The Space of Your Field of Affection (2019)

Dear Suzi,

I am very happy to participate in your Tiny Office Art project.

I would like to make “The Space of Your Field of Affection” at your home office. I can describe it as somewhere between touch and vision, dream and function, “Never Again” and “Later On”, rejection and integration, and distance and proximity. It is referring to the demand and impossibility to construct divisions, boundaries, and structures.

To demonstrate this, I would like to examine your bookshelf and transform the existing order. I attempt to discover a new operation of classification. I am going to reference your sense of (un) familiarity as the criteria and project it upon the new constellation. I hope we can sit together and talk one afternoon for it.

Looking forward to meeting you soon!

Warm regards,

Hiroko

Solo exhibition at Tiny Office Art, Stockholm, SE: Organized by Suzi Erşahin

I am offering you my labor for free (2018-2019)

In this project, Tsuchimoto experimented with how to intervene in/participate in an unfamiliar culture and make connections with others. Within the framework of the art biennial, she gained access to visit different communities and approached local people with signs inscribed with the message “I AM OFFERING YOU MY LABOR FOR FREE”. Tsuchimoto explored how an individual can offer services, and which services people can offer to another without financial benefit. It was composed of processes of building temporary relations and trust with complete strangers and bringing playful communication in daily life contexts. She also questioned stereotypes of gender, ethnicity, and class in the workplace as well as for how the role of artists can affect cultures and society outside the Art World.

Performance at RAVY Biennale 2018, Yaoundé, Cameroon

(assistance and photo by Gerard Ngan)

Performance at LAGOS Biennial, Lagos, Nigeria

(photo/video by Anthony Monday Asokere)

Assistants: Olufela Omokeko, Kayode Oluwa 

{vimeo}373881204{/vimeo} 

Negotiated Manners (2019)

The exhibition Negotiated Manners consisted of textile and text-based installation, and relational activity. In response to life in a contradictory society which both appreciates individual freedom and personal control and suffers from loss of intimate relationships, Tsuchimoto suggests reevaluating the concept of negotiation in association with interpersonal and intercultural communication. She redefines negotiation as the state of processing something, especially highlighting it as processes of social interaction which involves adjustments in the experience of self and engagements in fluid relationships. For the textile installation, Tsuchimoto carefully chose the materials and used craft techniques to create humorous contrast with (banal) questions and multiple choice answers, which invited people to imagine different social situations and observe their behavioral patterns in daily life. This Q&A conveys the concept of performativity reflecting on social norms and criticizes the demands of social contexts. Viewers could then proceed to read a handwritten text on the gallery walls. Tsuchimoto addressed identity negotiation through a fictional travelogue, which is associated with her personal experiences with moving between familiar and unfamiliar cultures, which include the struggle of “becoming”, and the emotions accompanying acceptance and rejection. She used the fictional story as a tool to project people’s expectations and stereotypes towards the Other. In between the text-filled walls, there were house plants exhibited on the window sills. She asked local people to donate their house plants for her exhibition through an online network, street posters, and talking to people directly, a challenge to be strange and a stranger. She exhibited the plants and attentively took care of them during the exhibition. The donators received someone else’s plant(s) back after the exhibition and became the new owners of the plant. By facilitating people to participate in this communal activity and negotiating the boundaries of individuals, she generated temporary relations and trust with the donators as well as an imaginary bond with strangers.

Solo exhibition at Verkstad konsthall, Norrköping, Sweden

Photo by Hironori Tsukue (below)

Melankoli (lördag) / Aejvere (laavvadahke) / Melancholy (Saturday)(2019)

As a part of the public program VÅLDET EKOLOGI / RANTAN EKOLOGIJE /ECOLOGY OF VIOLENCE, Tsuchimoto invited people to participate in a collective action Melancholy (Saturday). They traveled together by bus to gather sticks in a forest. Gathering sticks is a harmless activity, yet productive activity on the Sabbath was once regarded as a crime that deserved capital punishment as stated in the Bible. She puts forward the act of gathering sticks as disobedience towards authority, declaring ourselves “legal thieves”. The action questions the concept of violation and the imperative for productivity in relation to resilience and overcoming damage and trauma. Tsuchimoto refers to author Robin James’s definition of melancholy as a way to leave damage and noise as itself, “unproductive”, as a way out from neoliberal discourses of resilience. She suggests gathering sticks as an unproductive activity, the melancholy, for individuals to recover, survive, cope and flourish in ways that don’t support hegemony. She is also reflecting upon the meaning of collecting potential fuel for an unproductive purpose, the relation with ritual and mysticism, and the trend of emotional productivity in the era of automation in manufacturing.

Collective action at VÅLDET EKOLOGI / RANTAN EKOLOGIJE /ECOLOGY OF VIOLENCE, Östersund bus station, Östersund, Sweden: Public Art Agency Sweden's initiative LOCAL ART PROJECTS: Organized by IntraGalactic arts collective

(photo by Sara Norling)

Laboratory of Politeness (2019)

Laboratory of Politeness is a temporary platform to unlearn the notion of politeness and explore the possibility to interpret politeness as a humorous gesture. She guides the platform to share knowledge and experience as well as generating critical awareness of politeness through conversations, group discussions, and behavioral exercises.

Politeness is a way to be close to as well as to keep a distance from people. It can be defined as the display of care but also as the gesture of rejection. They suggest slow intimacy, waiting for a natural break and finding the right moment to intervene. Politeness is about warm smiles and small gifts. They advise you to avoid gossip, money talks, the appearance of eccentricity. They recommend that you remember names, give people the upper side of the pavement, and to celebrate others’ success. Do not be too loud, too passionate, too nice, too close. Think of Barack Obama. Think of white middle-class women. Remember that being polite is a privilege. Do not show your own superiority. Do not envy any superior excellence. Try polite emoji, polite sex, polite noise, polite hate speech. Imagine if you are polite to Siri, plants, and people experiencing homelessness. Beware of not being addicted to politeness.

Performance at AGGRESSIVE GESTURES -part2 at Werkhalle, Union Gewerbehof, Dortmund, Germany: Co-organized with Marie Gavois

(photo by Tina Dunkel)

"Post-it installation" at NEGOTIATED MANNERS at Verkstad konsthall, Norrköping, Sweden

"Polite rejection letter practice" at NONSTOP performance festival at ID:I Galleri, Stockholm, Sweden: Curated by Merzedes Šturm-Lie

Don’t talk, just act. Don’t say, just show. Don’t promise, just prove. (2018) / I Am Who I Am, I Am What I Am, I Do What I Do (2019)

These duo performances with Hans Christian van Nijkerk analyzed the impact of social media on human behavior and how it has created new ways of communication. They especially addressed the phenomenon of online self-presentation and social media bragging, and created playful conversations for the performances. They made a performance “Don't talk just act. Don't say, just show, Don't promise, just prove.” at Small Projects gallery in Tromsø at the beginning of December when the sun never rose. They first welcomed people with exaggerated hospitality, then we invited some of the audience to participate in a conversation with small-talk scripts. Following that, they had a comical and puzzling dialogue with a script of social media quotes.

In the performance “I Am Who I Am, I Am What I Am, I Do What I Do” in Dhaka, they invited audience members to Curzon Hall, the historically significant building for the Bengali Language Movement and they had a scripted conversation assembled from social media quotes, which can be interpreted as another language invasion in the global context. After that, they divided the audience into pairs and assigned each pair to have a bragging conversation with their partner.

“Don't talk, just act. Don't say, just show, Don't promise, just prove.” -duo performance with Hans Christian van Nijkerk at Small Projects, Tromsø, Norway

(photo by Mats Gangvik, video by Hans Christian van Nijkerk)

{vimeo}310365722{/vimeo}{vimeo}321282110{/vimeo}

“I Am Who I Am, I Am What I Am, I Do What I Do” -duo performance with Hans Christian van Nijkerk at Curzon Hall in the University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh: Organized by Dhaka Live Art Biennale 

(photo 1 by Soumyak Saha Dhrubo, photo 2 by Adil Hasnat, photo 3, 6 by Nowsher Roman, photo 4, 5 by Rupomoi Tongchangya)

The Giving Up of Real Memories (2018)

In The Giving Up of Real Memories, Tsuchimoto addresses the concept of authenticity and affective interpretation in visual presentation. Referencing the growing Emotional Intelligence market, she explores the questions behind the means in which people impede their own ability to access to primary emotions in order to adjust to socially imposed feeling rules in contemporary society.

Set-up: a textile object hung from the ceiling, five chairs, golden textile pieces on the floor, soil and drawings under the textile pieces, a red stool with a plant on the textile pieces, a circular pattern on the floor made with neon colored tape

0'00-4'00 (sound) The audience is invited to the main room. (they are asked to take off their shoes) At the entrance, an assistant gives a folded paper note (which says “do not open yet”) to each person.

4'00-5'00 (silence) (dim lights)

5'00-8'00 (sound) Tsuchimoto chooses five people from the audience and invites them to sit in the chairs. She gives them each a clipboard with an emotional intelligence test. She walks around the circle while they are answering the questions.

8'00-10'00 (sound) She covers them with golden textiles and gives them an object to hold.

10'00-11'00 (silence) (dim lights)

11'00-23'00 (sound) The five members are released. Tsuchimoto asks people to open the paper note. They can find a number on each note. She removes the chairs and the golden textiles from the floor. Under the textiles, there is soil and a circle with eight drawings. First, she calls the people who received number 1 to come closer to the circle, then asks them to make facial expressions of “trust” by showing a drawing and takes pictures of the group with an instant camera. The action continues with group 2 (fear), group 3 (surprise), group 4 (sadness), group 5 (disgust), group 6 (anger), group 7 (anticipation), and group 8 (joy).

23'00-24'00 (silence) (dim lights)

24'00-30'00 Tsuchimoto sits down on the stool and holds the plant. The audience members may leave the room when they tell her about their feelings.

Performance at SILENCE (SOUND) at Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden: Organized by KAI-EN and Kajsa Sandström

(photo by Hironori Tsukue)

Sound: Daniel Konar

AGGRESSIVE GESTURES (2018)

This work is composed of two parts: a post-it installation in an elevator and a live performance. Both pieces reflected upon aggressive/violent gestures present in contemporary society, particularly spotlighting on passive-aggressive behavior. In this work, Tsuchimoto imbued the indirect expression of hostility including negative connotation, subtle insult, silent treatment, and intentional manipulation.

Performance at 3:e Våningen, Gothenburg, Sweden: Exchange project with Fylkingen & 3:e Våningen

(photo by Katxerê Medina)

PERFECT HAPPINESS (2018)

Why do we need to be happy? Is happiness a choice? Will happiness take us further?

From Aristotle to positive psychology, we unceasingly create missions and visions to improve our mental health and wellbeing. However, our current preoccupation with seeking happiness is as downhearted as if we forever chase rainbows. Social media consumption undermines normative images of happiness and plays important roles in increasing fear of sadness and failure. Corporations expect us to be happy for the benefit of their productivity. Joy marketing constantly stimulates us to buy more products with inspirational life quotes...

“PERFECT HAPPINESS” is a parade performance to reclaim our perception of happiness and to protest against the commercial exploitation of individual happiness. A group of performers walks together in a shopping district in Enschede with placards declaring freedom OF happiness.

Performance at Oude Markt, Enschede, Netherlands: Organized by ARE Artist Residencies Enschede

(photo by Marie Janin, video by aroundAnnebel)

Performers:

Ieke Trinks

Louisa Kistemaker

Karina Rodak

Hanan Klei

Christina Takayama

Laura Goldberg

Sound: Daniel Konar

{vimeo}289153410{/vimeo}

ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM (2018)

To celebrate is to publicly acknowledge a significant day or event with a social gathering or enjoyable activity – when celebrating one is expected to express joy and present a light demeanour. Sometimes people will dress up in specially chosen attire or according to a theme. At a celebration one can expect food, drink and music. Another way to describe a celebration is to call it a Party(!).

What to expect at an adult party:

Invariable:

Music

More than one person (arguable)

(alcoholic) Beverages

Joy/Happiness/Laughter

Conversation (light to robust)

(initial) Awkwardness

Variable:

Dancing

Food

Arguments

Posturing

Bravado

Revelations

Romance and/or Lust

Elephant in the Room is Hiroko Tsuchimoto’s investigation of the performances, dialogues and sequences that make up a party. Her interest in the absurd and awkwardness has produced insightful, ironic work with a sociological outlook.

In any room there is a combination of personalities and/or types of people, it’s possible that at a party certain personality traits are suppressed or amplified. There are those who are there to entertain and those there to be entertained, those who are there to see and those there be seen. It’s a supposedly symbiotic atmosphere where everyone in attendance is to gain fulfilment within their respective limits and social abilities.

In a jovial setting what then could be the “elephant in the room”? Perhaps among a combination of strangers, acquaintances and close friends socialising within a white gallery space, everyone will bring their own elephant.

Performance at Bag Factory Artists' Studios, Johannesburg, South Africa

(documentation: photo by Solomon Moremong, video by Pre-empt Group /Phumlani Ntuli)

Text: Chumisa Ndakisa

Video: Solomon Moremong

Sound: Daniel Konar

Graphic design: Joe Turpin

DJ: Sam Turpin

Styling: Neo Diseko

Make-up: Zenie Mketeni

Performers:

Bathusi Maqina, Bongekile Nguza, Khotso Motsoeneng, Lwando Dlamini, Palesa Sibiya

{vimeo}270356248{/vimeo}

DO NOT FEEL LIKE THAT. DO NOT FEEL! (2018)

How do we feel about feelings? Do we have to be happy all the time? Should we dismiss negative thoughts and get rid of the emotional pain? We can, and at times should. That we were taught in order to behave in a civilized manner. We know not to express feelings. “Don’t worry… Take a deep breath. Everything will be alright ;)”

“DO NOT FEEL LIKE THAT. DO NOT FEEL!” is a performance by Hiroko Tsuchimoto. The artist invited audience members to a performative session while walking around the beautiful site of Victoria Yards, where people can see the transition from the old laundry facility to the current creative community hub. The artist offered an opportunity to reflect on, resist and eventually overcome invisible social oppression. "It is a gentle process to engage a sense of your emotional state and to be aware of how you feel and where you stand now - by embracing an in transition, transforming place."

Performance at Victoria Yards, Johannesburg, South Africa: Organized by Bag Factory Artists' Studios

The Beautiful Past (2018)

This piece was performed by seven performers for the event “2222” at Fylkingen (on 22 February). The performers challenged how (much) to activate their recollection of sad emotions during the event. For three hours the performers acted sad through their own emotional memories at the bar area while audience members were drinking and socializing. Referring to the theory of surface/deep acting (Hochschild) and method acting (Stanislavski), they experimented with how to present the emotions and the level of performativity: pretend to be sad or express their true sadness, look sad, act sad or get sad… At the end, the performers moved to the main stage and stood under the spotlights. They cried in front of the audience, for the moment of 22:22.

Performance at 2222 at Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden: Co-organized with Magnus Logi Kristinsson, Jan-Egil Finne and Liv Kristin Holmberg

(photo by Anna Drvnik)

Performers:

Veronika Noni Öberg

Maria Olsson

Andrea Lopez Robles

Hanna Tebrand

Henrik Green

Jeanette Jarvenpaa

Stina McChesney

Eight great ways to fill your existential void (2018)

"Of all ridiculous things the most ridiculous seems to me, to be busy — to be a man who is brisk about his food and his work." -Søren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)

The video is presented as a series of exercises to "fill your existential void" – suggestions of how to engage with nature.

The artists are both dressed in minimalist black, do not speak and have a serious expression through the entire video, sitting on their knees on the floor of a white cube space. The visual aesthetic and musical cues bring to mind the Western trend of mindfulness, meditation and related practices, while the exercises themselves range from the poetic to the absurd. The video -uploaded to Youtube in the company of many other instructional videos- is tagged in a way to signify the origin and purpose of the exercises: boredom. Tags such as "meaningfulness", "be bored, not stimulated", "embracing boredom" and "non-entertainment movement" suggest the work can be read as an act of resistance against the neoliberalist impetus to be productive, never be lazy and never be bored.

Video performance with Hans Christian van Nijkerk, produced at Nida Art Colony, Nida, Lithuania

{youtube}4otCPovrRkE{/youtube}

Beware! (2018)

"Beware!" is a site-specific installation at Nida Art Colony. The work encompasses a range of red warning sign stickers, stuck on public walls and floors at strategic locations in the building. The warnings themselves, viewed individually, would for the most part not be out of place in a public building where security is a priority. But seen altogether, they convey an infantilizing, paranoid and over-protective view of the people frequenting the building and point to a society obsessed with security at all costs.

Site-specific installation with Hans Christian van Nijkerk at Nida Art Colony, Nida, Lithuania

Dinner Party! (2018)

Dearest  friends,

You are hereby invited to an international dinner party.

No matter what your background or criminal record is, we -Hans Christian and Hiroko- want you to feel welcome. This will be a non-hierarchical, trigger-free safe zone.

We will be preparing handmade ethical food for everyone. If you have any allergies, please notify us in advance. We will be also serving non-alcoholic drinks. You can bring your own alcohol, but please be mindful that some people might have traumatic experiences related to alcohol. When eating, eat with your mouth closed and do not talk simultaneously. Please be aware that highly sensitive guests cannot handle the sound of chewing.

Please try to include all guests in your conversations, while at the same time show understanding if someone does not want to talk. People on the more introverted scale grow tired of too much socializing. Please be aware of how much you are talking. Listening is equally important.

To keep you entertained, we will involve all of you in a non-offensive game for the whole family. Fun times!

Feel free to take photos or video clips at the dinner party. You can rest assured that documentation will not be used against you. You can share this invitation with your close friends, partners or significant others.

Please respond and lighten our hearts!

Always yours,

Hans Christian & Hiroko

“Dinner Party!” is a collaborative project with Hans Christian van Nijkerk and Hiroko Tsuchimoto in Nida Art Colony, located on a peninsula between the Curonian Lagoon and the Baltic Sea. They used the context of Artist in Residence and invited international artists to an occasion of a dinner party. They committed to entertain all the guests with welcome gestures, nature-inspired rustic table setting, handmade fusion cuisine, which addressed ethics and political correctness in intercultural communication. They also gave a GoPro camera to the guests to keep them occupied.

Duo performance with Hans Christian van Nijkerk at Nida Art Colony, Nida, Lithuania

(video by Hans Christian van Nijkerk)

{vimeo}256447379{/vimeo}

{vimeo}257036114{/vimeo}

listening to the blues but never really feeling it (2017)

Tsuchimoto started this project together with a poet, Sara Sheikhi with questions of how people recognize and understand the states of others, the contradiction between individual and collectivity in our contemporary society. They criticized limits of empathy in our individualistic culture and behavior through interactive exercises and a poetry reading. They formulated occasions for the audience to become aware of their way of participating and listening in both passive and aggressive ways. The event consisted of a sound installation by k(t(i)), a new collaborative project by Daniel Konar and Hiroko Tsuchimoto, and two performance acts by Tsuchimoto and Sheikhi.

The evening started with a sound installation by k(t(i)) composed from an interview with a Tanzanian woman which was recorded by Tsuchimoto two years ago. The woman talked about local problems that related to women and children. Konar juxtaposed the interview with a blues backing track, with the speech autotuned to the blues scale as if the woman told the story by singing blues. They problematized the act of empathizing with objective problems via audio media as well as reflecting on the history of blues music and the limits of understanding the problems of others in a global context. A while later, Tsuchimoto began the performance by inviting audience members one at a time to the main stage where there was one plant, small cups on a rolling table, and scattered papers. There were two instructions on the papers: "Please take off your shoes in order to feel the ground” and “Please lay down on the ground and stay calm." After a while of calmness, she woke each person up and gave a paper note that said: “Describe that the strongest emotion that you’ve ever experienced”. They wrote down their emotional memories, then they were asked to put the notes in their pockets. Tsuchimoto brought chairs and asked people to sit down one by one. After making a circle and putting the plant at the end of the circle, she gave a stone for the first person next to the person and asked it to pass to the next person. The stone was passed to the next person, and the next person... traveled around the circle. Accordingly, it reached to the last person who sat beside the plant. The person gave the stone to the plant. Tsuchimoto repeated this action with pebbles, sand, and water. She also passed pieces of paper with extracts from Sheikhi’s poem: “I am me and you are you”, “It is not my fault”, “I’m hearing voices but I can’t reply” in between. Behind the experience of the difficulty of passing the water to the plant, Tsuchimoto collected the paper note from their pockets, and distributed each note to another person. At last, she asked them individually to leave the room.

Afterward, Sheikhi took over the performance from the bar area. She slowly started to read her poetry while she was working as a bartender. Shifting between active and reserved modes of reciting, she approached the audience gradually and addressed each member personally. Her words became progressively sharper as the tone of her voice intensified. Towards the end, she made statements of blame to each of them, saying “Your bills are not paid-you are not forgiven-and you are afraid-of the many people living”. Tsuchimoto rescued each member to the main stage where there were chairs for people to sit face to face. They were forced to sit down to look at each other… until they listened to each other…

Performance at Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden: Co-production with Sara Sheikhi

(photo by Hironori Tsukue)

Sound installation: k(t(i)) (Daniel Konar & Hiroko Tsuchimoto)

Voice-over: Sarah Emmanuel Mollel

https://soundcloud.com/hiroko-tsuchimoto/listening-to-the-blues-but-never-really-feeling-it-full

 

The Pleasure of Your Company is Requested (2017)

In our culture of perpetual busyness, being busy is seen as a sign of success, productivity, and social status. If you do an online search for the opposite – boredom – youtube (a great place to never be bored) will display videos on "5 great ways to cure boredom" or on how to spend your "lazy day" by suggesting various productive activities (...). But the following paradox presents itself: a state of boredom, where the mind is allowed to drift, can often lead to creative thinking and impulses. As artists, boredom is an essential part of the creative process. As human beings, boredom also enables us to reflect.

This is the second collaborative performance between Hiroko Tsuchimoto and Hans Christian van Nijkerk. In this performance, they kindly invited the audience to a sensual experience with active participation. Referencing and criticizing the avoidance of boredom and discomfort in our contemporary society, they created an occasion, an unconventional dinner party for the audience members. The artists played around the level of performativity and provided the audience with opportunities to explore their mental and physical “discomfort” zone with welcoming hugs (in Dutch tradition), a long wait, a safety demonstration, physically touching the audience members in the dark, scripted small-talk, food presentations, etc.

Duo performance with Hans Christian van Nijkerk at Landmark Bergen, Norway: Organized by BLOKK

(photo by Bjarte Bjørkum, video: camera by Ken Robert Haltvik, editing by Hans Christian van Nijkerk)

<imgp="" />{vimeo}249927130{/vimeo}

Grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else (2017)

Tsuchimoto envisioned this performance with the intention of creating an illusional disorder generated by sounds, lights, and aggressive actions. Her objective was to convey an oppressive experience upon the audience members in a demanding and theatrical context. With the work, she questioned individual responsibility and engagement in the group and the process of creating collective emotions and crowd phenomena.

First, Tsuchimoto handed out blindfolds to the members at the entrance and began the performance with a friendly instruction to wear the blindfolds. The lights were turned off and she gave gentle touches to each member in the darkness. After a while, sound (created with the intention of agitating the audience) was played and strobe lights started to blink. Then performers placed among the audience members began to scream and stomp throughout the performance space. While the performers shouted and walked around the space chaotically, Tsuchimoto and several assistants attempted to comfort the audience members and rescue them from the nerve-racking situation. As the dynamic intensity of the sound amplified, the level of the screaming also escalated. The performance ended when the entire audience was evacuated from the main stage.

Performance at Tehdas Theatre, Turku, Finland: Organized by New Performance Turku

(photo by Julius Töyrylä, video by Christopher Hewitt)

Performers:

Valtteri Juvonen

Karen Soinila

Ida Martikainen

Salla Valle

Roope Laukkanen

Samuel Antero Laakso

Kaisa Huotari

Veera Lohiniva

Mirja Alahuhtala

Sound: Daniel Konar

{vimeo}251316962{/vimeo}

minnepiknik (memorial picnic) (2017)

[purposes]

to socialize

to mingle

to be nice

to celebrate

to appreciate the sunlight

to share memories

to participate

to belong

to feel involved

[locations]

public spaces

parks

lawns

river/lakesides

open spaces with nice views

places with shade

memorial sites

near castles

(an ideal distance to a bathroom)

(without bugs)

[seasons]

late spring-summer (in nordic countries)

[times]

daytime (possibly, evening in nordic summer)

[weather conditions]

comfortable

sunny-partly cloudy

calm-light winds

mild-warm temperature

cloudy, overcast, drizzle (possible for bergen people)

[romantic ideas]

sharing

collective

intimate occasion

peaceful social activity

escape from urban stress

no interruption

relaxation

nature-paradise

elaborate food

fancy people

[ambitions]

networking

job opportunities

new adventure

to turn a friend into your best friend

to meet destiny

better future

bliss

[reminders]

invitation

preparation

presentation

theme

dress code

political views

food politics

allergy

friendship compatibility

taboo topics

invisible force

silent agreement

unavoidable awkward silence

“no stress, just fun”

“you are not obliged to be nice all the time”

[activities]

food-potluck

drink

eating outdoors

small talk

gossip

storytelling

trivia

games

face painting

singing together

playing the ukulele

social dance

yoga poses challenge

group photos

social media updates

[guests]

family members

close friends

friend’s family

colleagues

foaf

frenemies

neighbors

locals

tourists who have connection with locals

facebook group members

facebook close friends

[performativities]

smiling

laughing

crying

arguing

kindness

politeness

mindfulness

hospitality

nodding

affirmation

empathy

exaggeration

caring

entertaining

organizing

controlling

representation

cultural appropriation

[things to bring]

baskets

blankets

extra clothing (especially in nordic countries)

homemade food

thermos (for coffee/hot water)

tea bags

wine/beer/champagne

water

bottle openers

guard knife

cutting board

plastic glasses

disposable cups

paper plates

biodegradable cutlery

paper napkins

trash bags

sunglasses

sunscreen

bug spray

hand sanitizer

balloon

garland

smartphone

[title]

minnepiknik (memorial picnic)

[invitation]

(norwegian)

Hei!

Velkommen til “Tur til Garnes, Steirapollen”

Onsdag 19. Juli 16:00

Jeg vil dermed invitere dere til Minnepiknik ved Steirapollen og gården Garnes. Vi møtes på parkeringsplassen og veien som leder inn langs Steirapollen ved E10 og går sammen frem til gapahuken som de fleste av dere kanskje har besøkt tidligere.

Jeg kommer til å bake rosinboller og ha med kaffe og te. Husk å ta med eget piknikteppe eller noe å sitte på.

Det blir tur uansett vær.

Jeg ser frem til å møte dere!

Vennlig Hilsen,

Hiroko

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Mitt navn er Hiroko Tsuchimoto. Jeg er en japansk kunstner som har bodd i Stockholm siden 2008, (så jeg forstår litt svensk). Jeg er for øyeblikket på besøk i Lofoten i forbindelse med et kunstprosjekt som heter «BETWEEN SKY & SEA», som er organisert av mine kolleger Rita Marhaug & Terese Longva fra Performance Art Bergen (PAB). Jeg har hørt om snøskredulykken som skjedde på gården Garnes i 1953, og ble oppmerksom på stedet. Jeg lurer på hvordan folk generelt sett minnes ulykken og gården som ble fraflyttet.

Dere trenger ikke å diskutere ulykken. Dere trenger ikke å ha noen forbindelse til ulykken. Dere trenger ikke å prate engelsk. Det viktigste er at vi bare går en tur og tilbringer tid sammen. Det er ingen spesielle oppgaver, bare en vanlig piknik.

(english)

Hello!

Welcome to “Picnic to Garnes, Sterapollen”

Wednesday, July 19th, 4:00 pm

I would like to invite you to the “Memorial Picnic” by the side of Steirapollen, Gården Garnes. We can meet at the entrance of Steirapollen beside E10 road and walk together to a little wooden hut which most of you may have visited before.

I am going to bake raisin buns and bring coffee and tea. Please bring your own picnic blanket.

No postponement for rain.

I am looking forward to seeing you!

Best regards,

Hiroko

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My name is Hiroko Tsuchimoto. I am a Japanese artist living in Stockholm since 2008. (So, I understand a bit of Swedish) I am currently visiting Lofoten for an art project “BETWEEN SKY & SEA” organized by my colleagues Rita Marhaug & Terese Longva from PAB. Upon hearing about a snow slide accident which happened at Gården Garnes in 1953 I became interested in the site. I started to wonder how people memorize accidents in general.

You don’t need to talk about the accident. You don’t need to be related to the accident. You don’t need to speak in English. The most important thing is that we just go there and share time together. There is no special task, like an ordinary picnic.

Performance at BETWEEN SKY & SEA at Lofoten, Norway: Organized by Terese Longva & Rita Marhaug (Performance Art Bergen)

(photo [top] by Bjarte Bjørkum, photo [below] by Kobie Nel)

Special thanks to Bodil Røvik-Larsen

A Memoir from California (2017)

For this performance Tsuchimoto did a remote performance via Skype from California to the audience in Stockholm. She recited the short story Wilshire Bus written in the aftermath of World War II by Hisaye Yamamoto, a Japanese-American writer. She tells the story of a Japanese-American woman who encountered an act of anti-Asian harassment toward a Chinese couple by a drunken white man while taking a bus to visit her hospitalized husband. Yamamoto describes racial complexities, and questions how immigrants identified themselves, and their feeling of belonging according ethnicity and nationality in post war American society. Tsuchimoto invited the audience to reflect upon racial issues of majorities against minorities and within generalized minority groups, as well as her self-representation as a Japanese immigrant in the present globalized, individualistic social context.

Performance at Pacific Beach, San Diego shown via Skype at SPRING CLEAN! performance weekend, Marabouparken, Stockholm, Sweden

Adaptation of the story Wilshire Bus (1950) from the book Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories by Hisaye Yamamoto

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YOU CAN (NOT) DO IT (ALONE) (2017)

Performance art can often bring about a feeling of discomfort, both for the performing artist and for the audience watching the performance. The audience cannot know exactly what will transpire, whether they will be confronted with something they’d rather not see, risk wasting their time on a potentially boring durational piece or even the terrifying prospect of having to participate. The performing artist can never fully anticipate how the audience will react and may be unsure exactly how the work will function (especially if the work is unscripted), working from a place of responding to the situation there and then.

Duo performance with Hans Christian van Nijkerk at Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden: Co-production with NKF, Nordic Art Association & Fylkingen

(photo by Hironori Tsukue, video by Hans Christian van Nijkerk)

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INGAWASI MWEMA NA UBAYA SINA (2016)

INGAWASI MWEMA NA UBAYA SINA (Although I am not good, I am not bad either.)” is a performance piece. The title comes from a kanga, a female garment originating in East Africa decorated with Swahili proverbs. Tsuchimoto traveled to Tanzania for the first time in 2011 with a curiosity towards kangas. Walking around the town of Dar es Salaam, she could see many colorful textiles with Swahili prints. To her surprise, she could also see another kind of message. What caught her eyes was the considerable quantity of Japanese characters, such as signs from a local swimming school, a hotel shuttle service, and a 24-hour food delivery written across old cars. As an automobile-producing country - Japan has a vast second-hand market. Many of these cars end up in Tanzania, since both countries have left-hand traffic. This experience with displaced messages made her reflect upon the construction of otherness. It also expanded her thoughts into matters of national identity and the global power structure. In this performance Tsuchimoto questions how to relate to unfamiliar cultures, confronting issues of colonial history and binarism of globalization mirroring her own background.

In this performance Tsuchimoto communicated with the audience with a myriad of media comprising sound, texts, and images: typed messages, a sound collage from interviews with Tanzanian women, Swahili proverbs on kanga textile, diagram pictures, images from tourist photos and historical paintings, her personal diary, informational text, and government documents.

At the entrance of the venue, Tsuchimoto welcomed attendees by attaching small black or white round stickers to their bodies. The audience was invited to the stage and got instructions on scattered papers; “PLEASE REMOVE YOUR SHOES” AND “PLEASE SIT DOWN HERE”. They sat down and listened to the sound composed of assorted conversations with personal stories about kanga textile.

Tsuchimoto stood on the stage and started to recite texts from her travel journal written at her first trip to Tanzania in 2011. She described a memorable moment of seeing Japanese secondhand cars in Dar es Salaam from the diary. She continued to read a text about left-hand traffic history in Japan which is one of the main reasons why Japan exports secondhand cars to former British colonies. Then, she switched the topic to ethnicity and gender identity by mixing stories of kanga and a legendary female singer, Bi Kidude, and also statistical facts from The Global Gender Gap Report. She also raised questions about national identity with a reference of tribal identity in Tanzania and the history of the national flag of Japan in the postwar period. She extended the topic of humans' curiosity and exotification of other cultures by showing images of Japonisme paintings. In addition, she described her confusion regarding her social position as Japanese in Tanzania, reflecting on Japan as a non-western developed country which has not been formally colonized by Western powers, but was a colonizer itself. She read an excerpt from The Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China which was signed in 1972 to establish diplomatic relations between Japan and China. Then, she shifted into the current racial situation mentioning how Tanzanian people treat Mzungu (white people) and considering the presidency of Donald Trump by reading a Comment by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Following the Meeting with President-elect Donald Trump. She concluded the reading with questions about global power structures.

After the recitation, Tsuchimoto came closer to the audience to divided them into two groups facing each other according to the color of their stickers. One group received a message “TALK TO THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU TALK ABOUT YOU” and another group received a message “TALK TO THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU TALK ABOUT SOMEONE YOU KNOW”. She finished the performance by letting the groups converse.

TO VISIT, RESEARCH AND TRACE: HOW TO REPRESENT INVISIBLE SPACES at Fylkingen, Stockholm, Sweden: Co-organized with Malin Pettersson Öberg and Valentina Sansone

(photo by Hironori Tsukue, live drawing by Jenny Soep)

Sound: Daniel Konar

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A fish out of water (2016)

(nature and woman)

 ...

 (woman and fisherman)

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 (fisherman and Muhu)

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 (Muhu and European Union)

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 (European Union and innovation)

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 (innovation and nature)

 …

A fish out of water” is an art project by Hiroko Tsuchimoto. She presents a performance, which summarizes her one-month residency on Muhu Island in Estonia. Her main interest for this project is traditional Estonian paganism and situations involving the fishing industry on the island. Referencing a strong connection between nature and Estonian people via pagan tradition, Tsuchimoto looks back into the historical relation of humanity and nature and the structure of dominance. It extends to a subject of the Western tradition of nature-culture dualism and the relationship between gender and the environment. She also includes a context of the decline of the local fishing industry on account of EU policy and brings questions about future discussions of environmental issues.

Performance at FUTU MUHU 2016 at Kuressaare Raegallery Culture Centre Hall, Kuressaare, Estonia: Organized by MUHU A.I.Residency

(photo by Merily Leis)

Co-performer: Jüri Lepik

Sound: Daniel Konar

The Vernissage (2016)

This is an attempt to force all the audience out from the gallery. Tsuchimoto was at a vernissage of Anonymous Boh’s solo exhibition in Riga Art Space. She used a whistle to let the people move out and dominated the exhibition space. In the end, she enjoyed seeing the artworks “by herself”. It also brings questions about individual and society -how we can share spaces and time with other beings in the neoliberal society.

Performance at BACK TO CHAOS Printmaking IN Festival, The Riga Art Space, Riga, Latvia: Organized by Non Grata & Grafikas kamera

(photo by Caroline Sada)

One Cannot Be in Two Places At Once (2016)

For this piece Tsuchimoto involved the whole audience. She started the performance outdoors and chose 20 people by grabbing their hands. The selected persons were brought into Slipvillan culture house and divided them into two different rooms. She then gave the audience a contrastive experience. Reflecting the situation of our polarized world, Tsuchimoto contemplates two different situations in the performance: a safe place and a dangerous place -one is protected, another is suffered.

Performance at TAGEN PÅ BAR GÄRNING at Slipvillan, Stockholm, Sweden:Organized by Osäkerhetsprincipen

(video by Martin Söderblom)

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a corner of sorrow (2016)

This performance was carried out at the geographical midpoint of the city on Friday the 13th. It was an experiment to see how private actions can cause a reaction in public space. For an hour Tsuchimoto kept walking back and forth in a corner with a sad face. After a number of repetitions, a stranger came to comfort her, which gave another dynamics to the performance.

Performance on Friday the 13th at Urban Stories: PECH I PRÓŻNIA, spotkanie performance, at Święty arcin / Gwarna, Poznań, Poland: Organized by Marta Bosowska / Performance Art Studio University Art Poznan

(photo by Tomasz Drewicz)

Welcome! (2016)

Welcome! is a guerrilla act in Stockholm subway, between Östermalmstorg and Slussen. In this performance Tsuchimoto reflected the recent phenomenon in subway and migration issues in Sweden, as well as her personal experience as an immigrant. For an hour she kept putting and collecting paper notes on train seats. Passengers could see the note which says, “Välkommen till Sverige! (Welcome to Sweden!)”. The action itself resembles a manner of begging for money, used by poor immigrants.

Performance at uNder_jOrden sTockholm at Stockholm subway-red line between Östermalmstorg and Slussen, Stockholm, Sweden: Organized by Gustaf Broms

(photo by Trish Littler, Marcel Van Helvoort)

(T)here (2015)

“(T)here” benefits from being scheduled at the end of the event, as it forces a part of the audience to leave the venue. In this performance Tsuchimoto invites the visitors to an interactive experience, in which she works with silence and body contact as communication. Using (or abusing) the power of being on stage, she hands out envelopes which says “Do not open yet”. Then, she makes the audience stand in a straight line and read their letters. If the note says “welcome” they can rest easy, if it says “go home” she forces them out of the building and lock the door. Finally, she makes the remaining audience focus on a big hourglass, which she turns over before she wordlessly leaves the venue. What happens next is out of her control.

Performance at PAO Festival 2015 at Atelier Nord / ANX, Oslo, Norway: Organized by Performance Art Oslo

(photo by Pietro Pellini, video: camera by Anne-Liis Kogan, editing by Martin Söderbolm)

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FADING SMOKE (2015)

(Better life and better future)

It is over 400 years since our belief converted from divine providence to the development of technology. We have extended human capacity and successfully got rid of everyday’s fear of nature. With no doubt in the concept of progress, we have composed the infinite mission to be “better” than the past, and constantly updated our hope for the future.

(Past and future in Brändö)

FADING SMOKE is an art project by Hiroko Tsuchimoto, in which she summarizes her one-month residency in Vaasa. Her focus is the social impact of transitions in Brändö during the intervening quarter-century, -from cotton to knowledge industry. She chooses an old factory site as a stage and invites the audience to a site-specific performance. In this project Tsuchimoto comments on the universal purpose of our lives -”progress” and presents hidden question mark in the city narrative. This leads to an open discussion about the future of the island as well as our global economic system.

Performance at Technobothnia, Vaasa, Finland

This project is a collaboration with Platform, Vaasa Museum of Labour and VAMK: University of Applied Sciences.

(photo by Panu Sivonen, video by Mikko Manninen)

Graphic design: Nallebjörn

Food presentation: Raawka

Reference: Ehrström, P. 2010. Från Bomull till kunskasindustri. Vaasa: Scriptum

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super-vision (2015)

This performance was carried out in an old prison in the center of Bergen. During the hours for the performance festival, Tsuchimoto strictly checked visitors’ identification. Acting the role of a severe border control officer, she got handled a variety of people’s reaction. In this performance she criticizes governmental authorities and supervision system in our society.

Performance at PAB OPEN 2015 at Gamle Bergen Kretsfengelsel, Bergen, Norway: Organized by Performance Art Bergen

(photo by Per Åge Mathisen)

Wind Eye(s) (2014)

In this site-specific project Tsuchimoto summarized her one-month residency in Poznań. Through exposure method and cultural mapping she's moved across the city, collecting stories and sceneries. Her final work is a mesh-up between home and away, new and old, genuine and artificial. Like a window, her performance opens up the world, creating an artist's travel-guide to Poznań. "Wind Eye(s)" comments on the town's recent gentrification, and the building of super-mall, "City center". The performance combines ancient occult rites and corporate commercials, into an artwork about everyday exoticism.

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"Wind Eye(s)" combines video installations, a group performance and narrated story telling in old Polish dialect. The event started inside the gallery, and moved out into the city. Holding hands, the audience walked in line to the old botanical greenhouse "Palmiarnia Poznańska", where a magical circle of fire awaited them.

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The core of "Wind Eye(s)" is a Polish folklore about "fire flowers" a rare and magical that grants its owner divine powers. In this version, a young boy hears about the legend from his poor grandmother. He decides to leave the village behind and search for the artifact. When he finally finds, the fire flower speaks to the boy, and promises him eternal wealth. The only condition is that he is never allowed to share it with others. The boy accepts this deal. and gets so attached with the flower that loses contact with the real world. He lives a life of luxury, in a big fortified castle. Meanwhile, the poor grandmother grows old and dies, without him noticing. In the end, the boy's fascination with novelties leads him straight to hell - where he spend the eternity longing for home.

Performance at PERFEX, Poznań, Poland

(photo by Sonia Firlej, video by Piotr Radocki)

Co-performers: Agnieszka Szablikowska, Aleksandra Bernecka, Ania Manyś, Monika Kąkolewska, Agata Kowalska, Monika Steganiak, Julia Jezierska

{vimeo}111571717{/vimeo}

The video installation consists of two video works. One video (Wind Eyes #1) simply shows assembling of the name of shops in a big shopping mall “Poznań City Center” and the name of plants in a botanical greenhouse “Palmiarnia Poznańska”. Another one (Wind Eyes #2) is a documentation of pedestrians in front of the shopping mall.

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