POCORART World Exhibition

Chance and Necessity and …

Liberating raw expression of artists and people with/without disabilities.

VENUE

3331 Arts Chiyoda

1F Main Gallery

TERM

July 16th (Fri) - September 5th (Sun) 2021

ORGANIZERS

Chiyoda City, 3331 Arts Chiyoda

In celebration of the tenth anniversary of the POCORART project,
this exhibition brings together artists and their creations from around the world,
transcending nationality, age, gender, and condition with or without disabilities.
These pieces surprise us by going further beyond even the framework of art.

22 Countries: Austria, Belgium, Benin, Brazil,
Canada, China, Cuba, Czech Rep.,
France,
Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan,
Morocco, Namibia,
New Zealand,
Poland, Sweden, Switzerland,
United Kingdom,
United States of America

POCORART World Exhibition
“Chance and Necessity and ..."
CATALOGUE

Contributor

NAKAMURA Masato　KANO Rena
　Lucienne Peiry
Barbara Safarova　
HOSAKA Kenjiro

JP&EN

Production & Publisher ： 3331 Arts Chiyoda

ONLINE GALLERY / 3DVR

As a countermeasure against the spread of the Coronavirus, and for visitors who are unable to come to the exhibition to experience POCORART World Exhibition from distance, 3D virtual tours are now available. You will be able to experience the exhibition as if you were there. You can also watch the curator's commentary video in the 3D space.

TERM: mid August - mid Octover

FEE: 400 YEN

VIEWING PERIOD: 48hours After Purchase

PHOTO GALLERY

Photo: MIYAJIMA Kei

From me to the universe,
from the universe to me

STATEMENT

In the time and space in which people spend their day-to-day lives, creative minds freely express their creativity through activities such as painting, making sculptures, cutting, and pasting.
People are born as “me,” and in the course of living my life, encountering the immediate environment, society, and others around me, reflect on things, and occasionally experience happenings. Science has sought to explain the mysteries of the world around us and our existence in it. Philosophy and art also seek the same objectives. The Greek philosopher Democritus stated that “Everything existing in the universe is the fruit of chance and necessity.” Like Democritus said, everything on earth, including us, and, in fact, all things in the universe are the fruit of chance and necessity. Although the art of creative minds deals with the small world with which they are familiar, it is something that the larger world can identify with. The larger universe includes smaller universes. My body is an aggregation of microcosms, and I myself am part of a cosmos that goes on without end. Can these creations be called art? Perhaps they can’t be encompassed within the scope of art. All that is certain is that they are pursuing answers to the mysteries of our existence.

Curator, KANO Rena

Over 240 creations
by 50 artists
from 22 countries
around the world.

All 50 Artist

Mohamed BABAHOUM
Julius BOCKELT
Kostia BOTKINE
Laura DELVAUX
John DEVLIN
Curzio di GIOVANNI
GUO Fengyi
Marian HENEL
HIRANO Tomoyuki
Helmut HLADISCH
Josef HOFER
Carlos Javier Garcia HUERGO
KANASAKI Masashi
Carlo KESHISHIAN
KOKUBO Norimitsu
Davood KOOCHAKI
Julia KRAUSE-HARDER
KURODA Katsutoshi
KUWABARA Toshiro
Tomasz MACHCIŃSKI
Imanuel MAPEU
Ezekiel MESSOU
Jimmy Tsutomu MIRIKITANI
Marc MORET
NAKAMICHI Kazuki

Jockum NORDSTRÖM
OBATA Masao
Misleidys Francisca Castillo PEDROSO
Luboš PLNÝ
André ROBILLARD
Franz von SAALFELD
SAWADA Shinichi
SHUJI Takashi
Charles STEFFEN
Harald STOFFERS
Leopold STROBL
SUGIURA Atsushi
TAKEDA Hiraku
Elke TANGETEN
Ni Nyoman TANJUNG
Martin THOMPSON
TSURUKAWA Koji
UEDA Kaito
Véio
Vanda VIEIRA-SCHMIDT
Melvin WAY
George WIDENER
Entang WIHARSO
YONAHA Shun
YOSHIHARA Chojiro

( In alphabetical order of artist’s surname )

: The exhibition presents six themes.
They extend outwards away from the center,
commencing with the artist’s mind (my mind)
and dealing in turn with issues concerning the activities, body, environments, macrocosms,
and memories that transcend space-time.
These six themes are interlinked and move in unison.

01 Minds of the universe Inner self and mask

Josef HOFER, Untitled, 2009

How do people perceive me when they meet me? Numerous expressions and depictions of me as perceived by the artist’s mind.

Inner self and mask: What do people understand by me when they meet me (the artist)? The me that I perceive internally is not the same as the me seen via the society outside me. In day-to-day life, I observe myself and update my own image of me, with me being the object that fulfills my desires. Posing as all sorts of different people,

I wonder who I am, or what it means to be me. Worlds of myth and fantasy that begin within me represent the ability to dream, allowing me to journey endlessly to realms of freedom.

ARTIST: Marian HENEL （Poland）
Josef HOFER （Austria）
KUWABARA Toshiro （Japan）
Tomasz MACHCIŃSKI （Poland）
OBATA Masao （Japan）
Harald STOFFERS （Germany）
Leopold STROBL （Austria）
YONAHA Shun （Japan）

02 Movements of the universe From action to form

TAKEDA Hiraku, Chopsticks, 2010, photo：MIYAJIMA Kei

There comes a time when an action found in everyday life—such as pasting, stacking, inserting, wrapping, gathering, or writing—crosses a line, becoming a primal moment of creation.

From action to form: There comes a moment in time when a certain substance or something done repeatedly—such as pasting, stacking, inserting, wrapping, gathering, writing, or praying—crosses a line that takes it out of the ordinary. In this primal moment, I (the artist) leave day-to-day life and enter the world of creation. Action takes form as the mark it leaves behind.

Completely unexpected forms emerge from daily routines and actions that are an inevitable part of work or everyday life: pinched clay becomes a spine on the body of an imaginary animal, soft paper becomes hard and heavy like marble, discarded objects gathered together become weapons, and mother’s sewing tools and other relics become a large mass.

ARTIST: Laura DELVAUX （Belgium）
KANASAKI Masashi （Japan）
Carlo KESHISHIAN （United Kingdom）
Ezekiel MESSOU （Benin）
Marc MORET （Swiss）
André ROBILLARD （France）
SAWADA Shinichi （Japan）
TAKEDA Hiraku （Japan）

03 Bodies of the universe Mysteries of physical life

Julia KRAUSE-HARDER, Juravenator, 2013, Foto: Atelier Goldstein

Mysteries of physical life

How did the living beings of the earth—people, animals, plants, and other lifeforms—and the things around us become as they are? Every me has its own mystery.

Mysteries of physical life: How did the living beings of the earth—people, animals, plants, and other lifeforms—and the things around us become as they are? The things that I see before me appear to me in many different ways. This is how shapes, colors, and sizes appear to me (the artist). My imagination extends to creatures of the distant past and creatures that have yet to live in this world. And, I create new beings by combining humans with existing animals and plants.

And there are many different perspectives exploring the mysteries of living beings. Every me has its own perspective.

ARTIST: Curzio di GIOVANNI （Italy）
Helmut HLADISCH （Austria）
Julia KRAUSE-HARDER （Germany）
NAKAMICHI Kazuki （Japan）
Misleidys Francisca Castillo PEDROSO （Cuba）
Luboš PLNÝ （Czech Rep.）
SHUJI Takashi （Japan）
Charles STEFFEN （United States of America）

04 Diversity of the universe From surroundings to form

Julius BOCKELT, Untitled, 2013, ©collection abcd/Bruno Decharme

From surroundings to form

Numerous creations closely connected to the cultural customs or environment of a particular age, society, or lifestyle.

From surroundings to form: Creativity is closely connected to the cultural customs or environment of a particular age, society, or lifestyle. It can demonstrate a modern Western way of scientific thinking, using experiments to prove hypotheses, creating paintings of sound waves. In other circumstances, it can show an approach like Asian folk beliefs, invoking spirits that relieve pain. In South America, branches of nearby trees come to resemble all sorts of shapes or creatures, and in Japan, single creations can seem to combine anime and novels. In Africa, listening to the sounds of a nearby airport while making souvenirs for tourists resulted in creating a large plane that looks incredibly close to flying.

ARTIST: Mohamed BABAHOUM （Morocco）
Julius BOCKELT （Germany）
HIRANO Tomoyuki （Japan）
Davood KOOCHAKI （Iran）
KURODA Katsutoshi （Japan）
Imanuel MAPEU （Namibia）
Elke TANGETEN （Belgium）
Ni Nyoman TANJUNG（Indonesia）
Véio （Brazil）
YOSHIHARA Chojiro （Japan）

05 Nature of the universe Resonating life

What is the nature of the world around us? Creations of spaces with information about the world and symbols for processing it.

Resonating life: What is the nature of the world around us? How does it work? Looking down on the world from above reveals the towns and cities where people live. Buildings and shops line the streets, and transportation networks spread everywhere. Some people imagine a world in which everything is made in ideal proportions, while others contemplate one made up of particles, or of chi, the invisible element of Asian thought. In addition to matter, the nature of our world comes from all the things that happen in the time and space within which we live.

And also considered to be elements of the world are natural disasters and the difficulties of coexistence, such as discrimination and conflict between groups that people have formed. Spaces with information about the world and symbols for processing it are creations.

ARTIST: Kostia BOTKINE （Belgium）
John DEVLIN （Canada）
GUO Fengyi （China）
KOKUBO Norimitsu （Japan）
Jockum NORDSTRÖM （Sweden）
Franz von SAALFELD （Germany）
Martin THOMPSON （New Zealand）
George WIDENER （United States of America）
Entang WIHARSO （Indonesia）

06 Memories of the universe An exploration of memories transcending space-time

TSURUKAWA Koji, Untitled, 2013-2019, photo：MIYAJIMA Kei

An exploration of memories transcending space-time

Things that have happened to me (the artist), events that happened on earth in ancient times, and historical realities from throughout the period of human existence transcend space-time and blend together.

An exploration of memories transcending space-time: Mechanisms to protect against the loss of hundreds of thousands of years of memories of the universe, scenes of hometowns once resided in, places holding memories of younger days, words spoken by family members, or days spent with people important to us. Personal things that have happened to me, events that happened on earth in ancient times, and historical realities from throughout the period of human existence blend together, transcend space-time, and are brought back to life. Things from the past overlap with the present moment, taking form before us while becoming intricately entangled and entwined.

ARTIST: Carlos Javier Garcia HUERGO （Cuba）
Jimmy Tsutomu MIRIKITANI （Japan）
SUGIURA Atsushi SUGIURA （Japan）
TSURUKAWA Koji （Japan）
UEDA Kaito （Japan）
Vanda VIEIRA-SCHMIDT （Germany）
Melvin WAY （United States of America）

NAKAMURA Masato

3331 Arts Chiyoda Supervising Director

Born in Odate City (Akita, Japan) in 1963. Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts (Department of Painting). 3331 Arts Chiyoda supervising director. Tokyo Biennale 2020/2021 general director. A socially aware artist pushing forth diverse art projects with focus on “art x community x industry”. Represented Japan in the 49th Venice Biennial (2002). Has supervised over the artist initiative “Command N” since 1997. Received the Japanese Government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs Award in Fine Arts (2010) and the Appreciation Prize of AIJ 2018.

KANO Rena

Curator

Born in Hyogo Prefecture.Art anthropologist at the Laboratory of Social Anthropology in EHESS (School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences). Received a Master’s degree in Art History from Paris-Sorbonne University. Received a Bachelor’s degree in Museolo- gy from École du Louvre. Involved with categorization of art and its periphery, human creations research and projects. Currently also a coordinator for “Pocorart National Open Call” at 3331 Arts Chiyoda.

Committee members: Barbara SAFAROVA
"President of abcd foundation"
HATAKEYAMA Naoya
"Photographer／Professor at Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media."
HOSAKA Kenjiro
"Direcotor of the museum of modern art, Shiga"
KOIKE Kazuko
"Creative Director / President of Sagacho archives"
O JUN
"Painter"
Lucienne PEIRY
"Curator / Lecturer of Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne"
SAWARAGI Noi
"Art Critic"
(In alphabetical order)

ABOUT "Pocorart"

POCORART stands for “Place of ‘Core + Relation ART,’”meaning a place where people with and without disabilities can meet and interact, and is used to refer to the act of creating such an environment.

More Detail: https://pocorart.3331.jp/en/

Photo：POCORART Open Call Exhibition vol.9