Event
Kinan Art Residence Vol.2 Report:“No Tree is solitary in Kumano: Minakata Kumagusu Study and Art Practice by Geert Mul’
Saturday, August 24, 2024 16:00 - 17:00
@Towaso
1-2-14 Takao, Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture, 646-0028
Participation feeFree
Application
Please apply via Peatix
Kinan Art Week is pleased to announce Kinan Art Week 2024 “Igoku Tamaru: lives without boundaries” from 20 September. On the occasion of the exhibition, this year’s Kinan Art Residence Vol. 2 and will hold a discussion with Geert Mul, a Dutch artist who has been staying in Tanabe City for about two months and has been engaged in both Minakata Kumagusu research and art practice.
Geert Mul, a Dutch artist and pioneer of media art in the Netherlands, has been residing in Tanabe City for about two months, immersing himself in both research on Minakata Kumagusu and his own art practice. Geert Mul is engaged with the relationship between nature and technology, and he is particularly drawn to the coexistence of scientific and spiritual thinking/practice in the work of Kumagusu Minakata (1867-1941) a prominent naturalist and anthropologist from the Kinan region.
With support from the Dutch government, Geert will continue his research in Tanabe City and Nakahechi Town, Wakayama, culminating in new works to be presented in 2025. What insights will Geert gain from this residency, and what new perspectives will he bring to his work? Join a conversation with Mr. Yabumoto and Mr. Shimoda as they discuss Kinan/Kumano, Kumagusu, and the intersection of art and nature!
Artist statement
We utilize media as a means to observe and document the world around us. However, when our ideologies are ingrained within our technological media, shaping our perception of reality, can we truly engage in critical observation?
I believe that art offers a means to break free from this closed loop. The history of art is a history of experimentation with media. At its core, the concept and practice of art revolve around exploring the relationship between medium and content, in order to both free the media and the message.
For me, the content in art arises from a subversive approach to media conventions, just as poetry plays with the conventions of language. My work is not bound by logic, I improvise with correlations and connotations. The resulting artworks are speculative in nature and eschew the pursuit of perfect technological representation in favor of poetic creation.
【Brief summary of debriefing】
Date: 24 August 2024 (Saturday), 16:00 – 17:00 hrs.
Fee: Free of charge
Location: Towa-so (Tanabe urban area, Wakayama)
Organiser: Kinan Art Week Executive Committee
Contact: info@kinan-art.jp
Application: https://peatix.com/event/4081797/view
【Speaker】
Artist in residence: Geert Mul
Born 1965, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Geert Mul is a pioneer in the field of digital art and has been exploring for over 25 years the possibilities of a poetry in the language of new media.
This resulted in a flow of experimental artworks in a wide range of media: prints, light-objects, video and interactive/generative computer installations.
The interrelationship between technology and perception is a leitmotiv in the oeuvre of Geert Mul.
After over 25 years of artistic practice, Geert Mul’s work has evolved into an exploration of the interconnectedness between humanity, technology, and nature. ‘I aim to reconceptualize the perceived divisions and connections between ‘man’, ‘technology’, and ‘the natural’,’. Mul emphasizes that it is literally of vital importance to acknowledge how technology determines our relationship with nature.
Geert Mul studied art from 1985 -1990 at the HKA Arnhem where he graduated with computer animations, video and kinetic sculptures. After his studies, he traveled in Mexico, the United States and Asia.
He resided for one year in Tokyo. Since 1993 Mul lives and works in Rotterdam, Holland. In the mid-1990s, Mul became one of the first VJ’s, in the alternative Techno scene. These events grew into interactive audio-visual environments, commissioned artworks and installations which were exhibited in a variety of contexts: public space, museums and festivals. Mul exhibited in major musea in The Netherlands: Kröller-Müller Museum, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. International: National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto Japan, Museo Nacional Reina Sofia Madrid, Institute Valencia Arte Moderne, Fondation Cartier, Paris, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Geert Mul lives and works in Rotterdam, is represented by gallery Ron Mandos, Amsterdam.
Speaker: Yabumoto Yuto Chairperson of the Kinan Art Week Organising Committee
Born in Shirahama, Wakayama (Nishitonda Primary School, Tonda Junior High School and Tanabe High School).
Yabumoto’s ancestors are buried in Nakaheji, Kumano Kodo, and his mother was the first female orca trainer at Adventure World.
JBL Mekong Group, the predecessor of One Asia Lawyers, in 2011, and he has lived and worked in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand for more than a decade, providing grants and exhibitions to artists, curators and artisans.
His current research focuses on anthropology and art, with an interest in the myths, legends and art.
His research focuses on the Kumano region, where her ancestors lie, and His research focuses on the Kumano region, where her ancestors lie, and on issues such as Zomia, highland civilisation and animism.
Speaker: Shimoda Manabu Kinan Art Week Secretary General.
Born in Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture and currently lives in Tanabe City, Wakayama Prefecture.
After graduating from a photography school, in his twenties, he worked as a musician. After working for an events company and an agricultural (agricultural diversification) company, he became independent and moved to Tanabe.
He was also involved in the utilization of vacant houses and the planning of public facilities as a Tanabe City Regional Revitalization Cooperation Team for three years, which started in March 2018.
His mission is to be a “companion partner in the realization of ideas”, and he works with a group of wonderful creators in the region, listening deeply to the client’s story and weaving their ideas together.