Saturday, January 27 – Sunday, February 25, 2024
Wed. – Fri. 13:00-19:00, Sat. & Sun. 12:00 – 18:00
Closed: Monday, Tuesday, Public Holidays

MUJIN-TO Productions is pleased to present a group exhibition, “Four Elements 2024 Winter.”
Based on the ancient Greek concept that the world is composed of the four elements of fire, wind, water, and earth, the exhibition is an experiment consisting of works selected based on images evoked by each element.

This exhibition, following “Four Elements 2023 Summer” held last summer, features works by six artists: Yu Araki, Ryohei Usui, Tsubasa Kato, Meiro Koizumi, Yukihiro Taguchi, and Osamu Matsuda. We hope you will enjoy the experience of rediscovering the works from a new perspective.

“Fire”
Fire features Yu Araki’s film work “FUEL” (2019, 16:47 min.). Filmed at a restaurant in Kushiro, Hokkaido, which is believed to be the birthplace of Robata-yaki, the film delicately depicts references to Ainu culture and environmental issues surrounding humans in contemporary society through footage of a griller handling a fire so slowly and fantastically.

Water.”
Water features “raft of______” (2016, 3 min. 39 sec.), a work consisting of video and a photograph created by Tsubasa Kato during his stay in the United States. The work was conceived from the thoughts on refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea from Libya to Europe and seeking ways in which he, who was not involved in the situation, could face the situation. It keeps moving on the linked Google Map, giving the viewer a sense of instability, as if the raft were drifting on the water, not knowing where it will end up. As long as there are refugees losing their lives at sea, the raft will continue to be shown somewhere on the sea.
Also on display will be an early work “Drink” (2008, 9 seconds) from Osamu Matsuda’s video works symbolic of “loop (repetition)” and a documentary video of his performance “Living Message” in Kyoto in 2018. Please enjoy these two works, which are an infinite loop of “drinking” and “excreting” that continues forever as long as human beings live, and a performance based on the theme of “tenacious life”.

Also on view will be Meiro Koizumi’s two-sided video installation “In the state of Amnesia” (2015, 13 min. 5 sec.), a work in which fire and water coexist. The work, which features a man with impaired memory and deals with testimonies related to World War II, is a work in which Koizumi has continued to search for a balance between artistry and ethics, and in which he has found one of his convictions.

“Wind”
Wind features Ryohei Usui’s early photographic work “Flying Goza mat” (2008). A floating goza mat with a mysterious sense of levitation. We hope you will take a look at this light and humorous scene and see what it makes you feel in this current climate.

“Earth”
Earth features “Pokepoke” (2017, 6 min. 54 sec.), a stop-motion animation work that Yukihiro Taguchi created in West Auckland, New Zealand in 2017. Pokepoke means “kneading” in Maori, symbolizes the region’s uniqueness where brick-making and pottery are popular. The artist lightly expresses the connection between people, human and nature by transforming clay he encountered in this land of flourishing pottery making into various forms.

The earthquake in Hokuriku and the continuing fires of war have made for an unsettling start to the new year, but we invite you to experience the energy of fire, wind, water, and earth in an exhibition space that will bring people closer together.