The "3331 Arts Chiyoda" art center opened on June 26. After a tough period of preparation, it must have been a fulfilling day for director Nakamura Masato and his team. Being in fact one of the board members myself, I'm rather moved as well.
The most outstanding feature of 3331 is the mixed program it offers around a core of "exhibition planning/hosting", "space rental" and "schooling". As one can guess from the fact that a plural form was chosen for "arts" in the facility’s name, activities aren't necessarily limited to fine art alone. The opening exhibition "3331 Presents TOKYO: Part1" (open through 7/25), for example, offers an exquisite blend of art, design and technology. As announced on the website (www.3331.jp), the event is "a showcase of artists selected by the groups and individuals based at 3331".
The lineup of these "groups and individuals" couldn't be more diverse, as it includes everything from commercial to nonprofit galleries, an artists' initiative, a Tokyo government-operated lecture room, art productions, an advertising agency, a design office, a printer, an art university’s satellite gallery, a pilot shop/space run by the local community, and a company specializing in local revitalization through forestation and other forestry-related activities. In addition, there are shared offices for artists, and of course a coffee shop and restaurant.
3331 is situated in the refurbished building of the former Rensei High School, owned by Chiyoda Ward. The relationship between Chiyoda and Nakamura’s own artists' collective "Command N" dates back to 1999, when the "Akihabara TV" event was first held. Based on the epoch-making concept of using TV sets in the shops of the famed "electric town" of Akihabara to present experimental video art, it was in a way a legal shop front squatting disguised as an art exhibition. While watching non-prosaic images on TVs that usually show news, variety or sports programs was glorious fun for art fans, quite obviously the event could only be realized thanks to the organizers' persistent negotiations.
The vision of "artistic endeavors rooted in the community" must have been spooking around in Nakamura’s mind ever since that time. He later cultivated his relationships with Ward officials and people from local shopping districts and neighborhood associations, which eventually led to the launches of Command N (based at "Kandada" in the Kanda district) and 3331, which opened not far from Akihabara. However, it is needless to mention that this is a double-edged sword. "Contemporary art" in a narrow sense is an advanced intellectual game that isn't necessarily consistent with the ideas and aims of local communities.
As I wrote somewhere else before, in my view the five main points of appeal of 3331 are the following. 1: Connecting art with the town, art with the people, and people with people. 2: Functioning as a hub in East Asia. 3: Pursuing and proposing a definition Japanese contemporary art on the national and international stage. 4: Communicating art-related technologies. 5: Transgressing genres to establish new forms of art.
These five points do of course not conflict with the "artistic endeavors rooted in the community." This, however, depends on the definition of "art", which is actually the one issue that 3331 (and Nakamura Masato) should make every possible effort to clear in the future. That’s also what the above-mentioned pursuit of a "definition of Japanese contemporary art" is about. The work of 3331 doesn't have to be an art in itself, but Nakamura - a skilled artist himself - is certainly the one with the strongest belief that it must in some way or another make a contribution to art. While things may have calmed down with the opening, I'm sure there is still a bumpy road ahead, and here I'm absolutely counting on the energy and brains that helped Nakamura take many a hurdle on the way. The jumble of organizations in 3331 is in a way reflecting the big jumble that is the city of Tokyo, which could be of immeasurable help with the task of establishing a new definition of "art".
Ozaki Tetsuya / Editor in chief / REALTOKYO