PRESS RELEASE 2023.11.01

NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project): I Hate Free Hugs
Period: Wed., September 13 to Mon., December 25, 2023

The artist Atsushi Watanabe considers social issues related to hikikomori(severe social withdrawal) and explores the potential of art as a means of intervention.
In this exhibition, he boldly brings NACT’ s public space to life.
The National Art Center, Tokyo launched the NACT View series, a project utilizing the Center’ spublic area in 2022. Notable for its spectacular impact, the space was designed down to the smallest
detail by the architect Kurokawa Kisho. Emerging and mid-career artists, designers, architects, andfilmmakers will be invited to present a variety of contemporary works in the space, which resembles apublic plaza where many visitors pass through or linger and enjoy leisure time.
Atsushi Watanabe (b. 1978) deals with issues related to hikikomori (a condition he has experienced
personally) and strives to create collaborations with those who are currently suffering from thecondition, while engaging directly with society as an activist. In this, the third edition of the NACT
View series, he presents an installation and video works related to the I Hate Free Hugs project hebegan in 2021.

Note: In 2018, Watanabe launched the I’ m here project, in which he made collaborative works with people who
were suffering from hikikomori or feelings of isolation. For this work, created with a group of people who respondedto Watanabe’ s public call for participants, he used the name “Atsushi Watanabe (I’ m here project).”-1-PRESS RELEASE 2023.11.01■Artist Profile
Atsushi Watanabe
Born in 1978 in Kanagawa Prefecture, where he currently lives. Completed a
post-graduate course at Tokyo University of the Arts.
While enrolled in university, Watanabe began creating project-style works thatdeal with various social phenomena and surrounding circumstances in a criticalmanner. In addition to exhibiting his works, he often appears in the media,
published articles, and participates in symposiums. In recent years, his major
exhibitions have included How I feel is not your problem, period. (group show,Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo), Aichi Triennale 2022 (group show, AichiArts Center), Setouchi Triennale 2022 (group show, Kagawa), The Day We Saw
the Same Moon (solo show, R16 Studio, Kanagawa, 2021), and 2020 Asia
■開催概要

Project: Looking for Another Family (National Museum of Modern andContemporary Art Korea, Seoul).
https://www.atsushi-watanabe.jp/

Photo: Keisuke Inoue■Exhibition Overview
NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project): I Hate Free Hugs
Period: Wed., September 13 to Mon., December 25, 2023
Closed: Tuesdays
Hours: Same as those of NACT
Venue: Spaces within NACT(The National Art Center, Tokyo 7-22-2 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-8558)
Admission: FreeOrganized by The National Art Center, Tokyo
Exhibition curator: Yukako Yamada (The National Art Center, Tokyo)
English website: https://www.nact.jp/english/exhibition_special/2023/nactview-03/
For inquiries, call: (+81) 47-316-2772 (Hello Dial)■The latest exhibition press images are available on our website for downloads:
https://forms.office.com/r/bWemH8ZdQm-2-

PRESS RELEASE 2023.11.01■Exhibition Highlights
The Artist’ s Latest Installation and Video Work Createa Complex Exhibition That Makes the Most of the Center’ s Public Spaces
In this exhibition, Watanabe presents an installation and video work as part of the I Hate Free Hugs
project he began in 2021. These pieces are being shown for the first time in NACT’ s public spaces.

Atsushi Watanabe, FREE HUGS FOR ABSENTEES, 2023

Atsushi Watanabe, I Hate Free Hugs, 2023

Installation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate Free Hugs,”

Installation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate Free Hugs,”

the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023

the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023

©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here project©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here project

Photo: Keisuke Inoue

Photo: Keisuke Inoue

A Light Work Expressing the Existence ofThose Who Are Not Here Will Also Be Shown Along with the New Pieces
Also on display will be a work made up of a spherical light, which can be operated by remote control
by those who find it difficult to visit the museum, because they are currently dealing with hikikomori.
This work creates an exhibition that remains unfinished in the display area while also transcending
the physical constraints of the space.

Atsushi Watanabe, The Lights for the Absentees, 2023

Installation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate Free Hugs,”

Installation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate Free Hugs,”

the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023

the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023

©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here projectCollection of the I’ m here project

Photo: Keisuke Inoue©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here project
Photo: Keisuke Inoue-3-

PRESS RELEASE 2023.11.01■Work Commentaries
I Hate Free Hugs
2023
Backlight film, light boxes, wooden doors, wood, etc.

Watanabe was inspired to launch the I Hate Free Hugs project in 2021 due to problems such as isolation andloneliness that emerged with the return to physical intimacy that occurred following the convergence of thecoronavirus pandemic. Free hugs had been popular in Shibuya and other areas since the late 2000s, when people
began to stand on the street holding up signs that read, “Free Hugs,” and engaged in hugs with those who
responded to the call. This symbolic act, in which complete strangers effortlessly hugged each other, gave Watanabe
the idea to make contact with people suffering from hikikomori that he recruited on the internet. He then met themface-to-face, and gave them a hug to express a critical view of the tendency toward social inclusion in which we are
only aware of those we can see in front of them. As a former hikikomori himself, who for a time lived without making
eye contact with anyone else, Watanabe started this project based on his personal experience while also
incorporating an action that was rooted in respect for others dealing with this condition. In this way, he conveyed acritical view of a society that focuses solely on what is visible and drew attention to the lives of those who exist
somewhere beyond our imagination.
I Hate Free Hugs is an artwork that grew out of this ongoing project. It might best be described as an archive
designed to record Watanabe’ s activities with hikikomori. In this exhibition, Watanabe presents some anecdotes
related to eight of his meetings with participants along with photographs of the artist hugging them enclosed in a lightbox, which are assembled behind a wooden door. Positioned in front of the special exhibition gallery on theCenter’ s first floor, these eight three-dimensional objects recall a monument. The structure, position, andappearance of the works are all connected to the question of how we imagine people who are in some faraway
place.

Atsushi Watanabe, I Hate Free Hugs, 2023, Front

Atsushi Watanabe, I Hate Free Hugs, 2023, Back

Atsushi Watanabe, I Hate Free Hugs, 2023, Back

Installation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate

Installation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate

Installation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate

Free Hugs,” the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023

Free Hugs,” the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023

Free Hugs,” the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023

©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here project©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here project©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here project

Photo: Keisuke Inoue

Photo: Keisuke Inoue

Photo: Keisuke Inoue-4-

PRESS RELEASE 2023.11.01

The Lights for the Absentees
2021/2023
LED light, lamp shade, smart plug, Wi-Fi, smartphone, monitoring camera
Collection of the I’ m here project

In a 2020 project called The Day We Saw the Same Moon, Watanabe asked people who were struggling withloneliness during the coronavirus pandemic to take pictures of the moon. Then assembled the photographs tocreate an artwork. This work, The Lights for the Absentees, was first shown as part of The Day We Saw the SameMoon, but for this exhibition, the artist has combined it with a new work, made of a spherical light, in response topost-corona social problems such as loneliness and isolation. The light switch in this version is controlled by anumber of hikikomori who responded to Watanabe’ s call for participants. The flashing lights are designed to makepeople who are able to visit the exhibition think of those who are unable to come.
Note: The people controlling the lights can watch what is happening with the spherical light by means of a monitor camera. The camera is installed in theglass-walled catwalk, but visitors’ faces are not visible.

Atsushi Watanabe, The Lights for the Absentees, 2023
Installation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate Free Hugs,”
the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023
Collection of the I’ m here project©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here project
Photo: Keisuke Inoue-5-PRESS RELEASE 2023.11.01

FREE HUGS FOR ABSENTEES
2023
Video projection, 60 min.

This long, uncut video, made with time-lapse
photography, captures Watanabe standing in front ofShibuya Station for ten hours straight with a neon signthat reads, “FREE HUGS FOR ABSENTEES.” The video
is projected at large scale on a 16-meter-tall,cone-shaped concrete structure, which exudes a strong
presence in the first-floor atrium. This makes it look likean outdoor advertisement in an urban space as the artist
calls to mind the existence of people who are absent fromAtsushi Watanabe, FREE HUGS FOR ABSENTEES, 2023

the space. Other video images are projected in theInstallation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate Free Hugs,”

passageway that leads from Nogizaka Station to NACT.

the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023
©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here project
Photo: Keisuke Inoue

I Hate Free Hugs (action on building rooftops)
2023
Video projection, 60min.

A video work, projected around the stairway that connects
Nogizaka Station to the Center, serves as an introduction
to the exhibition. Shot over a continuous ten-hour period(the amount of time that the Center is normally openeveryday), the video shows the artist holding a signreading “I Hate Free Hugs” as he is blasted by a strong
wind while standing on the roof of a building in Yokohama.
The term “free hugs” refers to a campaign to foster
friendship and peace by displaying a sign offering “freehugs” and hugging complete strangers who respondAtsushi Watanabe, I Hate Free Hugs (action on building rooftops), 2023

positively to the message. Watanabe, who struggled with

the National Art Center, Tokyo, 2023

Installation view: “NACT View 03: Atsushi Watanabe (I'm here project) I Hate Free Hugs,”

a severe case of hikikomori for some three years, also

©Atsushi Watanabe ©I'm here project
Photo: Keisuke Inouedisplays a neon sign, intended in part as a criticism of the free-hug movement, which overlooks the city of Yokohama(where the artist lives) from the top of a building. Watanabe stresses that many acts of goodwill toward others (socialinclusion, etc.) are either impossible or contradictory because they only apply to those who are visible to us or within
the realm of our expectations. In this exhibition, Watanabe makes an appeal to unknown people who are all alone
and invisible as well as those who are absent from this place.

-6-

PRESS RELEASE 2023.11.01■What Is NACT View?
NACT View is a new series of small projects made by young to mid-career creators working in a variety of genres,such as fine art, design, architecture, and film, that are presented in the Centerʼs public spaces. The name of theseries is made up of the English acronym for the National Art Center, Tokyo, and the word “view,” whose meanings
include “gaze,” “landscape,” “viewpoint,” and “way of thinking.” The Center’ s public spaces are places that areaccessed by a wide range of people, including not only visitors to the exhibitions, but also patrons of the facility’ scafé, restaurant, and library as well as those who are merely pass through the building. By displaying works in thesespaces, NACT View strives to give all of the facility’ s visitors an opportunity to become more familiar with
contemporary expressions in a casual manner. Plans are also underway to hold related workshops and talk events.

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