concrete

Cinema
籠城
旧制第一高等学校（通称、一高）は、1935年に本郷から駒場へと移転するが、そこでの生活は、本郷時代以来の「籠城主義」と呼ばれる自治寮での共同生活に支えられた、独特かつ閉鎖的なものだった。だが、1941年、1942年と戦時色が深まるにつれ、一高のアイデンティティともいえる「籠城主義」は、そのまま維持することはできなくなってくる。本作は、あたかも一高生らに同一化するかのように、アイデンティティの拠りどころを求めて研究に専念する大学院生の主人公「わたし」の意識を通じて、駒場時代の一高を描き出す。

Event/Workshop
Gong Therapy
Raw and remixed field recordings of gong orchestras throughout southeast Asia. Recorded, assembled, and remixed by Yasuhiro Morinaga for Radio is a Foreign Country. Yasuhiro Morinaga is a sound artist and filmmaker living in Tokyo. After graduating Tokyo University of the Arts, Yasuhiro has carried out field recording expeditions documenting the origins of musical instruments and the soundscapes of shamanic healing rituals throughout southeast Asia (see www.the-concrete .org). PLAYLIST Ambience: (Toraja group), Rambu Solo (Funeral ceremony) from Toraja, Sulawesi Island Tau Dou / (Tau Humba group), Sumba Island Harvesting / (Tau Humba group), Sumba Island Funeral / (M’nong + Krung groups), Mondalkiri, Northeast Cambodia Ma Badong Chanting / (Toraja group), Toraja, Sulawesi Island Gong Practice by Yasuhiro Morinaga / Bali Island Manang Sirang - chanting / (Dayak Iban group) West Kalimantan, Borneo Island Cut the Bamboo, / (M’nong Prang group), Central highland of Vietnam Hail / (Ede group), Central Highlands of Vietnam Guarding Rice Seeds / (Makassar group) Makassar, Sulawesi Island Daily Routine for everyday life / (Krung group), Ratanakiri, Northeast Cambodia Hedung Dance / (Lamaholot group), Flores Island Balangbang / (Kanakanaey group), Northern Luzon Island A Month after the Death / (Bahnar group), Central Highland of Vietnam Sole Oha Ritual / (Lamaholot group), Flores Island Hsaing Waing Remixes by Yasuhiro Morinaga, Yangon, Myanmar Ambience: (Toraja group), Rambu Solo (Funeral ceremony) from Toraja, Sulawesi Island

Event/Workshop
善知鳥の伝説
青森に根ざした新たなアートを探求していくプロジェクト「青森EARTH」。津軽半島を主なフィールドとし、アーティストと参加者による「ワークショップ」とその「成果発表」を通じて、青森の土地の新しいイメージを発信します。青森県に根付づく民話『善知鳥』をテーマに、テクストから読み解く音を採取しながら作品として成果発表することを目指します。  

Event/Workshop
RECIPROCAL RESIDENCIES
Reciprocal Residencies: Lijiang/Hokkaido consists of two reciprocating residencies between two Japanese and three Chinese artists in two rural settings. Curated by Jay Brown and Yasuhiro Morinaga, the residency is developing working methods to make the most of our disciplinary differences and time together. The participants are: Yao Chunyang, Wei Wei (aka VAVABOND), Li Jianhong, Marina Tanaka, Chiharu MK, Yasuhiro Morinaga, Jay Brown, Lijiang Studio, Tobiu Art Camp. This project enjoys the support of the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation and the Asian Cultural Council. What does it take to make art while being responsible for small children? To that end, we titled our September 14th performance at Tobiu Art Festival “Art With/Out Small Children”, and it seems this will become the title for the Hokkaido segment of the project. Another, similar, working title for the project that may become the title for the Lijiang segment is “We Are All Great Parents.” We are foregrounding this issue because of the social, systemic, logistical obstacles for artists, nearly always mothers, to continue developing and presenting their art while raising small children (not to mention working a day job). Nearly all the artists in the project are in the middle of such challenges. Furthermore, we all have long-term interest in exploring ways of working “in the field”. Each of us has 10, 15, or more years of developing their own experiences with this question, an engagement which has formed our understanding of artistic research. What could each of us do in a totally unfamiliar place? How do we deal with certain inescapable dynamics, such as countenancing a history of cultural erasure, tourist development, the cosmologies of others, or the ontologies of places? There will be more to come on this project, but for now some snapshots of our time in Hokkaido: