D04Social Dive (Japanese)

The Monument for The Bright Future TOKYO / 2021

Masaharu Futoyu

Area
DAIMARUYU・Nihonbashi・Kyobashi・Ginza
Period
2021.07.10(Sat) - 09.05(Sun)
Hours
All day open
Venue
Sukiyabashi Park
Others

Free Admission

<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

Artist

Masaharu Futoyu (Artist)

An artist engaged in activities centered on creative action in public space. By intervening in the social system and recomposing its syntax, Masaharu Futoyu produces a sense of incongruity in daily life comparable to a bug in computer software. Major exhibitions include Sapporo Art Stage 2017 (pedestrian underpass, Sapporo, 2017), Think of Energy (Federal Foreign Office, Berlin, 2014), Koganecho Bazaar (Koganecho, Yokohama, 2014), 2:46 and thereafter (Pepco’s Edison Place Gallery, Washington, DC, 2012), Roppongi Art Night (Tokyo Midtown, Tokyo, 2012), and Locker Gallery at Tokyo National Museum (Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo, 2007). Prizes include selection in the Genbi Dokodemo Kikaku Koubo 2010 Exhibition (Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, 2010).
https://futoyu.com/

Venue

Location

5-1-1 Ginza Chuo-ku Tokyo

Access

・1 minute walk from “Ginza” Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line, Ginza Line.
・4 minutes walk from “Yurakucho” Station on the JR Yamanote Line, Keihin tohoku Line, Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line.
・4 minutes walk from “Hibiya” Station on the Tokyo Metro Hibiya Line.

Others

Inquiries
tb2020.jp/en/contact-en
(Tokyo Biennale Executive Office)