In 1962 Umberto ECO published a seminal book titled Opera aperta, known in English as Open Work. Together with a handful of other classics, such as Jack BURNHAM’s Beyond Modern Sculpture (1968), it forms part of the theoretical foundation upon which the phenomenon known as media art has been built. ECO’s book explored avant-garde works in music, literature and the visual arts, ones that were based on—to paraphrase the title of a work by Robert RAUSCHENBERG—an “open score.” The works ECO was interested in were structured to prevent definitive “closed” meanings. Such works resonate endlessly in the observer’s mind. The process of meaning giving is endless.
Opera aperta brings to my mind another remarkable open project, ICC’s Open Space, which is celebrating its first decade. It is a compelling showcase dedicated to the changing relationships between art, technology and media. One of its achievements has been to demonstrate that all great works of media art are to some extent open—they explore new technological possibilities, ponder media cultural motifs, and point to possible interpretations, but in the end refuse to come up with a conclusion or explanation. Each visitor must discover one’s own. Open Space is a celebration of such openness. It is a unique project of its kind in the world.
I find myself in a rather particular situation as possibly the only foreigner—gaijin—who has seen all the ten exhibitions organized so far. The selected works have reflected changes in media culture and art much like a multifaceted prism. The only constant may have been the necessity of eschewing all constants. This is of course the life blood of experimental art itself. Or perhaps there is an exception, a work that has almost turned into a totem pole for ICC. It has been exhibited in virtually all the Open Space exhibitions, and even earlier: it has been a permanent presence at ICC ever since its opening in 1997. I mean Gregory BARSAMIAN’s magnificent “Juggler.”
“Juggler” can be characterized as a media archaeological installation. It revisits the idea of the zoetrope by replacing the spinning slotted drum by stroboscopic light, creating an astonishing surreal illusion of solid objects in full motion. Unlike for any other institution I know, media archaeology has always been part of the vision animating ICC. As a symbolic manifestation of this liaison, IWAI Toshio created for its opening in 1997 his “Seven Memories of Media Technology,” which was—for a good reason—displayed again in the first Open Space exhibition in 2006. This work is a “mini museum” of the imaginary evolution of media culture, as interpreted by a visionary artist who began his own explorations of media archaeology when the field itself did not even exist.
The media archaeologist travels from the past to the present just as easily as from the present to the past, so discussing the works exhibited in the Open Space exhibitions in a linear order would be pointless. Media archaeological awareness is a slowly changing and self-reflective field rather than an arrow moving to a certain direction. There is no problem swinging from the first exhibition to the most recent (2015) to investigate works by SUZUKI Yuri, WADA Ei and FUJIHATA Masaki. SUZUKI’s “Garden of Russolo” engages in an dialogue with the history of media art, taking as its reference point the Futurist Art of Noises and Luigi RUSSOLO’s “noise intoners,” or Intonarumori, its best remembered expression. However, SUZUKI’s work is less a faithful reconstruction than a personal re-imagining of these mythologized machines.
Ei WADA also represents the second generation of media archaeological artists. His inspiration is related to the issue Garnet HERTZ and Jussi PARIKKA have called “zombie media.” WADA is occupied with hacking, recycling and refunctionalizing media technology which is turning obsolete—open reel sound recorders, CRT television monitors, VHS video cassette players, radios, etc. His activities ranges from the wild performances of the Open Reel Ensemble to installations like the “Crab Leg Denrin Tower,” where signals from old radios are converted into visual impressions on CRT monitors embedded in the tower. An earlier work, “Toki Ori Ori Nasu ver.2: Falling Records” (exhibited in 2013), used functioning open reel recorders on top of four columns to create a monumental audiovisual experience in an almost temple-like structure.
Shadow projections, one of the original inspirations behind media culture, have occupied several artists included in the Open Space exhibitions. In the most recent one, FUJIHATA Masaki exhibited a pair of magical shadow theater-inspired works separated by two decades, demonstrating the consistency of his oeuvre. In “Morel’s Panorama” (shown 2010), one his most complex creations, FUJIHATA associated interactivity, digital modeling, panoramic imagery, identity politics, and even narrative in a dizzyingly associative way. Memorable shadow installations have also been exhibited by minim++ (“KAGE,” 2007), Rafael LOZANO-HEMMER (“Frequency and Volume,” 2009), Shilpa GUPTA (“Untitled, Shadow 2,” 2012), and Ryota KUWAKUBO (“The Tenth Sentiment,” 2010).
This survey would not be complete without mentioning Julien MAIRE and Gebhard SENGMÜLLER, both of whom have for years investigated media archaeological issues through their art activities. MAIRE’s group of projection based installations, including his minuscule “Octet Projectors” (exhibited 2012), combined subtle but astonishing media magic, tinkering skills, historical investigations of low resolution projection, and a highly concentrated and nonconformist vision. SENGMÜLLER’s “A Parallel Image,” realized with Franz BÜCHINGER (exhibited 2010) is an exploration of the archaeology of image scanning and transmission. It resonates with the histories of fax machines and television transmitters and receivers, but also evokes the camera obscura.
It feels astonishing that all the things I have discussed here form only a part of what the first decade of the Open Space has been able to offer. Media Art changes as media Culture changes. Open Space has been an accurate public laboratory for observing this process. I am expecting its second decade with great curiosity.
