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Jichiku 2021: “Age of Decoupling” Series, Part 1

Meiro Koizumi: Prometheus Bound

2021.12.11 (Sat.), 12 (Sun.), 17 (Fri.), 18 (Sat.), 19 (Sun.)

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Information

Period:

2021.12.11 (Sat.), 12 (Sun.), 17 (Fri.), 18 (Sat.), 19 (Sun.)

Venue:

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Gallery 13

Admission：

Adult ¥2,000 (¥1,800)
65 years and over: ¥1,500 (¥1,200)
25 and under: ¥1,000 (¥800)
Junior high and high school students (age 13 and over): ¥500 (¥400)
*Fees in parentheses are for advance tickets

Intended Audience：

Limited to 13 years and older, as head-mounted display will be used

Capacity：

12 participants

For More Information：

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa
Tel: 076-220-2811
Contact us online here

About

A long-term project of the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, “Jichiku” (lit. “autonomous region”) is not limited to art but intersects with other fields such as science, history, and sociology. It includes live performances, video screenings, talks, artist residencies, and workshops traversing the genres of music, movies, and theater, which are presented throughout the year. Through partnerships and collaboration with external communities, we are conducting experimental activities that transcend the conventional exhibition venue.

Jichiku 2021: “Age of Decoupling” is a two-part series featuring Meiro Koizumi and Akira Takayama. Today we live in a society of ever-accelerating efficiency and competition amid a superheated market economy, generating interpersonal disparities, conflicts, and polarization. What stance should we take toward the realities of systemic injustice and unreleased emotion, laid bare more than ever by the pandemic? Through the works and activities of these two artists, we open up possibilities to engage with these issues on a personal level.

About the works:

  • “Age of Decoupling,” Part 1
    Meiro Koizumi: Prometheus Bound
    (Grand Prize, Art Division, 24th Japan Media Arts Festival. Produced by Aichi Triennale 2019, Meiro Koizumi)

    VR (Virtual Reality) theater explores points of contact between the real and the virtual

    Meiro Koizumi explores relationships between the state/collective and the individual, and between the human body and emotions, through experimental video and performance that interweaves reality and fiction. In his VR theatrical work Prometheus Bound (commissioned by Aichi Triennale and released in 2019), taking the Greek tragedy of the same name as a starting point, participants experience vicariously the sensations and emotions of an “other” different to themselves.
    As the audience views the VR images, they listen to “him” recall happy memories of his childhood, and then as he gradually becomes immobilized, he begins to speak about endeavoring to live and retain his voice while merging with the machine, and gaining hope that lifts him out of the abyss. The tale of Prometheus, sentenced to eternal punishment for the crime of stealing fire from Zeus and giving it to humans, is the tale of humanity’s despair and hope since we obtained fire (technology), which has been the most powerful source of human development, and resonates with “his” story in Meiro Koizumi’s Prometheus Bound. What kinds of scenes will the participant and “he” experience together?

Artist Profile

  • © Meiro Koizumi

    Meiro Koizumi

    Born in 1976 in Gunma. His work explores relationships between the state/collective and the individual, and between the human body and emotions, through experimental video and performance that interweaves reality and fiction. He has taken part in numerous international exhibitions including the Tate Modern’s BMT Tate Live, the Shanghai Biennale, and the Sharjah Biennale. Among his solo exhibitions are Project Series 99: Meiro Koizumi at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013), Trapped Voice Would Dream of Silence, Arts Maebashi, Maebashi, Japan (2015), Today My Empire Sings (Vacant, 2017), and Battlelands at Perez Art Museum Miami (2018). Using VR technology, he has presented Sacrifice (National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul, Korea, 2018) and Prometheus Bound (Aichi Triennale 2019). In 2021, Prometheus Bound was awarded the Grand Prize in the Art Division, 24th Japan Media Arts Festival. Koizumi received the Artes Mundi Prize at National Museum Cardiff, UK.

Related Programs

  • Special Streaming Program (no charge)

    This conversation between Meiro Koizumi and Daisuke Tsuda will be broadcast on the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa YouTube channel starting at 10:00 on Wed., December 1.
    Prometheus Bound was commissioned for Aichi Triennale 2019, for which Mr. Tsuda served as Artistic Director. How does this work appear now, three years after its premiere? They will speak about past, present, and future, and about the times we are living through, from a uniquely high-resolution perspective.

    Date/Time: Wed., December 1, 10:00
    21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa YouTube Channel

    Daisuke Tsuda
    Born 1973, lives in Tokyo. Graduated from the Social Sciences Department of Waseda University.
    Tsuda is a journalist, media activist, editor-in-chief and newscaster at the web media platform Politas, and guest professor in the Faculty of Information and Sociology at Osaka University of Economics. His writing and reporting specializes in areas including media, journalism, technology and society, freedom of expression and human rights violations on the Internet, regional issue resolution, governmental cultural projects, copyright issues and content-based business. His major books include Winning the Information War (Asahi Shinsho), Using the Web to Influence Politics (Asahi Shinsho), Mobilization Revolution (Chuko Shinsho Laclef), Information Breathing Exercises (Asahi Press), and The Sociology of Twitter (Yosensha Shinsho). His subscriber-only weekly online newsletter Media Site was launched in September 2011.

Tickets

  • Tickets go on sale Tue., November 9 *Start date has changed
    Peatix

    [Changing or Canceling Reservations]
    *Please note that after ticket purchase is completed, tickets cannot be canceled and dates/times cannot be changed.
    *Please bring ID with proof of age.
    *Advance tickets will be available until 23:55 the day before, and same-day tickets will be available until 10 minutes before each performance.

Schedule (Duration: 60 minutes)

  • DateTime
    Sat., December 1113:00 / 13:30 / 14:00 / 14:30 / 15:00 / 15:30 / 16:00 / 16:30 / 17:00 / 17:30
    Sun., December 1213:00 / 13:30 / 14:00 / 14:30 / 15:00 / 15:30 / 16:00
    Fri., December 1718:00 / 18:30 / 19:00
    Sat., December 1813:00 / 13:30 / 14:00 / 14:30 / 15:00 / 15:30 / 16:00 / 16:30 / 17:00 / 17:30
    Sun., December 1913:00 / 13:30 / 14:00 / 14:30 / 15:00 / 15:30 / 16:00

    Capacity: 12 participants

    *Age: 13 years and older, as head-mounted display will be used.
    *Please come to the reception desk at least 10 minutes before the start of each session. You will be admitted after an explanation of COVID-19 precautions.
    *No admittance after event starts.
    *Concerning Countermeasures for the COVID-19 Virus
    ・There may be changes in scheduling, etc. depending on the COVID-19 situation.
    ・Please refrain from visiting the museum if you have a sore throat, fever, or other symptoms.
    ・Masks and temperature measurements are required upon entrance into the museum.
    ・For more details, visit the museum’s Concerning Countermeasures for the COVID-19 Virus page (updated October 1, 2021).

Credit

Organized by：

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Kanazawa Art Promotion and Development Foundation)