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Indepth Arts News:
"Japan: Takuji Kogo's Complex, Ever-changing Multimedia Project"
2005-06-18 until 2005-07-17
Rooseum Center for Contemporary Art
Malmo, ,
SE
Within the framework of JAPAN, and in collaboration with colleagues like John Miller, Mike Bode and Sean Snyder and others, Kogo is investigating the effects of globalization:sites and areas that are left deserted when the economy of multinational companies fails, the incidence of national stereotypes and the absurdity and consequences of the consumer society. These issues are being visualized in, for example, the piece U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa, which is being shown at Rooseum. U.S. Military Bases in Okinawa takes the abandoned American military base in Okinawa as its starting point. Since 1972 the Japanese government are renting the area from the original landowners and private speculators at highly inflated prices just to, in their terms, lend it to the U.S Forces.
In clear contrast to the harsh criticism of globalization there is the playful visual presentation, a kind of multi-media collage in which photography, animation and sampled music are interlaced.
During his stay in Malmö, Takuji Kogo is inviting collaborators online and conducting new research which will be used to update the evolving project JAPAN. The piece shown at Rooseum consists of three presentations; a sound installation that will meet the visitor in the lobby, and projections in one of the artist studios and in the micro cinema.
Takuji Kogo puts a special emphasis on cooperation in his practice as artist, and he is running projects such as Candy Factory (www.trans.artnet.or.jp/~transart/index.html) and artonline (www.artonline.jp), both of which serve as platforms for artistic cooperation. Art is, in Candy Factory and artonline, primarily produced, distributed and shown on the Internet, which can be seen as an indirect criticism of the traditional frameworks of art such as museums and
galleries. The digital format invites change and perpetual updates, and is accessible for Internet users all over the world.
The project is realized with the support of The Japan Foundation and is part of 2005 EU-Japan Year of People-to-people Exchanges.
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