Eigenlicht (The Inner Self in Outer Space), 2012, 35mm film, 18 minutes

AIT is pleased to host a talk by the current artist in resident from the Netherlands, Melvin Moti on Thursday, March 28th. Melvin Moti is currently artist in resident from January to April 2013 with AIT, through the support of The Mondriaan Fonds Foundation in the Netherlands.

Moti examines neurological, scientific and historic processes in relation to visual culture. Over the last years he produced several films along with artist books, objects and drawings.
In one of his latest films, "Eigenlicht (The Inner Self in Outer Space)", he attempts to examine the self-referential properties of objects.
The film shows a number of fluorescent minerals including Uranium, which absorbs UV light and emits visible light. Uranium vivid colors conveys its toxic intentions by the way the green glow roars at its viewer. While the film focuses on how objects can "speak" for themselves devoid of any cultural context, an artist book created parallel to the film complements Uranium as a loaded cultural subject; particularly the cultural history of Japan and its relationship with Uranium and nuclear energy.

At the talk, Moti`s latest 3 films, "Eigengrau", "Eigenlicht" and "Dust" will be shown each in its full version.
Moti states, "In 2008 I decided to continue making films without using sound. These future films would remain mute, as cinema before "the talkies", once was. In years prior to that decision my films contained a spoken voice-over. I remember very well when I made that decision, it was after the moment I thought; "when I present my work in Japan, how will I solve the language problem"? Will I translate the voice-over or subtitle the film? Instead I decided to not use language all together. Well, here I am, in Japan, and it seems only logical to present my mute films. "

Before the screening will be a short introduction to the projects and a question and answer session will follow afterwards.
Having worked with various materials such as glass objects and textiles as part of his installations in the past, Moti has dedicated his residency at AIT to researching Japan`s traditional dying techniques such as Edo Komon and Bingata. He will share episodes from this research along with other discoveries through his stay in Tokyo, and possible ideas for new works.

The talk will be in English with consecutive Japanese translation.

[ OUTLINE ]
Date and Time: Thursday, March 28th 2013, 19:00-21:00
Venue: AIT Room Daikanyama (Twin Bldg. Daikanyama B-403, 30-8 Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya-ku)
Organized by: Arts Initiative Tokyo
Founder: Mondriaan Fonds
Capacity: 30. Booking Required.
Admission: JPY1000 (JPY800 for Students and AIT Base Members / Free for AIT House and Support Members)
Other details: Admission comes with 1 free drink, talk will be in English with consecutive Japanese translation

[ CONTACT ]
Send an email with its subject as "AIT ARTIST TALK #64" to otoiawase@a-i-t.net, including your name, and contact.

[ Melvin Moti BIOGRAPHY ]

Born in 1978 in Malmö, Sweden. Lives in Stockholm, Sweden. He works as a comic book artist, but also as a rapper and a radio host. His comics are drawn in a round icon-like cartoony style, although their content is often realistic or autobiographical. He has published 4 graphic novels, as well as several short pieces for the Swedish comic anthologys Galago and Rocky Magasin. His book Simons 120 dagar published in English as The 120 Days of Simon in 2010. In 2008, Gärdenfors hosted a six-episode series on ZTV titled The Simon Gärdenfors skräpkultur-show (The Simon Gärdenfors Junk Culture Show), with each episode focusing on a different category of "junk culture" such as candy wrappers, comics, and pinball. http://gardenfors.blogspot.jp/

Stay: October 3, 2012 - December 28, 2012
Founders: IASPIS
Event: Artist presentation (closed)

" `Falling` People and Parasitic Sculptures"
Talk by German artists Benedikt Partenheimer and Rita Hensen
Date and Time: Monday, September 29th, 19:00-21:00
Venue: AIT Room Daikanyama　*Booking required *Talk will be in English with consecutive translation

AIT will host a talk by the current artists in resident from Germany, Benedikt Partenheimer and Rita Hensen on Monday, October 29th.

During the talk, the two artists will introduce their past works, about the creative process and concept behind them. They will also share their discoveries through their stay in Tokyo, and possible ideas for new works.

The talk will be in English with consecutive Japanese translation by AIT staff.

Left：Benedikt Partenheimer / Falling / Lars falling, Munich 2005
Right：Rita Hensen / Ausatmen(Breathe Out) / 2011 / multipartite, wood, lacquer, plastic / 140x240x45cm

AIT will host a talk by the current artists in resident from Germany, Benedikt Partenheimer and Rita Hensen on Monday, October 29th.

Benedikt Partenheimer and Rita Hensen are currently artist in resident until November with AIT, through the support of The Daimler Foundation in Japan.Their stay is part of the supporting arts program "Art Scope" funded by the same foundation, and an exhibition will be held in 2014 at the Hara Art Museum to show works which emerge from this residency.

Benedikt Partenheimer works and lives in Berlin, mainly producing photographs and video works. Past works include a series of photographs called "Falling" which capture people floating in mid air, parallel to the ground. Another series, "Boundaries" focuses on the political and national borders that originated from the breakdown of former Yugoslavia. The photographs of this series show various "invisible" borders and thereby call attention to the general idea of demarcation. For the series "Turnaround", he takes portraits of famous artists such as Damien Hirst, Dan Graham, Frank Stella - however, all from behind. The series addresses contemporary perception within the context of portraiture and establishes new and different positions for interpretation and imagination. The series examines external appearance and inner experience - the ambivalence of space. This particular series will be continued in Tokyo.

Rita Hensen studied at the Academy of Visual Arts in Munich, and currently works and lives in Munich.
Hensen works with various media, such as drawings, sculptures, and photography. The rich variety of colours and their use have their own in painting qualities. For an exhibition in 2011, she exhibited multiple works such as "Depot 1" a colorful sculpture shaped like a mountain range, and "Ausatmen (Breathe Out)" another sculpture made of thin boards and plastic spheres, its appearance somewhat like an architects' model. Her works are a bit like parasites; growing and extending itself within the exhibition space. On a closer look, the viewer realizes unpainted surfaces of the original material, or pencil marks of notes when building the works, allowing us to visually `see` the artist`s thinking process. From what point do the works become a `sculpture`? Where is its starting and/or ending point?

During the talk, the two artists will introduce their past works, about the creative process and concept behind them. They will also share their discoveries through their stay in Tokyo, and possible ideas for new works.

The talk will be in English with consecutive Japanese translation by AIT staff.

[ OUTLINE ]
Date and Time: Monday, October 29th 2012, 19:00-21:00
Venue: AIT Room Daikanyama (Twin Bldg. Daikanyama B-403, 30-8 Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya-ku)
Organized by: Arts Initiative Tokyo
Founder: Artscope
Capacity: 30. Booking Required.
Admission: JPY1000 (JPY800 for Students and AIT Base Members / Free for AIT House and Support Members)
Other details: Admission comes with 1 free drink, talk will be in English with consecutive Japanese translation

[ CONTACT ]
Send an email with its subject as "AIT ARTIST TALK #63" to otoiawase@a-i-t.net, including your name, and contact.

[ BIOGRAPHY ]
Benedikt Partenheimer

Rita Hensen

Talk by emerging curators Sudjud Dartanto(Indonesia) and Che Kyongfa(Japan)
Date and Time: Sunday March 25, 14:00-16:00 *Booking required
Venue: Hillside Annex B (30-2 Sarugaku-cho, Shibuya-ku)

　
Left：「Immemorial, Reaching Back Beyond Memory」（2009/2011）
Right：「U(dys)topia」（2010）

AIT is pleased to host a talk by two promising curators from Indonesia and Japan. Sudjud Dartanto from Indonesia is currently in Tokyo via AIT`s residence program. The first half of the talk will be led by Sudjud addressing the relevance of the theme "Relational Aesthetics" today, in connection with the contemporary art scene in Indonesia. Kyongfa will join the talk from the second half for further discussion and analysis on the topic. A casual bar will open afterwards serving Indonesian snacks.

[ BIOGRAPHY ]
Sudjud Dartanto

Che Kyongfa

"Untitled", 2011, Analogue colour photo

AIT is happy to host a talk and workshop by Ksenia Galiaeva on Monday, March 12th. Ksenia Galiaeva is a Russian/Dutch artist working mainly with photography, currently artist in residence with AIT through the support of FONDS BKVB (the Netherlands Arts Foundation). She lives and works in Amsterdam. Following a short introductory talk about her works, a fun and experimental workshop on photography will follow, using cameras and various objects.

For fourteen years she has been making photos of her parents in the paradisiacal surroundings of their Russian summerhouse ? often humorous photos of them busy in the their garden or snapshots of foods in vivid colours on the kitchen table. What fascinates her is the way memories change through repetition and grow to mythical proportions, and our abilities to steer memory in different directions. The flow of time, continuity and memory are main themes in her work.

The challenge in photography is to get past the restrictions of the medium ? a 'decisive moment' seen in 'monocular' perspective. Ksenia is interested in connections photography has with other art disciplines ? literature, painting and sculpture.
For the workshop, participants will be asked to bring a digital camera (or simply use camera function on mobile phones) and any objects they`d like to use at the workshop (pictures from magazines? coloured paper? candy? vegetables or fruit?)
The aim is to explore between the 2-dimensional and the 3-dimensional. In a photo we can suggest volume and space ? other volume and space than that we see with our eyes. Sculptures can be flat and photos can have form and volume: a face from a magazine cover folded in half instantly becomes 3D, objects once in a photo becomes 2D.
Examples of ways to experiment will be shown during the introduction through works by Ksenia and other artists, such as Gabriel Orozco, Erwin Wurm, Wolfgang Tillmans, John Stezaker, and more! In the end, all participants will be asked to briefly share their work.

The talk and workshop will be in English with consecutive Japanese translation by AIT staff.

[ CONTACT ]
Send an email with its subject as "AIT ARTIST TALK #59" to otoiawase@a-i-t.net, including your name, and contact.

[ Ksenia Galiaeva BIOGRAPHY ]

"Untitled", 2011, Analogue colour photo

"Untitled", 2011, Analogue colour photo

"Stubborn", 2007

AIT will host a talk by the current artist in resident, Jyri Kaasinen on Monday, Jan 16th.

Jyri Kaasinen is a Finnish media artist working mainly with photography, currently artist in resident with AIT through the support of FRAME and the Finnish Institute in Japan.

Over nearly ten years one of Jyri's projects has been capturing portraits of people who operate in the field of creative professions: artists, musicians, graphic designers and such. In his photos these individuals are often shown outside of their working identities or artist trademarks.
Never really leaving the house without a camera he's also able to capture "treasures of everyday life": details or views he finds in public spaces. He looks for a subjects of poetic quality that are able to evoke a story in the viewer's imagination within one frame.
His work is related to documentary and photojournalism, but he approaches the subject with artistic freedom to use any available photographic tool or post processing technique. In his talk he will also show some of his more experimental output.

The talk will be in English with consecutive Japanese translation by AIT staff.

Jyri Kaasinen, born 1979 in Nurmijärvi, Finland. Lives and works in Helsinki, Finland.
Studied Media Art in Tampere University of Applied Sciences: School of Art and Media, Tampere, Finland, graduated in 2004. Studied Visual Journalism at the same university in 2008-2009.His early artworks are paintings, drawings, animations and media art pieces with programmed content. After picking up photography in 2000 it becomes the base for his working. He has spent working periods abroad in St.Petersburg and various other locations in Russia in 2002-2003 and as Artist-in-Residence in Düsseldorf, Germany in 2009. www.luonnoskirja.net (The name of the website, "luonnoskirja" means sketchbook in Finnish)

social media:
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Stay: November 25, 2011 - January 27, 2012
Founders: FRAME／Finnish Institute in Japan
Event: AIT ARTIST TALK #57 "Artists, film, pixels and chemicals"