OUTLINE

Tokyo Art Meeting (Ⅲ) Art & Music — Search for New Synesthesia
Search for New Synesthesia Music and the visual arts have shared a close relationship with each other over the course of their evolution. At the beginning of the twentieth century Wassily Kandinsky strove to create a form of comprehensive art that would arouse a variety of sensations, while Paul Klee attempted to create images through the accurate depiction of musical notation. Later, during the 1960s, John Cage and others produced experimental works that explored the rich sensual domain and widened the range of expression made possible through the crossover of the audio and the visual. Today, the development of digital technology has made it possible to break an image down into pixels that can be processed as symbols or numerical values; sound can also be composed visually on a PC display, so it can be said that in their creative processes, art and music have drawn closer to each other. Artists today are able to manipulate video, images and sound equally on a single computer, they possess a closely-knit, composite sense that can be described as a 'new synesthesia,' allowing them to create diverse expressions. We have invited composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, in the role of general advisor for this exhibition, in which we will introduce various works deriving from the intersection and coordination of these two forms of expression, while questioning the fundamental meaning of the acts of 'looking' and 'listening' in 'our times'.
Statement by Ryuichi Sakamoto Art and music are considered different genres. However, surely there is art that is created through sound, just as there is music that is created visually. Also there are forms of expression that cannot be described as being either art or music and those that can be described as being both. By exploring the synesthesia of art and music, or the boundary between the two, we may be able to catch a glimpse of not only the origin of mankind's artistic expression, but also its future. That is what I hope to achieve through this exhibition.
Highlights We welcome the world-famous composer, Ryuichi Sakamoto, in the role of general advisor for this exhibition which will examine the new relationship that exists between music and art in the present day. It will present richly individualistic works that blend 'seeing' and 'listening', in a large-scale exhibition space. Ryuichi Sakamoto has worked in collaboration with the internationally acclaimed sound designer, Seigen Ono, and one of the founding members of Dumb Type, Shiro Takatani, to produce two new installations. One, entitled silence spins, was inspired by the traditional Japanese tea-ceremony room in which one is able to hear the infinite universe, and the other, collapsed, utilizes two pianos and a laser. It will include the first exhibit in Japan of numerous diverse works with a rich international flavor by contemporary artists active on the world art scene, including Florian Hecker's three-dimensional sonic installations, Christine Ödlund's music and scores that are derived from the warning signs produced by plants, and many others. It will not confine itself to the present day, but will also look back over history, examining the way that artists and musicians have explored the relationship that exists between music and the visual arts, including Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee's paintings, or John Cage and Toru Takemitsu's graphic notation.

INFORMATION

Tokyo Art Meeting (Ⅲ) Art & Music — Search for New Synesthesia
Period Oct.27(Sat)2012 – Feb.3(Sun)2013 Opening Hours 10:00 – 18:00 (Ticket is available until 17:30) Venue Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Exhibition Gallery B2F, 1F Closed On Mondays (except for Dec.24, Jan 14), Dec. 25, Dec.28 – Jan.1 and Jan.15
Organized by Tokyo Metropolitan Government / Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Tokyo Culture Creation Project Office(Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture) The Tokyo Shimbun Supported by Japan Arts Fund In Cooperation with NEC Display Solutions, Ltd / Yamaha Corporation / AURAL SONIC SHIZUKA STILLNESS PANEL / Audio-Technica Corporation Ballad Co., Ltd. / Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM) Synthax Japan Inc. / IASPIS
Tickets Adult / 1,100 yen University & College student, over 65yrs old / 850 yen High school & Junior high school student / 550 yen Free for Elementary students and under *Free entry to MOT collection for exhibition ticket holder Related Programs Performance + Talk by the Artists Bartholomäus Traubeck and others Oct.27 (Sat) 15:00 – 17:00 "46th MOT Art Lecture" d.v.d Live PerformanceNov.18 (Sun) | Capacity: 200 people | Free Entry Ichiko Aoba Live Concert Dec.23 (Sun) | Capacity: 200 people | Free Entry Lecture on 'Synesthesia by Hiromoto Makabe Dec.15 (Sat) 15:00– | Free Entry A participatory sound performance event by The SINE WAVE ORCHESTRA Jan.19 (Sat) 15:30– | Museum of Contemporaray Art Tokyo See details of how to get involved in the performance from the website http://swo.jp/ Exhibition Catalogue Published by Filmart-Sha Co.,Ltd General Inquiry +81-3-5245-4111 (General Information) +81-3-5405-8686 (Hello Dial) Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo Website http://www.mot-art-museum.jp/eng/index.html Access Information http://www.mot-art-museum.jp/eng/access.html http://swo.jp/ http://www.mot-art-museum.jp/eng/index.html http://www.mot-art-museum.jp/eng/access.html
General Advisor Ryuichi Sakamoto Also Showing Tokyo Sonic Art WeeksOct.27 (Sat)2012 – Feb.3 (Sun)2013 Concerts will be held, the principle of which being a public competition that shares the theme of the "Tokyo Art Meeting(Ⅲ) Art and Music" exhibition held for the purpose of developing young artists. The grand prix work will be exhibited from the Oct.27 (Sat). Venue: Tokyo University of the Arts Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and others MOT Annual 2012 Making Situations, Editing Landscapes Oct.27 (Sat)2012 – Feb.3 (Sun)2013 MOT Collection Our Ninety Years:1923-2-13 LIFE GOES ON Oct.27 (Sat)2012 – Feb.3 (Sun)2013 Tokyo Culture Creation Project Tokyo Culture Creation Project, organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture in cooperation with arts organizations and NPOs, aims to establish Tokyo as a city of global cultural creativity. The project facilitates involvement of a larger number of people in creation of new culture, by building regional bases for culture creation across the city and offering opportunities for creative experiences to children and young people. Moreover, it creates and globally disseminates new Tokyo culture through organizing international festivals and other diverse events. Tokyo Culture Creation Project http://www.bh-project.jp/index_e.html http://www.bh-project.jp/index_e.html

ARTISTS

セレスト・ブルシエ＝ムジュノ｜Céleste Boursier-Mougenot ジョン・ケージ｜John Cage マノン・デ・ブール｜Manon de Boer フロリアン・ヘッカー｜Florian Hecker 池田亮司｜Ryoji Ikeda ワシリー・カンディンスキー｜Wassily Kandinsky パウル・クレー｜Paul Klee ウドムサック・クリサナミス｜Udomsak Krisanamis カールステン・ニコライ｜Carsten Nicolai 大西景太｜Keita Onishi オノセイゲン ＋ 坂本龍一 ＋ 高谷史郎｜Seigen Ono ＋ Ryuichi Sakamoto ＋ Shiro Takatani 大友良英リミテッド・アンサンブルズ｜Otomo Yoshihide limited ensembles［大友良英、青山泰知、Sachiko M、堀尾寛太、毛利悠子］［Otomo Yoshihide, Yasutomo Aoyama, Sachiko M, Kanta Horio, Yuko Mohri］ クリスティーネ・エドルンド｜Christine Ödlund 坂本龍一＋高谷史郎｜Ryuichi Sakamoto ＋ Shiro Takatani ザ・サイン・ウェーブ・オーケストラ｜The SINE WAVE ORCHESTRA 武満徹｜Toru Takemitsu 田中未知・高松次郎｜Michi Tanaka / Jiro Takamatsu バルトロメウス・トラウベック｜Bartholomäus Traubeck ステファン・ヴィティエロ｜Stephen Vitiello 八木良太｜Lyota Yagi