K23Art Project

Praying for Tokyo –Well Temperament

Shino Yanai

Area
Kanda・Yushima・Ueno・Kuramae
Period
2021.08.02(Mon) - 08.10(Tue)
Hours
10:00-16:30
Venue
Yushima Seido, Seibu (Corridor)

Up-and-coming artist Shino Yanai sees the space of Yushima Seido as a place of sound. Yanai’s production studio is located near the Olympic Stadium in London, and her observation of the surrounding environment and human behavior has inspired recent work. “Well-Tempered” is taken from the English name of Bach’s “The Well-tempered Clavier”. In this project, Yanai adopts the word “良律 (pronounced “liáng lǜ”)”, the Chinese translation of “well-tempered”, to create an installation that brings us to consider the meaning of “well-tempered” by overlaying the harmonic tones sought by musicians with the current social situation.

(As of June 2021)

1: “Well Temperament” ©︎Shino Yanai
2: “Happy and Glorious” ©︎Shino Yanai
3: “Blue Passages” ©︎Shino Yanai

Artist

Shino Yanai (Artist)

In 2012, Yanai completed her graduate courses in Inter Media Art at Tokyo National University of the Arts. She went on to receive an MA in Photography at the Royal College of Art in 2018. Currently she is based in London. She creates installations using composite materials and methods based on social research on the subject of “art and violence”. Solo exhibitions include “The Deep End” (Sagacho Archives, 2019), “International Public Art Short Film Contest Art Public ― Now You See Me” (Louvre Museum, Paris, 2017), and “Blue Passages” (White Conduit Projects, London, 2016). In addition, her work was exhibited in Aomori EARTH 2013 “Brave New World – re-enchanting utopia” (Aomori Museum of Art, 2013), and “WHAT WE SEE” (National Museum of Art, Osaka, 2013). In 2014, she received a fellowship from the POLA Art Foundation, which was followed in 2016 with an Overseas Study Programme for Artists, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan.
https://shinoyanai.com

Photo: ©︎Shino Yanai

《Praying for Tokyo》

“If the axis of time were turned vertically, there would be a flow from Tokyo’s past to its future. If it were viewed horizontally, there would be an axis showing the connections between people and spaces. Standing at this intersection, we realize our present state of confusion. Without forgetting the tregedies of the past, what can we do today to move toward our future? Let’s start by praying together, with art.” (Kazuko Koike)

Together with three female artists – Rei Naito, Aiko Miyanaga, and Shino Yanai – the project will create “spaces of prayer”, providing requiems of the past from each Tokyo community, that are dedicated to our future.

Rei Naito
“I have lived”

The Tokyo air raids on March 10, 1945 are often called the “Shitamachi (downtown) air raids” (the death toll exceeded 100,000). Looking back from the present on the city and people of Tokyo’s past, we pray for the repose of departed souls in a true sense. In other words, we continue to ensure that tragedies are not repeated today. Rei Naito will place her smallest sculpture, “human”, in the gallery Kurenboh in the precincts of Chohouin, a Buddhist Temple in Kuramae, and offer water at the cenotaph in the cemetery. In addition, Naito has created a “human” installation in the air-raid shelter where children were evacuated during the war, as a form of continuous prayer. At these three sites, life responds to itself and inspires us in the present.

Aiko Miyanakga
“Message from the light”

Aiko Miyanaga will perceive positive and negative light in the corridor of Yushima Seido, the former Edo Shogunate building said to be the birthplace of a library. Miyanaga has captured the allure of light through a career of working with glass materials. Here, she will use ancient sanukite rock, an exquisite material that sometimes even creates a beautiful sound. Together with the the chatter of nature and sounds of the city, this installation will guide visitors using light in a space filled with the serenity of greenery one would not expect to find in Tokyo.

Venue

Location

1-4-25 Yushima Bunkyo-ku Tokyo

Access

・2 minutes walk from “Ochanomizu” Station on the JR Chuo Sobu Line.
・2 minutes walk from “Shin Ochanomizu” Station on the Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line.
・1 minute walk from “Ochanomizu” Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line.

Others

Inquiries
+81-3-3251-4606
http://www.seido.or.jp/