For the first time in years I spent New Year’s in London and Paris. While several homeless and other people froze to death in Eastern Europe, where the gas supply via Ukraine was cut off, and also in western parts of the continent, and against the backdrop of anti-Israel and anti-Hamas demos related to the warring in the Gaza Strip, I was overwhelmed by exhibitions of Francis Bacon (at Tate Britain; exhibition closed) and Mark Rothko (at Tate Modern; through 2/1) in London. The shows were two excellent opportunities to get an overview of these two masters' solid achievements.
photo by Marc Domage
photo by Marc Domage
The one outstanding event I caught in Paris was the "V≠L" exhibition (at Le laboratoire; exhibition closed), a collaboration between musician Ikeda Ryoji ("mathematics belong to the most genuine forms of beauty") and mathematician Benedict Gross, whose profile includes the position of director at Harvard University. The work centers around the 41st Mersenne prime (with 7,235,733 digits the largest proven prime number as of 2004; at present, the largest is the 46th with 12,978,189 digits), and a random natural number with a similar number of digits. The numbers are printed onto table-shaped objects about 1 x 5 meters in size, two of which are lined up in the basement gallery. The numbers are so tiny that they are barely visible to the naked eye, and in order to view the more than seven million digits, visitors are given magnifying glasses at the entrance. The absence of music or sound whatsoever, and the dim, monochromatic interior, lends the spaces a somewhat ascetic atmosphere.
Ikeda explains, "Prime numbers are particular numbers that are treated by mathematicians almost like jewels, whereas random number are like pebbles without mathematical meaning. I, however, find random numbers much more intriguing, because while certainly existing in a mathematical sense, one will never know whether they are 'completely' random." And further, "The artwork is an artwork, nothing more and nothing less than that. What was important and above that truly entertaining for me was the year-long conversation with Benedict." He won't be showing this work in his solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in April, however expectations toward that show are growing.
photo by Gregoire Eloy
photo by Raymond Depardon
photo by Raymond Depardon
Fondation Cartier was showing an exhibition that was slightly different from what they're usually doing. Titled "Terre Natale: Ailleurs commence ici" (English title: "Native Land: Stop Eject"; through 3/15), it is a co-production of photographer/documentary filmmaker Raymond Depardon and philosopher Paul Virilio.
Shown on the ground floor are two films by Depardon. The first is titled "Donner la parole" (Hear Them Speak), and features people from ethnic minorities in Chile, Bolivia, Ethiopia and Brazil, as well as members of French language minority groups such as Occitan. Each of them speaks about the respective group’s current situation in his/her native language. "The white people have taken our land and killed our forest." "I wish the white people would leave so we could keep on living in peace." "My husband was arrested as a political criminal. I have no money and no belongings, all that I have left are my children." "I'm the last person who speaks this language." "This language is going to die out if we don't do anything about it." These are some of the comments that really move the viewer’s heart, especially since many of them are made in front of truly beautiful natural sceneries.
The other film is "Le tour du monde en 14 jours" (Around the world in 14 days), which Depardon reportedly made when he "felt the need to tackle [his] own world, the world contaminated by 'the disease of speed,' as denounced by Paul Virilio," after dashing around the world for "Donner la parole". Urban sceneries from Washington, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Tokyo, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and Cape Town are projected onto a double screen, this time completely without sound. On the one hand we have the "victims" of globalization who curse the development in their comments, and on the other, those who are comfortable in the globalized world and probably don't feel at all like "prepetrators". Both pieces highlight a dazzling contrast between the "depriving realm" and the "deprived realm". There exists of course the same kind of "depriving/deprived" relationship in the depriving realm, the remote cause of which is the same development of globalization. It’s not only about Chipaya and Yanomami, but there are "deprived" people also in Palestine, Bulgaria, or even Tokyo.
In the basement, visitors can watch a short video in which Virilio talks about the global situation and explains the outline of this exhibition while walking, as well as an installation of 48 monitors suspended from the ceiling by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, who keep branching out into various genres from their main business architecture. Shown are collages of news footage and documentary photographs, all of which are related to relocation, transgression and immigration: Hispanic people jumping across barbed wire on the American-Mexican border, and a flood of other images that have become familiar sights over the last twenty years.
photo by Gregoire Eloy
Shown in the back is a 360-degree video film made by the same artists. It’s a dynamic, eye-opening work about changes in urban population due to influx and efflux of refugees, and the present state of political and casualty refugees, based on the latest data and made using exquisite computer graphics. Especially impressive are sequences of animated film visualizing the transfer of money from expatriate workers — refugees from 60 countries accepted to the twelve so-called advanced nations including the USA, UK, France, Germany and Japan - to their home countries. According to statistics of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), "15% (about 30 in number) of the world’s countries are accepting 80% of all refugees, whereas 90% of the total amount of remitted money is transferred from those countries." (From the exhibition catalogue) In other words, this means that more than 60 countries are affected when the 12 so-called advanced nations (the "15%") suffer financial blows.
The exhibition of Diller Scofidio + Renfro was kind of a deja vu experience for me, as artist Ingo Gunther and I were considering making a very similar, computer graphics-based piece about ten years ago. Gunther conceived and launched a project titled "Refugee Republic" in the early '90s. "Refugee Republic is a concept based on the ever increasing number of refugees, displaced persons and migrants. Refugee Republic is attempting to address the problem associated with this condition." (From refugee.net) We weren't able to put our plan into action because of financial matters, but the above should give you an idea of Gunther’s pioneer spirit. Times aren't changing at all, and if they do, things are only getting worse.
photo by Jeanloup Sieff
(c) The Estate of Jeanloup Sieff
Except for one little thing, there is nothing that the exhibition of Depardon, Virilio and Diller Scofidio + Renfro shares with the aforementioned work by Ikeda and Gross. It is the point that artists and photographers collaborated with experts from scientific fields on the creation and exhibition of artworks. I have the impression that this trend is going to continue. I'm not saying that such brilliant minds as Bacon and Rothko are extinct, but in order to respond to the diversified reality of the world today, artistic expression can no longer rely on the powers of individuals alone. Instead, there will be more and more cases in which the cooperation of experts becomes necessary.
Ozaki Tetsuya / Editor in chief / REALTOKYO