As reported recently in HOUYHNHNM's news, photographer Yusuke Yamatani's new performance art piece "Doors" is touring Europe.
A trip by car around several European countries , with a whiff of trouble in the air. . It seems that many things happened as a matter of course.
Hello! I was able to pick up my rental car surprisingly smoothly and have just arrived in Calais, France! By the way, is it bad if I don't have the GB plate (UK (the sticker that you put on your car when you leave the country)? I didn't find it on the car I rented lol"
This e-mail was sent by Ms. Yamatani to Ms. Saori Yoshida, a writer living in London.
Mr. Yoshida helped Mr. Yamatani arrange a rental car, which led him to accompany him on the first half of this European tour. In this issue, we would like to share with you his report on the first half of the tour. The following is a report by Mr. Yoshida.
Yusuke Yamatani, photographer, and Fumio Yamamori, engineer, arrived in London on September 2, rented the necessary equipment and a rental car, and departed by boat from UK to the European continent. On a piece of paper I received on the ferry to France, it said, "Do you have a GB sticker on you? and they contacted me on the morning of the 3rd.
In regards to the GB sticker, wasn't that explained to you along with the vehicle insurance?" ." His reply to my email was, "Insurance, I was totally distracted by other things and forgot to ask about it. I asked about coverage and all that, but did I mention that I was going to an EU country? (UK is an EU country, but when you leave the continent, you must apply in advance and pay an additional insurance fee. . be careful when planning a trip to Europe by car).
Between you and me, I thought to myself. No way. . This country is not so free that you can just rent a car and go out on a ferry at your leisure. I was so impatient that I kept sending him lines at an ungodly pace, and in the midst of a truly unfunny situation, he said, "No, let's laugh 😂". No, let's laugh 😂 . I wanted to tell him that. I wanted to tell him that.
So, I kept calling the rental car company about the insurance, and the manager asked me to call them back. Finally, I got two answers from the rental car company.
. or come back to UK.
Someone will deliver the EU insurance to where he is.
The two choices were.
With 48 hours left until the first performance, there was no option but to return to the UK, so I acted as their agent, grabbed the insurance card, and headed for Wroclaw, Poland, where they were to perform for the first time on their European tour. I was on my way to Wroclaw, Poland for the first show of the European tour, and that was the beginning of the story of how I came to accompany the tour.
(By the way, the rental car company said that if we continue to drive without insurance and have an accident, the worst that can happen is that we will have to purchase a new car & claim almost 10 million dollars for the business warranty. Everyone should be insured! )
I had been introduced to him by a friend and helped him find a rental car, and I had always known about his performances and crowdfunding, but this was the first time I had seen him in person. To give a brief explanation, every time he beats the drum, the shutter is released and the self-portrait comes out of 8 printers. ( The number of printers increased during the tour, and now there are 15 printers!
The response from the audiences in both Wroclaw and Berlin was very positive, and many people came to talk to him after the performance.
Take one photo of your choice and leave!" ." Despite his explanation, some people took several pictures and asked for his autograph. During a performance in Berlin, Yamatani, who was tired of playing the drums and wanted to stop, was told, "Keep going! You can still do it! What a cheer!
How did we arrive at this performance?" I asked him a simple question , right after the Wroclaw performance. The answer was quite simple: "Because taking pictures is a very violent act. ." He continued, staring at the photo of himself that the printer had just burned. I've never seen my face like this before," he said. ." He continued, "I've never seen myself look like this before. He also said that in a world where social networking sites make it easy to spread the word, he goes there himself and spreads himself in a very tedious and analog way.
The inorganic sound of the printer producing many "mountains and valleys" and the sound of the drums, which will never play the same rhythm twice. The sound of the drums, which will never play the same rhythm twice, is a perfect balance of stillness and motion, with the pitiless mechanical sound symbolizing violence and the drums symbolizing "life".
In his life as a photographer, Yamatani has taken probably more than several hundred thousand photographs. By turning the lens that has been pointed at others toward himself, Yamatani is attempting to understand mentally and physically the violence that he has perpetrated on others.
To digress for a moment, I am reminded of something he said in a previous interview with acid jazz pioneer Giles Peterson, which I conducted on a different topic. . great creations come from rebellion and antithesis. The reason why Yamatani's "Doors" attracts people even in Europe, where people do not speak the same language, is because of his firm will and antithesis.
We drove from Poland to Berlin and toured with them for just under a week. We drank many drinks together and talked about politics, work, and so on. Through our conversations, Yusuke Yamatani is a man who is both tough enough to take on the challenge of a European tour, and sensitive enough to be able to handle the extremes.
Needless to say, I was inspired by his seriousness about what he wanted to do and his way of thinking, and became one of the audience members who were attracted to his tour.
After I returned to London, Art Week started in Berlin , and they held an unauthorized guerrilla concert in a parking lot space right in front of it.
We received a comment from Mei Fujita, a writer who lives in Berlin, about what happened at that time. . She was also a helper during Yamaya's stay in Berlin.
A lightning flash pierces the street as a naked man, his hair (afro) shaking, beats a drum. Furthermore, his own self-portraits streamed from the printers haphazardly piled up on either side of him. The guerrilla performance on the street on the first day of Art Week can be summed up in one word: "crazy. But what is it that this man wants to do? People seemed to be forced to stop and think, "What does this guy want to do?
It is precisely because we live in an age of mass consumption of "cool art," Yamatani's expression, which leads us to the core of expression in the shortest possible distance, is very pleasing. His simple and graceful declaration of intention resonates in the brains of those who see his work, transcending language and culture.
Perspective (an individual's way of thinking , point of view). A word that came up often in conversations with Yamaya.
Photo album of this tour will be available until Monday, September 30.pre-order. I would like you to feel the mountains and valleys of Europe in your Perspective. I hope you will feel the mountains and valleys of Europe in your Perspective.
. this work of art is completed when the photographs are delivered to the audience. He must think so.
Finally, as a side note, they came to London via Hong Kong, where there was a big demonstration after they left Japan. The insurance issue with the rental car broke out shortly after that. I saw this information on his Instagram recently, and he said that his car was towed somewhere in the country (laughs). I wonder if he is back in London now? I hope he will be able to return to Japan safely.
GALLERY YAMATANI
galleryyamatani.stores.jp/items/5d5341638e691919d6e803a9
*The photo book will be on sale until Monday, September 30.