ULTRA X HAPS TALK – Connecting Kyoto and the World through Contemporary Art
The environment surrounding contemporary art has become vastly more complex over the past few decades. Faced with this situation, it is no easy task for artists to find a way to be active at a global level. Naturally, it is virtually impossible to get a firm grasp on the art scenes that are being produced concurrently all over the world. In particular, in neighboring Asian countries that are seeing rapid economic growth and modernization, there are more opportunities than ever before to show one’s work, taking into account the new art museums and art fairs that are being established, and the flourishing numbers of international exhibitions. Although global attention focused on this region has increased, the situation is quite different in Japan, where there is a general sense that the work of developing art-related institutions has been finished. However, it is precisely this state of affairs that has led to a renewed questioning of how global networks are constructed, a reconsideration of how institutionalization works, and the role of artists in society.
In Kyoto, art schools produce a large number of new artists each year. But what kinds of connections might one discover today between this center of traditional Japanese culture and the world of contemporary art that has grown ever more complex in this way? The “ULTRA x HAPS” series of talks, jointly organized by Kyoto University of Art and Design and Higashiyama Artists Placement Service (HAPS), will invite artists, curators, collectors, researchers, and gallerists from the world’s major cities to hold discussions that will allow participants to deepen their understanding and experience of the world.
① The “ULTRA×HAPS” talks are part of the Curatorial Research Program of Higashiyama Artists Placement Service (HAPS), which seeks to provide support to young emerging artists.
② ULTRA is named after the Ultra Factory at Kyoto University of Art and Design, which seeks to cultivate transcendent forms of creativity.
③ The Kyoto University of Art and Design is dedicated to establishing an institution that will foster artists from Kyoto who aim to work in the contemporary art world at a global level.
About the Talk
Time/Date: 19:00-20:30 Tuesday, August 30, 2016Venue: Auditorium, Kyoto Art Center
http://www.kac.or.jp/access/
English>Japanese consecutive translation available
Admission: Free (Booking required)
Seating Capacity: 100
Organized by: Kyoto University of Art and Design, Graduate School of Art and Design Studies /
Higashiyama Artists Placement Service（HAPS）
Co-organized by: Kyoto Art Center
With the support of Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa
Dane Mitchell(Artist, New Zealand)
“Spectrum to Spectre”
In his practice, conceptual artist Dane Mitchell evokes a connection between the sensual, phenomenological and speculative realms of both material and systems of knowledge or belief and our experiences of them. Working with scent, spells and what we might term ‘other ways of knowing’, Mitchell’s work channels invisible forces into concrete forms, conflating spiritualism’s concern for trace and residue with the legacies of conceptual art. In ULTRAxHAPS TALK003, he will share his diverse perspectives and practices with us.
About the Speaker
Dane Mitchell was born in 1976, lives and works in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand, where he is acting Head of Department of Visual Arts at Auckland University of Technology. He was a guest from 2009 – 2010 of the Berliner Kunstlerprogramm/DAAD, in Berlin, Germany. He has presented solo exhibitions internationally in public institutions in Germany and in countries including Brazil, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia and the United States. He has participated in major biennales including: Biennale of Sydney 2016, Australia; Gwangju Biennale 2012, South Korea; Liverpool Biennial 2012, United Kingdom; Singapore Biennale 2011, Singapore; Ljubljana Biennale 2011, Slovenia; Busan Biennale 2010, South Korea and the Tarrawara Biennial 2008, Australia.Booking & Inquiries
For Booking and Inquiries: ULTRA_HAPS@office.kyoto-art.ac.jp*Please send 1.Name, 2.Number of participants, 3.Phone number or email address, 4.Occupation (for student, please note the school name)