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Online reservation is available from 7days before the visit day.
The day tickets are available at ICC reception.
The relationship between late musician SAKAMOTO Ryuichi, who passed away on March 28, 2023, and the ICC dates back to 1991, prior to its grand opening. As an artist, he developed deep-reaching ties with the ICC through collaborations such as the concert held in conjunction with the 2005 exhibition “Laurie ANDERSON: The Record of the Time,” and commemorative exhibitions together with TAKATANI Shiro to mark the ICC’s tenth and twentieth anniversaries.
SAKAMOTO had a personal interest in the Internet since its formative years—the early 1990s—and used the medium to hold online live events and similar as part of proactive efforts to incorporate media technology into his works. Ever since that time, he has been highly active in the creation of everything from contemporary art to media–based art, collaborating with media artist IWAI Toshio in 1996, and creating countless installations and other works from 2000 onward together with Carsten NICOLAI, TAKATANI Shiro, MANABE Daito, MOHRI Yuko and other artists. In 2017, he took part in the “SAKAMOTO Ryuichi with TAKATANI Shiro | Installation Music 2: IS YOUR TIME” traveling exhibition in Taiwan to commemorate the ICC’s twentieth anniversary. SAKAMOTO also showed his work “IS YOUR TIME” at a Beijing solo exhibition, and this year (2023) his large-scale solo exhibition “Ryuichi Sakamoto | SOUND AND TIME” is underway in Chengdu, China.
The current exhibition is a tribute to SAKAMOTO Ryuichi, who made immeasurably wide-reaching achievements in the field of media art. In addition, with MANABE Daito from Rhizomatiks as a Co–curator, we aim to utilize the event as an experimental vehicle for carrying on and expanding into the future the works and influence of SAKAMOTO via pieces based on performance-related data left behind by the artist, art created in collaboration with SAKAMOTO by artists both in Japan and abroad, and records of exhibitions and other activities he was involved with here at the ICC.
Curators’ comments
HATANAKA Minoru (chief curator, ICC)
I believe that SAKAMOTO Ryuichi was an artist who consciously focused on the interrelationships between music and technology. He always kept up with the latest technologies of the time as he pursued new possibilities in auditory expression using technology, but conversely he was also conscious of the problems that such technologies could cause. Once SAKAMOTO began using art installations as a means of musical expression, we became able to better understaqnd what he was trying to convey. These art installations also reflected SAKAMOTO himself, who found freedom in the transformation of ideas into music. SAKAMOTO attempted to listen in new ways to music within the context of music history, and to find music in various noises and sounds. By standing up to and challenging the world in these ways, he has, as a creator, inspired many other artists. Through this exhibition, we hope to convey how the core essence of SAKAMOTO is present in the works of art he has created.
MANABE Daito (Rhizomatiks)
SAKAMOTO Ryuichi’s lifelong pursuit of creative endeavors has served as an endless source of inspiration for countless artists, musicians and other creators everywhere. He was involved in experimental projects entailing the skillful manipulation of synthesizers, the Internet, real-time CG and other era-leading technologies, and the results of said endeavors will surely remain the talk of generations to come.
In 2019, I embarked on a project to archive SAKAMOTO’s performances using special photographic equipment. My roles in the project were system development and art direction, and through that work I had multiple opportunities to talk with SAKAMOTO himself. What particularly impressed me was his refusal to stop with simple archiving of the works; he also pursued AI development efforts based on the resulting archive data. It was clear to me that SAKAMOTO's endless curiosity inspired him to experiment with new ways of utilizing his own data which he had helped to create. He called upon a seemingly inexhaustible supply of creativity to explore new frontiers and continually evolve as an artist.
Through this exhibition, we utilize the valuable data SAKAMOTO Ryuichi left behind in order to create new works that carry on the artistic ambitions of that revered artist, and thus pay tribute to SAKAMOTO Ryuichi himself.
