PRESS RELEASE

2019.11.07

MOT Annual 2019

Echo after Echo :Summoned Voices, New Shadows
Sat. 16 November, 2019 – Sun. 16 February, 2020

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government andthe Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation forHistory and Culture are carrying out thisexhibition as part of the Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL.

MOT Annual is a group exhibition that seeks to invite inquiry and discussion by focusing on a particular aspectof contemporary art. The 15th installment of the exhibition addresses the fundamental question “why dopeople make things?” through exploring the works of artists who correspond with the existing worlds of image,language, history, and materials as portents for expression.
From copying to dubbing, collage, tracing, sampling, and transcription, the techniques employed by the artists
in this exhibition aims to listen to and amplify the various reverberations (echoes) of the world. The artists
resonate with things outside of themselves or presences elsewhere (others) by engaging in activities thatappear to make new shadows, at times taking their place, and at times causing friction, to give birth to spaces
where the echoes of numerous voices are present. Their practices overcome the limited presence of “the self”
through use of their own hands and the act of making, and while reflecting our lives and society overwhelmedby vast amounts of information and materials, provide us with many clues for liberation.

Artists
THE COPY TRAVELERS , P U G M E N T, S a o r i M i y a k e ,Project of Gozo Yoshimasu｜KOMAKUS + Yoi Suzuki, Hiraku Suzuki

Highlights

１

Exploring the Forefront of Expression through Diverse Genres

２

Contemplating Creativity in our Information SocietyThe exhibition introduces the forefront of contemporary expression through bringing together andreassembling various media such as fashion, poetry, photography, video, sound, collage, painting,and drawing as techniques that echo and respond to the existing world. From the innovative fashionlabel PUGMENT to the Japanese poet Gozo Yoshimasu, we serve to address the fundamental issue of“what it means to make things” across diﬀerent generations.

This exhibition is filled with clues to unraveling the definitions of creativity and innovation incontemporary culture, focusing on methods such as copying, sampling and collage, which arefamiliar to us now living in a society that is permeated by information networks.

Contact
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
TEL +81-3-5245-1134
E-MAIL mot-pr@mot-art.jp

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/
1

３

Related Events that Approach Moments Expressions are Born

４

An Exhibition Centering on a Selection of New Works

From fashion shows to musical performances, poetry readings, and experimental performancesfeaturing live drawing and dance, the exhibition approaches the very moment in which expressions
are born from a variety of diﬀerent angles. We welcome viewers to enjoy the ever-evolving creative
endeavors of Gozo Yoshimasu x Kukangendai and Hiraku Suzuki x Akio Suzuki, who although from
diﬀerent generations, have continued to engage in on-going collaborations.

The exhibition centers on introducing a selection of new works that reflect the current practices
and concerns of the participating artists. PUGMENT, while drawing inspiration from the history ofTokyo and the spaces of Yoyogi Park, present works that are linked to their 2020 spring/summer
collection. Hiraku Suzuki attempts to expand the possibilities of drawing by focusing on the themeof “excavating” lines that are hidden within the cultures and phenomena of diﬀerent ages andregions. Gozo Yoshimasu, as if being driven by the voices of the past, continues to question thenature and significance of “poetry” in the wake of the unprecedented earthquake disaster.

Artist Profiles
T H E C O PY TRAVELERS（Shunsuke Kano / Teppei Sako / Ryo Ueda）
THE COPY TRAVELERS is a collaborative unit of three artists who live and work in Kyoto: Shunsuke Kano(b.1983 Osaka), Teppei Sako (b.1988 Osaka), and Ryo Ueda (b.1989 Osaka). Their practice centers on
experimenting with tools such as photocopy machines, scanners, and cameras as a means to explore thepossibilities of “duplication” and “collage.”

1. THE COPY TRAVELERS, desk space 2018
Photo: Gim Ikhyun Reference Image

2. THE COPY TRAVELERS,“The room A of THE COPY TRAVELERS” 2019
Exhibition view: Galerie16 / Kyoto
Reference Image

Contact
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
TEL +81-3-5245-1134
E-MAIL mot-pr@mot-art.jp

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/
2

PUGME NT
PUGMENT is a Tokyo based fashion label founded in 2014. They observe the process by which the value andmeaning of clothing changes according to human activity and behavior, and incorporate it into the context of
their production. While focusing on the relationship between people and the images surrounding fashion,
they present clothes that encourage a diﬀerent perspective on existing values, environments, andinformation.

3. PUGMENT,“Fall 2018 1XXX-2018-2XXX”
Photo: Harumi Obama
Reference Image

4. PUGMENT,“Fall 2018 1XXX-2018-2XXX”
Photo: Arata Mino
Reference Image

5. PUGMENT,MAGNETIC DRESS 2014
Reference Image

Saori Mi ya ke
Saori Miyake was born in 1975 in the Gifu prefecture. From around 2003, she started producing “photograms”
created by depicting a reversed black and white drawing on transparent film, which is then placed on
photographic paper and exposed. In the present age that is overwhelmed by a vast amount of visual
information, she intentionally places emphasis on the act of viewing the image, engaging in attempts topolyphonically extract “painterly imagery” that transcend time to inherently exist within people’s gaze.

6. Saori Miyake, Garden(Potsdam) 2019[video, detail]
Reference Image

7. Saori Miyake,
The missing shade 32-1
2017 Reference Image

8. Saori Miyake,
The missing shade 52-1
2019 Reference Image

Contact
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
TEL +81-3-5245-1134
E-MAIL mot-pr@mot-art.jp

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/
3

P roj e ct of Gozo Yosh ima su｜K OMA KU S + Y o i Su z u k i
The Project of Gozo Yoshimasu is a collaboration featuring poet Gozo Yoshimasu, filmmaker Yoi Suzuki, andacoustics team KOMAKUS that was organized for purposes of documenting and sharing the day-to-day
creative expressions and activities of Gozo Yoshimasu that are otherwise difficult to capture. They haveexhibited work at “MOT Satellite 2017 spring: traffic, traffic,” and “Sapporo International Art Festival 2017,” alsopresenting performances under the name “Gozo Organic Fukubukuro Orchestra.” Their work was also
included in the jury selection of the Art Division at the 21st Japan Media Arts Festival.

Gozo Yoshimasu
Gozo Yoshimasu was born in 1939 in Tokyo. Ever since marking his debut with the publication of “Departure”
in 1964, he has served as a forerunner and leader in the world of Japanese contemporary poetry. His major
poetry anthologies include, “Anthology of Golden Age Poetry” (1970); “Osiris, God of Stone” (1984); “At theEntrance to the House of Fireworks” (1995); “‘The Island of Snow’ or ‘The Ghost of Emily’” (1998); and“Kaibutsu-kun” (2016). In 2015 he was awarded the Japan Art Academy Prize by the Japan Art Academy, ofwhich he is now a member. Since 2006, he has presented a series of film works under the title, “gozo Ciné.”Also recognized as a pioneering figure in the field of poetry readings and performance, he has continued towork actively both in Japan and overseas from the 1960s until present.

K OMAKUS
A key concept of KOMAKUS’ activities is “to liberate the soul from the bounds of gravity.” The unit specializes
in multi-channel acoustic design, sound source production, original sound system development, and derives
from WHITELIGHT, a team that has worked to deepen and enrich sound environments –engaging in projects
for commercial facilities, concerts, lives performances, and theater, while also being active in the art field suchas providing the acoustic design for the works Akio Suzuki, Gozo Yoshimasu, and Yasunao Tone. The unit has
been working under the name KOMAKUS since 2019, creating decentralized acoustic spaces in various
diﬀerent venues and locations.

Y oi Suzuki
Yoi Suzuki was born in the Tochigi prefecture. As a filmmaker, he has been involved in diﬀerent positions in awide variety of projects ranging from independent films to feature films. He has collaborated with numerous
artists and creators, freely traversing genres such as film art, and literature. In recent years he engages inpursuing a means of practice that both integrates and illustrates a mutual sympathy between film and poetrythat serves as the source of his expression.

Contact
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
TEL +81-3-5245-1134
E-MAIL mot-pr@mot-art.jp

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/
4

9. Project of Gozo Yoshimasu,“MOT Satellite 2017 SPRING by the deep rivers”
2017 Exhibition view
Photo: Haruyuki Shirai

10. Project of Gozo Yoshimasu,Pli,pli,pli,pli,,,,,of the time of Ishikari 2017[video, detail] Reference Image

11. KOMAKUS,“Dead End RUN Remix LIVE” 2003
Exhibition view: Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse
Reference Image

12. Yoi Suzuki, Film Stone 2013

Reference Image

Contact
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
TEL +81-3-5245-1134
E-MAIL mot-pr@mot-art.jp

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/5

H i rak u Suzuki
Hiraku Suzuki was born in 1978. In 2001, he graduated with a B.F.A from Musashino Art University, Departmentof Imaging Arts and Sciences, and 2008 obtained a M.F.A. at Tokyo University of the Arts, Department ofIntermedia Art. He has completed residencies and presented works in numerous locations internationally,including Sydney, Sao Paulo, London, and New York. Engaging with the relationship between drawing andlanguage as a consistent theme within his practice, he continues to produce works that expand upon its
concept through encompassing a large variety of media from two-dimensional works, to sculpture, video,photography, and performance. He has been organizing the platform for alternative drawing research andpractice “Drawing Tube” since 2016. Suzuki was awarded the Grand Prize at the FID Prize 2017 International
Drawing Contest (Paris).

13. Hiraku Suzuki,“Flap-flop, Clap-clop:
A Place Where Words Are Born” 2017
Exhibition view: Arts Maebashi/Gunma
Reference Image

14. Hiraku Suzuki,
Do Dots Dream of Lines 2017
The public art piece in Oita City
Photo: Takashi Kubo
Reference Image

To request press images, please contact our Public Relations teamwith the caption number of the desired image.

ContactMuseum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
TEL +81-3-5245-1134
E-MAIL mot-pr@mot-art.jp

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/
6Information
PeriodSat. 16 November, 2019 – Sun. 16 February, 2020

ClosedMondays (except 13 January, 2020), 28 December, 2019 – 1 & 14 January, 2020

Opening Hours

10:00 - 18:00 *Tickets available until 30 minutes before closing

Admission

Adults – 1,300yen (1,040yen)
University & College Students, Over 65 – 900yen (720yen)High School & Junior High School Students – 500yen (400yen)
Free for under Elementary School Students* ( ) Price for a group over 20 people

Venue

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, Exhibition Gallery B2F

Organized by

Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture,
Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo

In Cooperation withCanon Inc., WHITELIGHT

CuratorTomoko Yabumae

Concurrent Exhibitions
Special Exhibition
minä perhonen / minagawa akira Tsuzuku

Sat. 16 November, 2019 – Sun. 16 February, 2020

Admission: Adults – 1,500yen / University & College Students, Over 65 – 1,000yen /High School & Junior High School Students – 600yen / Free for under Elementary School Students*We have a special discount for combination tickets.

Dumb Type | Actions + Reflections

Sat. 16 November, 2019 – Sun. 16 February, 2020Admission: Adults – 1,400yen / University & College Students, Over 65 – 1,000yen /High School & Junior High School Students – 500yen / Free for under Elementary School Students*We have a special discount for combination tickets.

MOT Collection
MOT Collection Part 3：Present Day and in Times Past –Multiple Perspectives
Sat. 16 November, 2019 – Sun. 16 February, 2020
Admission: Adults – 500yen / University & College Students – 400yen /High School Students, Over 65 – 250yen / Free for under Junior High School Students*Tickets for the Special Exhibitions and the Combined Tickets also include admission to MOT Collection.

ContactMuseum of Contemporary Art Tokyo
Public Relations Mihoko Nakajima / Chiako Kudo
TEL +81-3-5245-1134
E-MAIL mot-pr@mot-art.jp

https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/
7