January 21 (Tue) -Febrary 16 (Sun), 2025
Opening hours: 11:00-19:00 (last entry 18:45)
Closed: Mondays
＜Exhibition Outline＞
“LOST⇄FOUND: Shifting Perspectives, Intersecting Gazes” focuses on the idea of “Lost and Found”, as the exhibition venue, CREATIVE HUB UENO “es”, formerly served as a police box. The aim of this project is to shed light on the voices of minorities and vulnerable members of society, which are perhaps destined to be lost and forgotten, from where we can gain a new perspective as something “FOUND”.
This exhibition is part of a practice-based course of the “Arts Project Practicum” established by the Tokyo University of the Arts, in which eight students assemble as teams to hold exhibitions in a relay format over a four-week period. These exhibitions aims to offer messages that reflect today’s era using the CREATIVE HUB UENO “es” as a venue space.
[Participating artists]
Hirotaka Kumaido, Kazumasa Tanaka, Jin Ozawa, Rena Sato, Nozomi Kubota, Kaede Ebina, Rika Sato, Koki Sakakihara
[Exhibition schedule]
January 21st (Tue) – 26th (Sun) : Hirotaka Kumaido, Kazumasa Tanaka, Jin Ozawa “Lost and Found by Grandparents”
January 28th (Tue) – Feburary 2nd (Sun): Rena Sato “Re: line – Remembering the Shapes of Things Lost”
Feburary 4th (Tue) – 9th (Sun): Nozomu Kubota “hand sketch, pencil drawing”
Feburary 11th (Tue) – 16th (Sun): Kaede Ebina, Rika Sato “Shifting Perspectives – Heterogeneity and Coexistence as seen from Ueno”
Permanent installation: Koki Sakakihara “Why the leeks? Give them to me! No, why?”
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January 21st (Tue) – 26th (Sun) : Hirotaka Kumaido, Kazumasa Tanaka, Jin Ozawa “Lost and Found by Grandparents”
By interpreting the objects left behind by the exhibitors’ grandparents as “items left behind by the deceased”, the aim of this performance is to purify the past memories of these objects and to deliver them to their new owners. Through the act of “organizing belongings”, we have focused on the spiritual and material aspects of objects. Even though the owner may not be visible, the belongings that were used during the deceased’s lifetime evoke their memories. This act of “organizing belongings” may serve as a ritual to organize the mind as we encounter the memories of the deceased, which cannot be put away by what we call “tidying up”. In addition, because the lifespan of an object does not coincide with the lifespan of its owner, it is necessary for those who remain behind to organize the objects left behind. If an object breaks down first, it can be repaired, used and preserved, but where should an object that has lost its owner turn to? In order to come to terms with the spirituality and material lifespan of objects, a performance such as this one is held to find new owners (foster parents) while sharing the memories that reside in the objects.
＜Artist＞
Hirotaka Kumaido
After studying at Kokugakuin University Aoba Gagakukai, Hirotaka Kumaido studied Gagaku under Shogo Anzai, former chief music director of the ceremonial music department of the Imperial Household Agency, among other instructors. He is a member of The Japan Gagaku Society and a student of Gagaku at the Department of Traditional Japanese Music, Faculty of Music, Tokyo University of the Arts. Major performances include TV asahi’s “Untitled Concert” and NHK’s historical drama “Hikaru Kimi e”.
Kazumasa Tanaka
Kazumasa Tanaka studies under the Mural Studies Field, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. At university, he is researching methods of creating experiences in collaboration with public and viewers. This work is also created with the intention of becoming a thought-provoking experience related to “lost objects” through collaboration with the participants.
Jin Ozawa
Born in 1998 in Osaka, Jin Ozawa worked as assistant manager of the Oku-Noto Triennale at ART FRONT GALLERY. Graduated from KWANSEI GAKUIN University, Faculty of Policy Studies. Currently studies under Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Master’s Program in Interdisciplinary Artistic Expression.
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January 28th (Tue) – Feburary 2nd (Sun) : Rena Sato “Re: line – Remembering the Shapes of Things Lost”
When you pick up a lost item, you look at it and think about the story.
We see a clean handkerchief with no footprints on it and wonder if the owner is nearby, or we see only one wireless earphone and think, “Oh, the owner must be in despair”.
We just look at the outline of the lost item and think about the story behind it.
We look for meaning and effect in the lost item, only to be disappointed.
Even so, the owner knows everything about it, which I feel is the charm of lost and found items.
In this exhibition, only the “outlines of the lost and found items” are extracted, based on the data from the related questionnaire.
These works bring to the surface (or represent) the state of things that have left people’s hands and exist as mere objects.
＜Artist＞
Rena Sato
Currently studying under the Mural Studies Field, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts.
Rena Sato creates artwork based on her interest in human territories and personal security.
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Feburary 4th (Tue) – 9th (Sun): Nozomu Kubota “hand sketch, pencil drawing”
When creating images with generative AI, many people throw away images that are not five-fingered. AI engineers also struggle with this topic, using their programming skills, huge GPUs and power to “evolve” so that AI can portray five fingers. However, in this case, the lives of minorities such as those who are three-fingered or with polydactyly are completely ignored and they are excluded from the shadow of “evolution”.
I started this work by drawing the AI’s output of images that were not five-fingered.
The AI outputs the certainty of the fingers in definite numbers, but what is a”certain finger” for us? Where does normality begin and end? What should we teach AI as normal? This question is asked not only by AI developers, but also by those who assume that they have nothing to do with AI technology. All those who cannot answer clearly may be accomplices to this unacknowledged violence.
＜Artist＞
Nozomu Kubota
Currently studying at Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Department of Inter Media Art.
Nozomu Kubota creates artwork that crosses genres while also working as a manager, AI developer, inventor, and YouTuber. He attempts to deconstruct the mundane dichotomy of human and AI by making use of media technology and conceptual methods, such as having AI learn the disappearing dialect of Nishikawa-cho, Yamagata Prefecture.
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Feburary 11th (Tue) – 16th (Sun): Kaede Ebina, Rika Sato “Shifting Perspectives – Heterogeneity and Coexistence as seen from Ueno”
Ueno attracts people from diverse backgrounds, including day labourers, homeless people, tourists, visitors to cultural facilities and people from the shopping areas. We wondered if we could create a “place for sharing heterogeneity” within this city where cultures/people’s lives are chaotic, which could be opened up to other urban areas and people. The aim is to provide opportunities for people with different perspectives and backgrounds to mingle and to create a place where they can question their own position and values.
Kaede Ebina conveys the heterogeneity of public space to various people through the realities and voices of homeless people, while Rika Sato shares the heterogeneity of people between others, mixing memories among all kinds of positions. This could become an opportunity for us to gain perspectives of people and places that have been passed by unnoticed in the past.
＜Artist＞
Kaede Ebina
Studies under the Mural Studies Field, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts.
Kaede Ebina aims to raise the question of to whom public space, culture and art belong to, and to explore the possibilities of a symbiotic society.
Rika Sato
Studies under the Department of Advanced Art Expression, Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. Rika Sato conducts practice and research in arts management while considering the communication necessary in the field of art.
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Permanent installation: Koki Sakakihara “Why the leeks? Give them to me! No, why?”
The project is called “Goro-chan”, a four-line rhyme that is made into a single work of art, of which 10,000 are currently being created. For this exhibition, a Goro-chan has been created from a story about an unusual kind of lost item – a leek – and will be exhibited together with a miniature replica of a leek.
＜Artist＞
Koki Sakakihara
He wants to be a good tennis player. Through his creative activities, he aims to make the best popular music, music that, simply put, will reach number one on the hit charts. He is currently a first-year student of the Master of Arts in Global Art Practice at Tokyo University of the Arts. He is a member of the 8th class of the Kuma Foundation.
