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 to be unveiled at the KeMCo Preview (October 26–29), among the activities that have been progressing through collaboration and coordination both within Keio and externally.

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 the work "FFIGURATI #314" by Enrico Isamu Oyama, created for the KeMCo StudI/O on the 8th floor of the East Annex.

"FFIGURATI #314" uses the walls (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 variations—sometimes covering an entire section of the room, and at other times gaining volume in a single spot as they are folded and compressed.

The medium used, polyester organdy (a sheer fabric material), was a first for Mr. Oyama, and its presentation was developed through trial and error in 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 the digital and the analog.

This new studio is a place for "creation," a color that was previously faint on the Mita Campus. 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 a project-based piece by Kenji Yamada titled "MITA Intercept."

Mr. Yamada is a contemporary artist active in the field of Socially Engaged Art (hereinafter SEA). SEA is a methodology in contemporary art where the artist actively engages with society and links dialogue and collaboration there to the creation of work. Mr. Yamada takes an approach of revealing things that were not visible in daily life through dialogue within the community. Just as KeMCo as a "vacant lot" and the concept of "Commons" originally referred to "common land" (iriaichi), he shares interests with KeMCo regarding the interaction of people and the exchange of information and objects generated through a place, and has been proceeding 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 a work that gives shape to the world that the people gathered there (students and citizens) engage with and peer into.

Furthermore, what the artist's eye captured as a kind of intruder was the "sticker" (wooden standing sign), which is part of the everyday scenery for those who spend 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. Collaboration with students also emerged through repeated interviews regarding the history, production methods, and usage of the stickers. 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 at 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 Juku history, 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 and historical document groups as collections. In this book, by including commentaries, columns, and related materials such as bibliographies and exhibition lists with the cooperation of experts including faculty and staff from various departments and graduate schools, we aimed for a book structure that allows 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 the most recommended works and materials from each department. Fifty-seven cultural properties from the art, archaeology, history, and rare book collections owned by the Juku 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 conducting activities in collaboration and coordination 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, represent 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.