Aug 16, 2021
Arts Council Tokyo(Tokyo Metropolitan FoundationFor History and Culture)

PRESS RELEASE

masayume officeContemporary art team 目 [mé] to again present "masayume,"
an existing person's face above Tokyo!
Contemporary art team 目 [mé]’s "masayume," one of the Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL Special 13, organized by the Tokyo
Metropolitan Government and Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture), was presented
as a surprise to the city once again on Friday, August 13, 2021.

Photo：TSUSHIMA Takahiro

Photo：KANEDA Kozo

Photo：KANEDA Kozo
目 [mé], masayume, 2019-2021, Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL Special13"masayume" is a project that invites faces from all over the world—regardless of age, gender, or nationality—and floats a selected"face of an existing person" in the sky over Tokyo. The contemporary art team 目 [mé] has been making a splash with their
original and creative works at international art festivals and exhibitions. The project was conceived from the mystic scene KOJIN
Haruka, the artist of the team, saw in her dream when she was a junior high school student. "masayume," can be translated as “aprophetic dream,” and the project was carefully prepared through the process of sharing the meaning and essence of the workwith many people.
This work questions our existence in the relationship between "individual" and "public," through looking at the face that mostrepresents an “individual” in an extremely public landscape of modern Tokyo. It is our hope that this overwhelming scene will
suggest a new "way of looking at things" to us facing various challenges today.

“masayume” aims to be a work of art that doesn’t require a crowd to gather in one place to view it, but can be experienced andshared in different places, times, and environments through various channels such as live streaming, social media, and mass
media.
The floating face was roughly the size of a six- or seven-story building. The face’s model and the method of flotation are notdisclosed, based on the artist's intention.

Project Outline
Date : Friday, Aug 13, 2021
Floating Location : Eastern Tokyo
Description : A project to float a selected “face of an existing person” in the Tokyo sky.
Organized by : Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Arts Council Tokyo (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History andCulture)
Produced and curated by : 目［mé］
Cooperated by : P3 art and environment
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“masayume” can be viewed in various formats. Please check the Official WEBSITE and social media accounts.
●Official WEBSITE https://masayume.mouthplustwo.me
Images are posted on the website.
●Social Media
Facebook @masayume.mouthplustwo
Instagram @masayume.me
Twitter @masayume_me
The project’s stages are showcased on social media.
Please share your experience with hashtag #masayume.
Dear Media – Message from 目 [mé]We have created and presented “masayume” in the hope that it will help people to think proactively about our current
situation and its “significance,” rather than just as a project to make the Olympics and Paralympics more exciting.
We would highly appreciate you referring to the following “Artists’ Statement,” “Keywords to Convey,” and “Reference
Notation” as much as possible when introducing the project.
“Artists’ Statement” (excerpt)
This is a completely different era from 1964, and, under the circumstances of the pandemic, we have lost sight of the"significance" that underpins the very foundation of our human behavior. The only way to find it is through our own
initiative and imagination. Contemporary art team 目[mé] has not given up on trying to find the "significance" in thislargest gathering of human beings during this pandemic, and to pass on this realization to future generations.
Even though we have suffered great loss around the world, we know that the "dream" that a girl saw in her sleep cantrigger our great imagination. We must confront this world with a new gaze, not bound by reason alone, no matter thecircumstances. Just as human beings have always grasped the significance of things "after the fact" by using their
imagination, they have continued to survive in this world.
“Keywords to Convey”
The overwhelming “Other” seen all across the world
The gigantic face floating in the sky, seen all across the world through social networking services and media, is the "other" forpeople around the world. What is the "other" in this era and situation? To what extent can we think about others?
The “Face” that could have been me
What floats in the sky is the face of an existing person, selected from more than 1,000 applicants. It was an open call whereanyone could apply. In other words, for everyone, this is a face that could have been them. “If I had applied, it might have been
my face.” With this in mind, we would be happy if you could experience the artwork as your own—something distant but veryfamiliar.
The “Mysterious” scene that emergedThis is a dream that artist KOJIN Haruka saw in a dream when she was in junior high school. There is no reason for her dream. In
other words, this work abandons the idea of having a “reason.” We want you to be free from all of society’s rationality andreason, even if only for a moment, and just look at this scene without being caught up in anything.
Contemporary art to be implemented as a public project“masayume” is a contemporary art project selected by the Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL. As a cultural project that takes advantage ofthe unique qualities of contemporary art—neutrality without complicity in approval or disapproval, or productive criticism fromwithin the framework of the project—it challenges the creation of new values and visions by joining forces with diverse
viewpoints.
The concept is “Individual” and “Public”“masayume” is an artwork that looks at the face that most represents an “individual” in an extremely “public” context of thecontemporary Tokyo landscape. It also embodies the relationship between “individual” and “public” as it “implements a dream agirl had in her sleep” as a public project. The simultaneous existence of “individual” and “public” both of which are opposites,
makes us look at the ambiguous nature of our existence: “I am here” of my own will and “I exist in this universe” by chance. Thisessential wonder of our existence may provide us with a new and broader perspective as we are forced to face this difficult timeand situation.
Art is to “See this world again.”
For the contemporary art team 目[mé], art means to “see” the world without being bound by anything. Art has long captured theworld in different ways. Sometimes it has taken an abstract view of the world, and sometimes it has overturned existing values.
This way of looking at things is also directly related to our survival. Through imagination, we want to once again take a fresh lookat this world, which is inevitably obscured by meaning and reason. Imagination is born of initiative. Let's look at and think about
this world together, even though we are still in a difficult situation.

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Reference Notation

In order for "masayume" to be viewed as an artwork, we would appreciate it if you would refer to the following notation.
*This is a suggestion for viewing it as a work of art, and to be used as a reference.
Reference Notation (examples)

Explanation

Regarding the timing of the project such as;
The project was held in Tokyo at a time when it would
attract the most attention from around the world.

・Please refrain from referring to the event as an "Olympics- andParalympics-related event," as this would be considered ambush
marketing.

Regarding the intention of implementation such as;
Conducted to "question this era.”
Conducted to “question the significance.”

・Artwork should be presented as an expression with a theme orconcept (see p.2 "Artists’ Statement" and "Keywords to Convey").

・Techniques and materials are not disclosed.
Regarding the artwork such as;
・Please refrain from using words such as "balloon" or "hot air balloon"
Three-dimensional object, gigantic face, and contemporary
as the project is created as an artwork.
artwork・Please refrain from using words such as "event" since the work ispresented as a work of art.

Photo：TSUSHIMA Takahiro

目 [mé] (“eye” in Japanese)
A Japanese contemporary art team project with three core members, artist KOJIN
Haruka (middle), director MINAMIGAWA Kenji(left), and production manager MASUI
Hirofumi(right). 目 [mé] works on the realization of artworks that manipulate
perceptions of the physical world. Their installations provoke awareness of the inherent
unreliability and uncertainty in the world around us. Their prominent work includes soloexhibition Unreliable Reality - The Where of This World (Shiseido Gallery, 2014), Day witha Man’s Face Floating in the Sky (Utsunomiya Museum of Art Outreach Project, 201314), Elemental Detection (Saitama Triennale 2016), repetitive objects (Echigo Tsumari
Art Triennale 2018), Contact (Roppongi Crossing 2019: Connexions, Mori Art Museum),and solo exhibition Obviously, no one can make heads nor tails. (Chiba City Museum ofArt, 2019) among others. 目 [mé] was the recipient of the Takashimaya CulturalFoundation’s 28th (2017) Takashimaya Art Award, and VOCA 2019 Award. New artworks
were presented in 2021 at solo exhibition Just a world (SCAI THE BATHHOUSE) etc.
目［mé］Official WEBSITE http://mouthplustwo.me

space (Arts Towada 10th Anniversary Exhibition:Inter+Play, Towada Art Center,Aomori), 2020- Photo : OYAMADA Kuniya

Obviously, no one can make heads nor tails. (Solo exhibition, Chiba City
Museum of Art, Chiba), 2019

Contact (Roppongi Crossing 2019: Connexions, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo), 2019

Elemental Detection (Saitama Triennale 2016, Saitama), 2016
Photo : KINUGASA Natsumi

3About “masayume”"masayume" is a project that invites submissions of faces from all over the world, regardless of age, gender, or nationality, and floats theselected "face of an existing person" in the sky over Tokyo. From March to June 2019, there were more than 1,000 faces gathered through theproject’s website and the 15 workshops at 12 different places in Tokyo, and excitement in the project grew. Following initiatives such as the"Face Meeting" (held in late June 2019), a public meeting to explore the selection process, the face floating was scheduled for the summer of2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. Preparations for the project included various people sharing its concept, suchas “the meaning of Tokyo as the backdrop” and “what it means to see the artworks.”
Official WEBSITE https://masayume.mouthplustwo.me/en

Open call (Mar. 26, 2019 – June 30, 2019)
Open call was held to recruit “faces” to float up in the sky of Tokyo from people of all ages, genders, and countries/regions. Not only by using theinternet, also a Face Collecting Workshop was conducted with the members of 目 [mé], where people in public were asked and collected
photographs of their faces. The face recruiting was not limited to Tokyo, but expanded to other parts of Japan and abroad, with more than 1,000
people applying—far more than expected.
Open call Report https://masayume.mouthplustwo.me/en/articles/report-opencall.html“Face Meeting”(June 23, 2019 (Sun))
Having received faces from all over the world among the young, old, men and women, a Face Meeting was held to seek clues upon selecting theonly face from the many through exchanging opinions and ideas from diverse participants. The meeting was live-streamed on YouTube,
Facebook, and Instagram, where the numbers of viewers summed up to a total of 3,400. There were also many comments that came in from thepeople who viewed the meeting online.
“Face Meeting” Report https://masayume.mouthplustwo.me/en/articles/report-facemeeting.html
Talk Session Series (April 11, 12, 14 2020)
The “Talk Session Series,” consisting of three sessions, was held online as a related program of the “masayume” project. With the aim ofexploring “masayume”, this series started in the spring of 2019 from various perspectives. Guests with different specialties spoke with themembers of the contemporary art team 目 [mé] under the three themes of “city and people,” “seeing,” and “landscape of Tokyo.”
Talk session series Report https://masayume.mouthplustwo.me/en/articles/report-talksession.html

About Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL Special 13
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Arts Council Tokyo sought a wide range of creative and innovative ideas from the public for
projects that would become the core of the cultural programs for the Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL. From a total of 2,436 project proposals
submitted from within Japan and overseas, 13 were selected for implementation. The 13 projects are collectively named “Tokyo Tokyo
FESTIVAL Special 13”, and are being implemented in sequence.
Official WEBSITE https://ttf-koubo.jp/en/

About Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL
Official WEBSITE https://tokyotokyofestival.jp/en/[ For Inquiries on this Project ]masayume office
E-MAIL：masayume@mouthplustwo.me
TEL：AKASHI Kaoru 070-1568-9864
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