Curator Goes to Musabi (Part 2)

I went to the Musashino Art University Museum to see the 2021 Graduation and Completion Works Excellent Works Exhibition: SELECTED WORKS. The first part of the exhibition report is here.

There are still many more works that impressed me. So, I will introduce them along with images.

Momoko Suwa, "Kokkoku" (Moment by Moment)

This is an installation (or rather, a recorded video of one).

I touched on artists who create things that didn't exist in this world before by saying "Here you go!" in the first part, but the power of great art also lies in making us notice things that are already in our daily lives but go unseen. This is one such work.

It is impossible to convey without watching the video, but to explain it in words: the artist strung threads across a space in the school where the wind blows through, and densely attached small, cut pieces of thin, transparent OHP film to them. By layering these vertically, the fine film forms a wall that covers the space.

Since each piece of film is suspended from a thread, it sways and moves even with the slightest breeze. When there is no wind, the wall is silent. When a gentle breeze blows, the film dances while playing a rustling sound. When a gust of wind blows, the film flutters with a sound like a magnified insect wing beat.
It's not just the sound; because the transparent film reflects light, the appearance of the wind blowing through is visualized as a shimmer. You can tell, "Oh, the wind just passed from right to left." If you stare at it, it is designed so that you can recognize with both your eyes and ears that nature is changing "moment by moment," just as the title suggests.

As an aside, after I went home from seeing this exhibition, I was just relaxing on my balcony in the evening breeze. The breeze hitting my face was pleasant, but I suddenly realized that I was feeling the comfort of that wind more clearly than usual.

Chiyo Udono, "shy cake"

This visual is already great, isn't it?

The title is "shy cake." It is a cute-shaped bun reminiscent of a Chinese peach bun. There are three types: one that is white as snow, one where only the top edge is faintly tinged with red, and one where only a part of the side is dyed red.

Even though that should be all there is to it, the way they are combined suggests various stories. When two are stuck together and the point of contact is slightly red, they look like innocent lovers; on the other hand, even if two are lined up in the same way, if two without any redness have a slight gap between them, they look like strangers who have no interest in each other. Also, if there is one reddish bun among many white buns, it can be perceived as feeling lonely as a minority.

The artist calls them "symbolic sweets." I was impressed by how eloquently design can tell a story. The concept is good, but I also thought the way the exhibition was presented was very skillful.

Kotono Suito, "Ayatori Evolution System" (Cat's Cradle Evolution System)

How did cat's cradle (and similar games) spread across the globe, what are their characteristics, and how did they evolve?

I actually laughed imagining the effort and enthusiasm it took to research this so thoroughly. I suppose you could call this research that falls into the realm of cultural anthropology or something similar. The artist is affiliated with the "Department of Design Informatics, Faculty of Art and Design." Ah, I see, this is also design.

I learned for the first time here that cat's cradle exists all over the world. The artist (or rather, the presenter) analyzes cat's cradle from countries around the world from three perspectives: "shape," "function," and "purpose." "Evolution system" might sound grand, but it is a research result that lives up to its name.

I just want to praise this by saying, "Great job!" I don't think there is anyone else who could be this thorough, even if they thought of researching cat's cradle.
"I researched cat's cradle from all over the world for my graduation project" is a topic you can use for the rest of your life. Most people would be like, "Wait, what?" and it would surely lead to a lively conversation.

Man, this is interesting.

***

Oh, no! I intended to introduce everything in this post, but I've run out of time. I write these notes early in the morning before work, so I'm on a time limit. Well, I could just post it all tomorrow, but since the remaining items are paintings—my specialty—I really want to put some effort into introducing them. So, please let me break this up here.

As for the paintings, I'll cover them in Part 3!

If you would like to read the first part again, click here.

You can see a list of back issues here (I've written quite a lot, if I do say so myself).