concrete

Performing arts
LIFE ENTANGLED
The collaborative project between Yasuhiro Morinaga and Robert Millis proposes a world in which thought and representation are not the exclusive privilege of humans, but also grants prominence to ecosystems and non-human entities. By highlighting the intricate and often invisible connections between humans and the non-human world, this work invites a broader and more inclusive perspective on life, agency, and interdependence, exploring the fundamental question of all life: what does it mean to live? At a time when climate change and natural disasters are driving the world into an unprecedented crisis, we are confronted with the limits of an attitude that views nature and ecosystems as mere exploitable resources. Life Entangled — The Secret Story of Shellac is a performative sound installation that explores the cultural relationship between objects and humans through a multidimensional narrative centered on shellac , a natural resin derived from the insect Kerria lacca , a material deeply rooted in our daily lives.

Installation
The Voice of Inconstant Savage
Commissioned for the Engawa – Japanese Contemporary Art Season programme organized by Calouste Gulbenkian Museum's Modern Art Center, The Voice of Inconstant Savage is an immersive installation that superimposes a prayer inspired by the story of a 16th-century Portuguese missionary, a chant from a Kakure-Kirishitan (hidden Christians) prayer – a religion rooted in Nagasaki Prefecture –, a chant from the Karawara spirits of the Awá indigenous people – who live in the Amazon rainforest – and a chorus of Western Gregorian chant. Morinaga questions the position of the aesthetics of inconstancy in relation to the discourse of the “savage” that modern society confronts.

Event/Workshop
Field Research for the Ears
コクヨ野外学習センターと黒鳥社による「働くことの人類学」のポッドキャストシリーズと連動したプロジェクト。森永がこれまで実践してきたフィールドレコーディングを素材に、「たたく」「ふく」「はじく」という、最も原始的な人間本来の生きていくための営み＝技術をテーマにDJミックスを行っている。このDJミックスは、ここ数年アジアを中心にレコーディングしてきた民族の音楽や環境音をセレクト（アジアの音ではないものもいくつか含まれているが）し、ポストプロダクションでミキシングや電子的な加工を施しながら、リニアな音の時間を創造した。 人類学者たちは、調査地で現地語を学び、長期間地域に密着し、そこの情報をくまなく記述・記録した上で、ラボで検証・実験しながら論文や民族誌としてまとめあげていく。僕の場合は、現地の言葉もわからないし地域に密着しながら文字で記述をしていくような形も採用していない。むしろ楽器や音を軸に、その文脈や周縁を追い続けながらレコーディングしているに過ぎない。自身の目と耳を頼りに作品のゴールをゆるやかに想像しながら記録をし、素材を持ち帰ってスタジオで実験・検証しながら作品を制作していく過程は、どことなく人類学者の研究手法と似ている部分があることを以前から意識していた。

Cinema
Siege – A Closed Off Man
In 1935, the First High School (旧制第一高等学校) was relocated from Hongo to Komaba, where the students were separated from others and enhanced their homogeneity as First High School students by holing up on the campus. However, in an increasingly intense World War II, it was no longer possible to maintain the identity of the First High School. In the consciousness of a student, “I”, who has been devoting himself to research in a desire to identify with the First High School students, the image of First High School in the Komaba Campus era appears.

Concert
Anabiosis Passage
"Anabiosis Passage" is a concert in which media technologies creates pioneering music based on Indonesian music cultures including the traditional, pop, and modern music. This unique work stems from "To Belong", the modern dance work by choreographer, Akiko Kitamura, in which Yasuhiro Morinaga takes part as a music director. "Anabiosis Passage" features sounds which Morinaga fieldrecorded in Indonesia, and musicians he met then. This work interprets the Indonesian culture in a modern context by dealing with gamelan, Kroncong, and Hip Hop music and local environmental sounds of Indonesia. This work also deals with the Indonesian musical instruments including the style of rendition and narrative literature as motifs, and creates a modern ritual space based on media technologies. Morinaga from Japan takes the roles of music director and electronic manipulator. Musicians of a string quartet and a pianist are also invited to this work from Japan. "Anabiosis Passage" is definitely a work in which tradition and modernity interact with one another between Indonesia and Japan.