Universal / Remote: Tokyo Art Exhibition is a Powerful Exploration of the Post-COVID World

An exhibition titled "Universal / Remote" is presently being shown at the National Art Center, Tokyo. Conceived as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it will run until June 3, before relocating to the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art on June 29.

"Universal" refers to the ever-more pan-global nature of the modern world. "Remote" evokes the image of the remote individual. These terms have gained increasing resonance in the post-COVID-19 era. "Pan," meaning "all" in its ancient Greek origin, evokes the word "pandemic" itself. "Remote work" has become the standard loan word in Japanese for working from home. The exhibition includes the work of eleven artists, divided between the two themes.

With a couple of exceptions, the works were produced prior to 2019, with the earliest in 2002. The relevance of the pandemic to the exhibition, therefore, is not as inspiration for the creation of the artwork, but in our heightened perception of it. As stated in the exhibition catalog: "the pandemic increased the rate in which the world is being globalized, but in which it is possible for the individual to live an existence that is remote."

The catalog further suggests that "while pan and remote may seem worlds apart, they are not antithetical concepts. Like a pair of facing mirrors, they endlessly reflect one another." Both are being driven by technology, the internet in particular. 

An Internet of Cables, Not of Clouds

It is often forgotten that the Internet is not a cloud. It travels to us from physical servers, via cables that straddle the oceans. Unsurprisingly, therefore, the image of cables features prominently throughout the exhibition. Within the Universal section, the photographs of American Trevon Paglen include cables laid on the ocean floor, and "seemingly serene" coastlines where intercontinental undersea cables make landfall. 

In one of several video presentations, South Korean artist Jeamin Cha, exhibited under the Remote theme. Her exhibit focuses on the plight of the solitary internet technicians, suspended up utility poles, that enable the "wireless" existence of remote work.

Captured on Camera, Every Single Day 

A further trend that was exacerbated by the pandemic was the acceptance of surveillance. Chinese artist Xu Bing has utilized readily available surveillance camera footage to stitch together a love story. It is about a man named Ke Fan and his unrequited love for a woman named Qing Ting. The characters of Ke Fan and Qing Ting are created through voiceovers. There are no actors involved. The representations of Ke Fan and Qing Ting that are shown on screen change from one scene to another. They are people whose likenesses have been captured by surveillance cameras. They could be you or me. 

The Most Remote of Deaths

A particularly powerful exhibit is that of Danish photographer Tina Enghoff. Scandinavian countries have generous welfare programs and routinely rate near the top of United Nations happiness surveys. In answer to a question posed by JAPAN Forward at her artist talk, Enghoff expressed deep concerns about the criteria under which these rankings are generated. To Enghoff, the Scandinavian welfare state culture has created a strong sense of independence that can degrade happiness by weakening interpersonal connections. An implication for many independent elderly Danes is that they die alone, and their bodies can remain undetected for weeks. 

After much persistence, Enghoff gained permission to photograph the residences after the bodies had been removed. Notably absent from these homes are framed pictures of people — of the kind that are typically displayed on shelves and side tables. The paintings on the walls are invariably landscapes, devoid of human figures. Her photographs best personify the Remote component of the exhibition title. 

Internet Images Laid Bare 

The exhibit of Evan Roth is characterized by its sheer impact. Roth describes himself as both an artist and a hacker. The aim of his artwork is to expose or add "functions to devices that were not originally intended by their developers." His exhibit, Since You Were Born, shows the full contents of his computer's cache since the birth of his second daughter on June 29, 2016.

A cache is a temporary archive of images and text. It allows for faster retrieval and display whenever the data is accessed again. The content is saved and deleted without the user's knowledge or approval. The images saved are not confined to our personal choices. They also included advertisements and corporate logos. 

After the birth of his second daughter, Roth began saving the contents of his cache every couple of weeks. In Since You Were Born, it is all laid bare, not infrequently, he adds, to his embarrassment. The images cover the floor and the walls of the exhibit space, stretching meters up into the air. 

The Enduring Continuity of Landscape 

The paintings of Natsuko Kiura provide a sense of continuity and "reassurance that life goes on." Kiura, a native of Kagoshima, has merged painting into her daily routine of childrearing and household chores for more than ten years. A landscape painter, she ventures into the countryside to take photos, then paints late at night when her family is asleep. She maintained her routine throughout the pandemic. 

Kiura's largely uninterrupted pandemic experience can be viewed as the difference between life within large cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, and regional capitals such as Kagoshima. It should also be held as evidence of the relative laxity of the pandemic experience within the Japanese isles. Residents of Japan did endure the draconian lockdowns that were typical in many countries. Sensible behavior kept the rate of infection low. Acceptance of common sense restrictions meant that legal enforcement was rarely required. 

The remaining artists who feature in the exhibition are Daisuke Ida, Maiko Jinushi, and the three-person collective of Giorgi Gago Gagoshidze, Hito Steyerl, and Milos Trakilovic. The video exhibit of Gagoshidze, Steyerl, and Trakilovic is a highly engaging examination of capitalism. A wide variety of issues are addressed including identification through fashion, and the "unpaid labor" of social media users. 

An Art Exhibition for the Immediate Post-COVID-19 Era 

Universal / Remote is time-specific. It is an early example of what will likely be a series of exhibitions during the immediate post-pandemic years, that deal with the pandemic experience. In also being timed when people venture out into the warmth of spring, it is a thought-provoking way for visitors to both reflect on the past few years, and enjoy the first year in four in which an art exhibition can be viewed without restrictions. 

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Author: Paul de Vries

Paul de Vries is an Australian writer and educator based in Japan.

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