The Monument for The Bright Future TOKYO / 2021

＜Open Call Project SOCIAL DIVE＞

From a slogan sign stating, “Nuclear Energy – Energy for a Bright Future”, that formerly hung in Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, artist Masaharu Futoyu reappropriated the part, “Bright Future”, by placing these words within public artworks by Taro Okamoto located throughout the city.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is now scheduled to be held next summer, which will envelop our society in a peaceful atmosphere. However, while proclaiming recovery, the memories of 3.11 (Great East Japan Earthquake) are being forgetten at a rapid rate. Every time news of the Olympics is shown, there is an unavoidable discomfort in realizing that the past is being left behind. Moreover, instead of forever dragging the past along negatively, can we not try to wipe away the feeling of discomfort we get from it?

With this method of thinking, the project will revive Taro Okamoto’s “polarism”. It can be said that Okamoto’s ideas still apply to today when we see that the huge roof structure symbolic of the 1970 Osaka Expo no longer exists, while the Tower of the Sun remains. By incorporating the words “Bright Future”, which brought on a negative nuance while meaning to be positive, the project will attempt at recapturing the original meaning of these words.

December 31, 2019

On March 24, 2020, the Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 were postponed due to a global outbreak of COVID-19. Since my statement above was originally included in the schedule for implementing this project to coincide with the Olympic Games, I felt it necessary to adjust to the current situation. The situation is still changing daily, and the existing social system is just as dysfunctional as it was 9 years ago. Consequently, this project could no longer manifest the concept of celebrating the Tokyo Olympics 2020. There isn’t much I can do for the real world. However, for the sake of a “bright future” that includes the Olympic Games, which are scheduled to be held next summer, I would like to realize this project as it’s planned.

April 9, 2020

*An artistic view that opposes and contradicts concepts without compromise, resulting in a ferocious cacophony.

Support: Continuation support project for cultural and artistic activities | Agency for Cultural Affairs

(As of March 2021)

1: “The Monument for The Bright Future TOKYO / 2021” completion image、2020、Sukiyabashi Park、Photo by Masaharu Futoyu
2: “ATOMIC POWER IS THE ENERGY OF THE BRIGHT FUTUER” Around 30 years ago, there was the nuclear power plant motto contest sponsored by the city in Futaba-cho, Fukushima in which the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, and the application proposal of the boy who was a school child that was chosen at the time. The contents in praise of nuclear power was hung up over the entrance of the town, and greeted people who come to visit.
3: “INTERVIEW WITH YUJI ONUMA” The interview with Yuji Onuma who made a slogan “ATOMIC POWER IS THE ENERGY OF THE BRIGHT FUTURE” Around 30 years ago.

instagram: @project_for_bright_future

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