as a work-in-residency in Kyoto, was followed by a slide lecture discussing the phallocratic system of contemporary art from a feminist perspective, and a (not exactly skillful) vocal and guitar performance (limited to five chords) by Gordon, the only man on stage, for which he was eventually "punished" when the army of female artists slapped his bare bottom with vinyl records. Toward the event’s climax, most of the performers got stark naked and showered with paint, and closed the spectacle with a wild dance that involved everybody on and off stage, artists and audience alike. I honestly thought I was in the 1960s. Not that I had experienced something like that 40 years ago, or had some kind of déjà vu, but I just felt that this event was somehow in the same vein as the underground, hippie and antiestablishment movements in the '60s.

 

First performed in 2006 at New York’s MoMA, where Gordon was holding a solo exhibition, "Art Rules" later traveled to the Centre Pompidou, Tate, and other museums in Europe and America. Performing at museums only is one of the piece’s mantras, whereas I'm sure there must exist also divergent opinions. While the artists themselves claim that it’s because the piece is a take on the "system of art", one could counter with a question like, "What’s the point of doing that within the system of art?" There are perhaps also people who advocate the artist’s "departure from the market-driven art scene and museums they criticize," but that’s of course merely idealistic and theoretical talk, as in reality, MoMA and all other major American and European museums are firmly integrated in the market. In a way, they can in fact even be considered as essential and absolutely necessary components of the market.

 

On the other hand, there will always be criticism and accusation of established artists in the system whose works are being traded at high prices, such as Douglas Gordon. I can almost hear people denouncing, "What gives you the right to criticize the market? Do you really believe you'll get away with the performance?" I for one think it’s alright to praise Gordon’s courage. His reputation and the prices his works fetch are undeniable facts from which Gordon won't be able to escape. In perfect awareness of the criticism and accusation that will follow, he goes as far as to drop his pants, which I really think is admirable! Although, frankly speaking, the performance’s style was not really to my taste, it was quite entertaining. It was something that, at least here in Japan, one doesn't get to see every day, and I hope they're going to do more of these shows in the future. Or maybe someone else wants to try something similar?

 

The National Museum of Modern Art in Kyoto has reportedly contacted several other institutions in Japan with the suggestion to co-host and co-fund the event, but these efforts proved fruitless. For the one-off performance the museum eventually spent "the budget of a full-scale exhibition", and that animal courage I find highly praiseworthy. However, the usual flaws in the PR work have to be pointed out. As an editor of an art magazine, I was fortunate to be informed, but even among insiders here in Tokyo, only a few people knew about the event. Even though all 300 available tickets were sold, it would be false to say (at least that’s my impression) that the event was the "talk of the town" even in the Kyoto-Hanshin area. Come on guys, it’s Douglas Gordon! He would have deserved it so much that more people knew about the performance.