Yamaguchi, Japan: Ho Tzu Nyen, Voice of Void
Ho Tzu Nyen, Voice of Void Produced by Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM), co-produced by Frequency of Tradition , KADIST’s three-year program across Asia, and TPAM – Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama. The exhibition presents Voice of Void , a new animated, VR-based, moving image installation by acclaimed artist Ho Tzu Nyen, themed on the Kyoto School. The major commission, which has taken over a year to realize, has served as a focal point for the artist’s revisitation of Japanese history through the tumultuous years of the 1930s and 1940s. The Kyoto School is a philosophical-academic movement founded around 1913, at Kyoto University, Japan, whose members sought to reformulate unique thought and morality in the East Asian cultural tradition while assimilating Western philosophy and religious ideas. The work presents the complicated background of this influential network formed around the philosophers Kitaro Nishida (1870-1945) and Hajime Tanabe (1885-1962), which significantly impacted Japanese intellectual circles during the wartime period. One of the starting points of Voice of Void is a roundtable discussion that took place in November 1941 shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor, entitled The World-Historical Standpoint and Japan and hosted by the “Big Four” of the Kyoto School–Keiji Nishitani (1900-1990), Masaaki Kosaka (1900-1969), Iwao Koyama (1905-1993), and Shigetaka Suzuki (1907-1988). By restaging this discussion, the work explores the complex and often contradictory contexts of the extended network of the Kyoto School. Voice of Void combines elements of 3D animation and anime aesthetics, using integrated video projections and VR technology to create an immersive experience where the audience is invited to slip beneath the skin of these characters. Ho breaks down public history by accumulating images, texts, and biographies to expose the complexity of history with all its fictions and contradictions. Ho Tzu Nyen’s Voice of Void is part of a three-year series of programs entitled Frequency of Tradition , comprising exhibitions, artist commissions, and seminars taking place across Asia, curated by Hyunjin Kim , Lead Regional Curator for Asia. KADIST’s most recent engagement with Ho Tzu Nyen– Voice of Void , succeeds the seminar The Kyoto School & Far East Network held in 2018 in collaboration with the Gwangju Biennale 2018. Credits Organized by Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion In association with Yamaguchi City Board of Education Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, Fiscal Year 2021, The Kao Foundation for Arts and Sciences Produced by Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media (YCAM) Co-produced by Frequency of Tradition , KADIST’s three-year program across Asia and TPAM – Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama Supported by National Arts Council, Singapore Voices: Uichiro Fueda (Uichiro Fueda Drama Office), Akira Takayama (Port B), Yudai Kamisato (Okazaki Art Theatre), Masahiro Oishi (mamagoto / NYLON100 ? / Switch Research Institute), Jun Tsutsui (dracom), Agito, Yuma Tsurumai, Koichi Murakami, Yabuki Artistic Direction: Ho Tzu Nyen Text: Ho Tzu Nyen and Tomoyuki Arai Technical Direction: Richi Owaki (YCAM) Curation: Kazuhiko Yoshizaki (YCAM) Dramaturge and Translation: Tomoyuki Arai Assistant Dramaturge and Translation: Miho Tsujii Production Management: Clarence Ng (YCAM) Spatial Sound Design: Katsuhiro Chiba VR Device System and 2D Animation Production: Junji Nakaue (YCAM) VR System Design: Shoya Dozono and Ryosuke Nakajima (Qosmo) 3D Modeling: Masaki Toriyabe CG VFX Production: Ryo Kanda Character Design: Takuya Sugimoto Voice Recording: Kohsuke Nakamura Curatorial Assistance: Leonhard Bartolomeus (YCAM) Production Support: Stephanie Goh and Yap Seok Hui (Artfactory) Artist Technical Consultant: Andy Lim (Artfactory) Artist Assistant: Johann Yamin Curator of Frequency of Tradition: Kim Hyunjin (KADIST)