Creating a New Museum: Keio Museum Commons Vol. 2 Projects Taking Shape—Toward the KeMCo Preview

2020/11/24

In the previous issue, we provided a broad overview of the activities and scope of the Keio Museum Commons (hereinafter KeMCo), including the nature of its facilities. In this second installment of the series, we will introduce several projects that have been developed in collaboration and partnership with parties both within Keio and externally, which will be unveiled at the KeMCo Preview (October 26–29).

KeMCo aims to function as a place that generates interaction among the people who gather there, using cultural properties as a starting point or art as a keyword. One of its missions is to bridge contemporary creation with cultural properties of the past, making works feel more accessible, particularly to students (students of affiliated schools and university students). From this perspective, two commissioned work projects (Commissioned Work by KeMCo 2020) are currently underway, and these works will be unveiled to coincide with the KeMCo Preview.

One of these is “FFIGURATI #314,” a work by Enrico Isamu Oyama created for the KeMCo StudI/O on the 8th floor of the East Annex.

“FFIGURATI #314” uses the walls (cylindrical columns) and curtains within KeMCo StudI/O as supports. It is a work in which the artist's unique motif, the Quick Turn Structure (hereinafter QTS [a three-dimensional motif extracted solely from the lines of graffiti]), shows various expressions. Due to the room's purpose, curtains are installed to partition the studio; the QTS forms printed on them change as they open and close, appearing before the viewer in various ways—sometimes covering an entire section of the room, and at other times gaining volume in a single spot as they are folded and compressed.

Polyester organdy (a sheer fabric material), which was a medium Mr. Oyama approached for the first time, underwent a process of trial and error regarding its presentation through discussions with the studio design team. As a result, it uniquely expresses the flexible nature of the studio. At the same time, the moiré-like visual effects created by its luster and texture result in a finish that looks almost like a video. Combined with the texture of the aerosol paint on the walls and the traces of the artist's handiwork, it has created an artwork closely linked to the character of KeMCo StudI/O as a place where users move back and forth between digital and analog.

This new studio is a place for "creation," a color that has been relatively faint on the Mita Campus until now. In the future, having Mr. Oyama's work—a piece of handiwork that crosses media—in this space where various ideas will be embodied primarily by students, will surely allow people to feel the breath of "creating things" up close and provide inspiration.

Furthermore, the donations from the Century Cultural Foundation, which forms the core of KeMCo's collection, include many works and materials related to writing culture. From this context, a connection can be seen with the "Writing Culture" that Mr. Oyama engages with, opening up a horizon for observing approaches to writing culture across the ages.

The other commissioned work is “MITA Intercept,” a project-based work by Kenji Yamada.

Mr. Yamada is a contemporary artist active in the field of Socially Engaged Art (SEA). SEA is a methodology in contemporary art where the artist actively engages with society and links dialogue and collaboration there to creation. Mr. Yamada takes an approach of revealing things that were not visible in daily life through dialogue within the community. Sharing interests with KeMCo in terms of the interaction of people and the exchange of information and objects generated through a place—much like KeMCo as a "vacant lot" and the concept of "commons" originally referring to "common land" (iriaichi)—he has proceeded with production as part of a long-term process.

This collaborative project originated about two years ago with the recording and transformation of the archaeological excavation of the Mita 2-chome townhouse site into a work of art through the eyes of a contemporary artist. In the process, Mr. Yamada conducted active artist research at the excavation site, in the Mita area, and on campus. This led to the vision of "MITA Intercept," which encompasses various phenomena occurring at the intersection of Keio University, and the concept of the work as giving shape to a world that the people gathered there (students and citizens) participate in and peer into.

Furthermore, what the artist's eye caught as a kind of intruder was the "sticker" (wooden standing signboards), which is a part of the everyday scenery for people spending time at the Juku. Due to the unique form of the stickers scattered throughout the campus, as well as their public and media nature, the focus was narrowed down to them as the key item of this work. Through repeated interviews regarding the history, production methods, and usage of the stickers, collaboration with students was also born. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this took the form of a workshop including online participation. Students interested in Mr. Yamada's art project and KeMCo's activities gathered from across different campuses. The process of thinking—talking about things they usually saw or used without a second thought through dialogue with the artist, reconsidering their existence, and connecting them to new ideas—brought discoveries to both sides.

Integrating these processes is the installation work “MITA Intercept,” which will be created and released during the KeMCo Preview. Using evolutionary sculptures of stickers devised by the artist based on various dialogues as an expression platform, a video work will appear in which various keywords—such as the history of the Juku, campus culture, the excavation of the East Annex site, the Mita area, and the people involved there—come to fruition.

Meanwhile, projects in collaboration with various departments within Keio are also in motion. To coincide with the KeMCo Preview, there will be the publication of "Selections from the Keio University Collections" (general sales scheduled to begin in mid-November) and the holding of the online exhibition "Keio Exhibition RoomX: jinkan kosai (society)" (October 26 – December 25, 2020).

"Selections from the Keio University Collections" is a visual book introducing various works existing at Keio University. KeMCo was in charge of editing and prepared for publication with the cooperation of relevant departments. The collections accumulated over the 160-year history of the Juku are diverse, including archaeological cultural properties, artworks such as paintings and sculptures from ancient to modern times, buildings reflecting each era, rare books from the East and West, and library collections and historical materials. By including commentaries and columns with the cooperation of experts such as faculty and staff from various departments and graduate schools, as well as related materials such as bibliographies and exhibition lists, the book aims to allow readers to touch upon the richness of the cultural properties held by Keio University, the nature of the collections formed through human interaction, and a part of their utilization.

Similarly, in "Keio Exhibition RoomX: jinkan kosai (society)," held in collaboration with departments within Keio that primarily manage and exhibit collections, an online "room" (Exhibition RoomX) will be opened where visitors can view works and materials recommended by each department. Fifty-seven cultural properties from the university's art, archaeology, history, and rare book collections will be exhibited under the theme of "jinkan kosai (society)." Through the substantial content prepared by each department, we will provide a viewing experience unique to an online exhibition.

As described above, KeMCo has been engaged in activities in collaboration and partnership with people both within Keio and externally since its inception. The works to be released at the KeMCo Preview event, held alongside the completion of the building, are the vanguard of these efforts. Unfortunately, a full public opening cannot be held due to the situation with COVID-19, but the records are available for viewing online. We hope you will take a look at the activities of KeMCo as a hub that generates various intersections and interactions.