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Echigo-Tsumari Art Field - Official Web Magazine
Feature / Interviews with artists
Site-Specific Artists in Echigo-Tsumari / Interviewed by Fram Kitagawa
Interviewed by Kitagawa From
In preparation for the upcoming Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, opening in April 2022, production has begun on a new body of works, alongside newly unveiled projects currently on advance display. In tandem with this process, we are releasing a video interview series documenting conversations between participating artists and the triennale’s General Director, Kitagawa Fram.
In Part 1, interviews focused primarily on artists whose works were already available for advance viewing, including Nawa Kohei, me, Nicolas Dalo, Nakatani Michiko, Kawaguchi Tatsuo, and Toshima Seizo.
In Part 2, the series turns its attention to artists who are now in the process of completing new works for the Triennale.
Filming & Editing: Yamaoka Nobuki (Film Director)
05 February 2022
Vol. 11 – Fukasawa Takafumi
New work, Snow Tower by Fukasawa Takafumi
The Nanawa district, a new-town area in Tokamachi City, is characterised by its vitality and openness to new ideas, while also maintaining strong ties to traditional seasonal events. Symbolic of this community is the Nanawa Disaster Prevention Warehouse, a building purchased collectively with funds raised by local residents. Used as a venue for a wide range of events, it strengthens both the cohesion and autonomy of the community.
Observing how snow-related activities—such as snow sculpture-making and snow removal—serve as a medium for reinforcing community bonds, Fukasawa felt this site was ideal for developing a work using snow dumps, tools ordinarily used for clearing snow.
Profile
Fukasawa Takafumi
Japan
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1984.
Focusing on the characteristics of place, history, and the people connected to them, the artist develops projects across Japan that explore ways of being together with others. He has participated continuously in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale since 2012, and in 2022 presented a work set in the Nanawa community.
Vol. 12 – LuxuryLogico
Fly! no matter what – Fly with Echigo-Tsumari by LuxuryLogico
The artist creates a black-and-white 3D animation depicting birds in flight, printing each frame individually. Local primary and junior high school students are then invited to freely colour the printed images through workshops. A total of 4,000 drawings are scanned, re-edited into an animation, and presented as a screening.
Profile
LuxuryLogico
Taiwan
Based in Taiwan, LuxuryLogico is an artist collective founded by four contemporary artists born in the 1980s: Chih-chien Chen, Kun-ying Lin, Keng-hau Chang, and Geng-hwa Chang. Established around the concept of hybridity, the group is known for its bright and playful aesthetic rooted in the idea of a “Delightful Weird-Land.”
Drawing inspiration from natural environments, LuxuryLogico challenges the ideas and structures that shape contemporary society. Integrating modern technology with the humanities, they express their concepts through music, visual works, installations, and text. Their fantastical works extend across theatre, film, dance, architecture, pop music, and even economic activity—driven by an ongoing impulse toward integration without fixed boundaries.
Vol. 13 – Oka Makoto
Farm tools donated by local residents are transformed into musical instruments and exhibited in the gymnasium of Tsunan Junior High School. While preserving the original forms of traditional agricultural and folk tools, the instruments produce sounds that echo their former functions.
A professional jazz musician by trade, Oka performs live using these instrument-tools, joined by guest musicians. Events are also planned in which students from Tsunan Junior High School will perform together with the artist.
Profile
Oka Makoto
Japan
Born in Japan. At the age of 11, Oka began studying flute under Ozawa Mieko, and at 16 taught himself the tenor saxophone. Alongside his career as a professional musician, he founded the Music Waterwheel Project in 2013, focusing on the creation of waterwheels that produce sound.
Vol. 14 – 86B210
Vibrating Sky by 86B210 (Image)
Profile
86B210
Japan
An avant-garde butoh dance duo composed of Suzuki Fumie and Iguchi Keiko, active both in Japan and internationally. Their work spans theatres, clubs, streets, and galleries. Performances are scheduled for 25 and 26 June (Sat–Sun) at Echigo-Tsumari “Kamigo Clove Theatre” in Tsunan Town.
Photo: © Taro Kotera
Vol. 15 – Nakazaki Tohru
Note to myself: For days when I will take a seat on a new tatami chair by Nakasaki Tohru
Photo: Kioku Keizo
An installation using the entire house of a former wealthy farming family in the Niiza district. Through interviews with former residents and those connected to the house, Nakazaki weaves together stories associated with the site. Visitors move through the house guided by neon signs, reading texts placed throughout the space and gradually unfolding the narrative of the house itself.
Profile
Nakazaki Tohru
Japan
Born in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1976; currently based in Mito City. Working across performance, video, and installation without fixing on a single form, Nakazaki is known for works using signage as a motif. Since 2006, he has been active as part of Nadegata Instant Party; since 2007, he has co-managed Playroom (Nakazaki Tohru + Endo Mizuki). From 2011, he has participated in Project FUKUSHIMA!, primarily directing its visual arts programme.
Vol. 16 – Fuse Tomoko
UBUSUNA WHITE by Fuse Tomoko
Photo: Kioku Keizo
Expressing reverence for the spirit believed to reside within Ubusuna House through folded white paper. In the Wind Tearoom and Dark Tearoom, works made using “infinite folding”—where one form divides into two, then again into two, continuing endlessly—are exhibited. Spiral, droplet-like folded forms are suspended in the Wind Tearoom. In the Light Tearoom, coloured origami boxes are arranged to evoke human activity.
Profile
Fuse Tomoko
Japan
Born in Niigata in 1951; currently based in Omachi, Nagano. An origami artist and a leading figure in unit origami, Fuse has also worked in industrial design. Her publications have been translated into multiple languages, and she continues to work actively both in Japan and internationally.
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Site-Specific Artists of Echigo-Tsumari – Part 1 （ Prequel ）
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