[-empyre-] empyre Digest, Vol 55, Issue 16

Tue Jun 16 14:56:56 EST 2009

I would like to thank Renate and Tim for inviting me to this month's discussion. It's been quite exciting for me to read all the amazing posts around the topic of participatory art: new media and the archival trace.

I was particularly intrigued by the questions around relational artworks and documentation/archive. As an art/performance event curator I passionately believe in what "present moments" hold and can offer. At the same time I embrace the practicality of web archive, blog, facebook and other social networking sites.

One of the artist events I curated over 2 years - Pecha Kucha Night Tokyo (PKN) - gives a good example (www.pecha-kucha.org). PKN is a monthly artist talk event originating in Tokyo and now having spread to more than 203 cities across the world. It's a simple artist talk show in which each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds - giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of "karaoke" style talk before the next presenter is up. No hierarchy, no excuse. Once the image starts rolling, the presenter must chat about each image. The atmosphere of the event is also very important. We held ours at an underground bar in Roppongi, Tokyo where people could relax, eat, drink and cheer each other.

As Pecha Kucha means "chit chat" in Japanese, the night is all about people interactions. Exchanging ideas, networking, enjoying old and new encounters. There was often live interactive performances on site in which audience and presenters all participated.

We documented each PKN Tokyo event and uploaded images every month to the web and blog, but there was no doubt that the night contained many undocumented moments. It is simply impossible to fully "document" live events or performances.

The web archive and blog for PKN exist to bring people to the present moment - inviting people to come and witness the undocumented moments. Also from the moment blog comments and images are posted after the event, the conversations around the art works and performances continue to evolve. Artists keep the communication going and works often develop into new directions.I believe there are lots of sides to this, but are there ways to embrace documentation as a part of present?

Atsuko

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> From: empyre-request at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> Subject: empyre Digest, Vol 55, Issue 16
> To: empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:00:06 +1000
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> 1. Fwd: Re: Introducing Week 3: Miyawaki Atsuko (rtf9 at cornell.edu)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:28:07 -0400
> From: rtf9 at cornell.edu
> Subject: [-empyre-] Fwd: Re: Introducing Week 3: Miyawaki Atsuko
> To: soft_skinned_space 
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>
> Tim has been on the road for over a week now and as I attempt to keep
> up with all fronts here, our discussion this month has me rethinking
> about my own work in new media installation. As artists while our
> work is valorized by the gallery and museum system (that we also
> nurture), this co-dependent system becomes more obsolete and
> particularly problematic for me.
>
> Many thanks to Claudia Pederson for prompting us to remember once
> again the importance of politics and especially feminism and thanks
> to Nick Knouf's for among other things his discussion on the
> affects of the trace and his interests in hacktavism. Both guests
> have generously helped all of us to expand our investigations
> further, to make more connections between the body and its
> interventions via performance/choreography, sound/narrative, art,
> technology, and new media. These connections seem to become further
> complicated by the reverberation between the the body's activity and
> how that gets translated or documented or perhaps archived (or does
> not). What affects do these translations have on the originary
> movement and the idea?
>
> To continue our discussion, I would like to introduce Miyawaki Atsuko
> (UK/Japan) for Week #3 on Participatory Art: New Media and the
> Digital Trace. Atsuko's recently moved from Japan to London and
> will discuss her projects and thoughts throughout the week. I have
> attached her biography below.
>
> I also wanted to remind empyre lurkers that we will also be posting
> other guest's posts throughout the next two weeks that will introduce
> new threads into the daily discussion.
> Best to all of you,
> Renate Ferro
>
>
> Miyawaki Atsuko (UK/Japan) is an international curator/event
> organizer from Tokyo.
> After completing MAs in East Asian Studies at Cornell University and in
> Performance Studies at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University,
> she has been creating artistic platforms for artists and performers.
> She has organized and curated 22 events to date including the monthly
> artist talk-events "Pecha Kucha Night Tokyo" and "Tide Night at Tokyo
> National Stadium". She is currently living in London energetically
> exploring creative possibilities.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Renate Ferro
> URL: http://www.renateferro.net
> Email: 
> ,
> Visiting Assistant Professor of Art
> Cornell University
> Department of Art, Tjaden Hall
> Ithaca, NY 14853
>
> Co-moderator of _empyre soft skinned space
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empyre
>
> Art Editor, diacritics
> http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/dia/
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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> End of empyre Digest, Vol 55, Issue 16
> **************************************

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