Okayama Art Summit 2016
“Development”

Artists: Yu Araki, Trisha Baga, Noah Barker, Robert Barry, Anna Blessmann and Peter Saville, Angela Bulloch, Michael Craig-Martin, Peter Fischli David Weiss, Simon Fujiwara, Ryan Gander, Liam Gillick, Melanie Gilligan, Rochelle Goldberg, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Pierre Huyghe, Joan Jonas, José León Cerrillo, Tatsuo Majima, Katja Novitskova, Ahmet Öğüt , Jorge Pardo, Philippe Parreno, Rachel Rose, Cameron Rowland, Shimabuku, Motoyuki Shitamichi, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Anton Vidokle, Hannah Weinberger, Lawrence Weiner, Anicka Yi

Okayama Art Summit 2016 is the first edition of a new triennial contemporary art exhibition to be held in Okayama, Japan. It will feature 31 important contemporary artists. The artistic director of this first edition is Liam Gillick. He has announced the artist list and the concept for this first edition.

All the artists involved in the exhibition play with structures - ideological, formal and political. They do this in very specific ways. Each artist layers their work upon what they encounter. They offer various levels of distance to the given structure. And leave us with different strata for encounter, examination and experience.

The word “Development” here also relates to an interest in pre and post production - in cinema, developed capitalism and strategic planning. Ideas in development always retain potential but development strategies are not value-free. Many of the artists here deploy modes of withdrawal and resistance in the face of the dominance of “ideas in development”. They work around preproduction and post-production games. Creating works that are in permanent development or constantly reflect back on the conditions of their production and reception.

Venues:
Korakukan Tenjin School,
Tenjinyama Cultural Plaza of Okayama Prefecture,
Okayama Orient Museum,
Former Fukuoka Soy Sauce Factory,
Cinema Clair Marunouchi,
Hayashibara Museum of Art,
Okayama Castle,
Okayama Prefectural Government Offices Area,
and other locations in Okayama
Organizer: Okayama Art Summit Executive Committee

Artistic Director: Liam Gillick

I chose the title “Development” and used that as a starting point for this exhibition. The word here should be understood in various ways. Okayama is an exemplary city. Its historical relationship to development in an urbanistic sense is very particular. Moving between the various site of the Art

Summit the visitor will encounter the layering of change, renovation and rebuilding that is at the heart of the contemporary Japanese city.

All the artists involved in the exhibition play with structures - ideological, formal and political. They do this in very specific ways. Each artist layers their work upon what they encounter. They offer various levels of distance to the given structure. And leave us with different strata for encounter, examination and experience.

The word “Development” here also relates to my interest in pre and post production - in cinema, developed capitalism and strategic planning. Ideas in development always retain potential but development strategies are not value-free. Many of the artists here deploy modes of withdrawal and resistance in the face of the dominance of “ideas in development”. They work around preproduction and post-production games. Creating works that are in permanent development or constantly reflect back on the conditions of their production and reception.

At the heart of “Development” is a play with time as a component of artistic practice not reduced to time based media alone. This is where the visitor’s role becomes central to the project. Thinking about “Development” in its cinematic sense, the exhibition will offer two ways to encounter the various works. Two routes will be mapped. Taking the first route, a single visitor can take the role of an individual ”camera” - seeing the city and the artworks from specific points of view. Taking the second route, groups of visitors function as collective subjects. A camera may pass a group and a group may pass a camera. This experience of the exhibition will be dependent on the hard work of a large number of local people who will guide the visitors as cameras or subjects. In Okayama we will experience “Development” as camera and subject. A film in real time that places renewed focus on how artists play, produce and fight for and against “A world viewed without myself.”

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