Contemporary Art Experimental Exhibition “Perspectives (1)”

2017.01.24-2017.03.26
HOMAGE

Much of the Intermediatheque’s exhibition furniture consists in prewar furnishings once used at the University of Tokyo, and which have been redesigned. Among this diverse furniture, one of the oldest is the steel shelf coming from the Akamon Gate Warehouse (Library) built in 1916. Initially built for the conservation of precious documents, it has a massive structure, and can be said to constitute an important academic heritage handed down to the contemporary era.
Combining this historic furniture and contemporary art, the Intermediatheque is organizing the experimental exhibition “Perspectives,” in an attempt to bring contemporary art and science to interact. The period of production of the shelf, a hundred years ago, coincides with the golden era of European artistic avant-gardes. By displaying within this historical shelf, at equally-spaced intervals, works by contemporary artists who have been influenced by avant-gardes, the present exhibition aims to accentuate the contours of each work, thus displaying the synchronicity characteristic of contemporary art. By revealing the synchronic topos of contemporary art, we can also put into perspective the art of generations to come.
During the exhibition, discussion events between the exhibiting artists and researchers from the University of Tokyo will also take place. Just as modern and contemporary art have been pursuing to establish relationships between works and various objects such as space, material, place and concept, in the same way, we will carry out a comparative analysis of the processes of artistic creation and scientific research from the initial stage of conception all the way to the stage of reflection, in a search of new relationships and possibilities.

[Exhibiting Artists] Ayato Fujiwara / Shio Imai / Shunsuke Imai / Kei Imazu / Toshimasa Kikuchi / Daichi Takagi / Motohiro Tomii
[Organizer] Intermediatheque Department, The University Museum, the University of Tokyo