Yokohama Triennale 2014 Artistic Director Yasumasa Morimura Interview
interview : Masamasa Nishino
text : Akiko Inoue
"Yokohama Triennale 2014" will be held for the fifth time this year. This is an international exhibition held once every three years, with the Yokohama Museum of Art and Shinko Pier as the main venue, but with locations throughout Yokohama. The title is a reference to Ray Bradbury's science fiction novel Fahrenheit 451, and the layout of the exhibition as a book stimulates our imagination. With the opening of the Yokohama Triennale 2014 in August, we spoke to Yasumasa Morimura, the artistic director and artist.
About the city of Yokohama
Q: First off, Mr. Morimura, please tell us your impression of Yokohama. We would also like to hear about what you are conscious of about the region when holding a triennale set in Yokohama.
I think a city is all about people. That's why I want to value people.
I think that the Yokohama Triennale has been trying to come up with ideas together with supporters over a long period of time, rather than on a one-off basis, through the Yokotori School and other institutions. I hope you find it helpful. If you expand from there to the next base, you will be able to interact with more people, and I believe that connecting and expanding among people is the most important thing. So I think the first scenery is the people there.
Q: So, please tell us your impressions of Yokohama when you visited there.
The main venues are Minato Mirai and Shinko Pier, so it's a relatively new area in Yokohama. To be honest, I prefer old towns (lol)
However, Yokohama is a city with a long history, so in addition to the newly developed areas, there are also old areas, so it would be strange to say that area is more attractive, but I like the contrast between them. is.
So, it's a little bit of a relief to go outside of Minato Mirai and walk around Koganecho and other places and see markets and old townscapes where people live. It's quite interesting.
Also, old buildings are attractive, and it's really nice to have buildings with a lot of history from the end of the Edo period or after the war. I like how those things are intertwined.
Photo from left: Yokohama Museum of Art, the main venue, and Shinko Pier (Shinko Pier exhibition facility)
About the theme of “Yokohama Triennale 2014”
Q: Next, I would like to ask you about this theme. First, do you have any special impressions of the Yokohama Triennale so far?
I think there are a lot of large-scale exhibitions like this being held across the country these days, but the main thing is that I don't pay much attention to them, including the Yokohama Triennale in the past, and instead focus on themes that are important to me. It's a feeling.
However, I think that until the Yokohama Triennale was held, there were almost no large-scale international exhibitions like this, so in that sense I think it is a long-established company that has set a precedent.
Therefore, this is the fifth time we have held this event, and as a long-established store, I feel that we have a responsibility to present good exhibitions and exhibitions that are provocative.
Q: I think Ray Bradbury's 1953 science fiction novel ``Fahrenheit 451'' is a big theme this time, but how old were you when you read this book?
I think I've read it several times, but I think I was around my 20s when I first read it.
Q: Was there something that resonated with you when you read it that you were thinking about quoting it someday, or did you have a different idea in mind that led you to quote from an old book?
I think it's fair to say that when I read it a long time ago, it was just one of many books. I had no intention of using this as a theme at some point.
"Forgetting" is a big keyword this time.For example, although we are often referred to as the information age, people do not realize that there are things that are extremely important that cannot be turned into information. I think there are a lot of things that people don't notice or pretend like they don't see. I think an artistic eye is able to see things that we don't notice. I thought that this is a very important power of art, so I wanted to use the theme of "oblivion."
The reason why I called it ``Fahrenheit 451'' is because I didn't want the title to directly point to the keyword ``oblivion,'' but I wanted it to have various connotations. There were a few titles that came to mind, such as ``Forgetting'' and ``What's Important to Us,'' because some of the themes in the novel ``Fahrenheit 451'' overlap with ours. There is. That's why I thought it would be a great idea to use this as the title. Furthermore, although ``Fahrenheit 451'' is a futuristic novel written in the 1950s, in many ways it is reminiscent of today's era and is shocking, so in that sense it is very prophetic. We wanted our Yokohama Triennale 2014 to be a prophetic exhibition, so we chose this as the main title.
Message from Mr. Morimura
Q: I think you said at the press conference, ``I want my children to eat a full-fledged full-course dinner, not just a kid's lunch.I want to think about what I can do to feed them that.'' When a large-scale exhibition like the Yokohama Triennale is held in a local area, in addition to people who come for that purpose, I think there are also many people who are not immune to art. Lastly, please give a message to the various guests attending the Triennale.
Before we send out our message, we have to assume that a wide variety of people will come to visit, so in addition to creating a system that will allow the children who were mentioned earlier to come see the show, we also need to create a system for people who are new to art. I would like to say that we have prepared some clues to help you find this kind of exhibition interesting. Actually, what we are devising this time is an audio guide. Normally, the text is read by an announcer, celebrity, or other storyteller, but that tends to result in a sloppy commentary, so this time I, who planned this exhibition, will speak in my own voice. I'm thinking of doing it. That's why, rather than being taught in a textbook, the planners will clearly communicate through spoken word what's interesting about it. I don't know what to say...I would like to do a gallery tour with you.
Q: So you can always take a gallery tour with the artistic director, Mr. Morimura, through an audio guide.
What's more, I'm basically planning to record the guide without creating a manuscript. Normally, I have a set length of 300 characters per minute, and I read it as needed to complete it, but this time, I want to create a guide that speaks to someone like I'm talking to you right now, and in everyday language. Therefore, I will not use any art terminology.
Q: I see. I've never really thought about using audio guides because they're too difficult, but I'd like to use them if the content is like that.
Right. Actually, I've had two solo exhibitions at the Yokohama Museum of Art so far, and for the exhibition ``Classroom of Beauty,'' I prepared a tape of myself speaking, and I went around listening to it. I used a method. It seems like it was quite popular. I think it's very rare for an author to talk about his or her work in his own words, so I wonder what he was thinking when he created it. It seemed like it was really interesting for the audience to walk around the exhibition and feel that. Last time I did some parts that were relatively primitive, so I thought it would be nice to do a finished version again this time, with a little more precision and using a proper audio guide method... This time I want to take full advantage of it.
How can you explain your work to beginners without using difficult words? It's a challenge for me too, but I'd like to give it a try.
My final message is a bit long, but I think this exhibition is like reading a book. Moreover, I don't think the book is a thought book, but a novel. As you read on, you wonder what will happen next, what will happen next, and you can always look forward to what's next. I'm thinking of configuring it like that. Just like with novels, you don't have to understand them with your head, but we've created this triennale with the image of experiencing and experiencing them, so I'm sure everyone will be able to take away a new experience... I am thinking.
thank you very much. I'm looking forward to it!
