30 Ways to Go to the Moon
More than half a century has passed since the Apollo 11 lunar landing, and the idea of people casually travelling to the moon seems less of a technical impossibility. However, it is the ideas and practices of artists, which at first glance seem to have no connection to such an endeavor, that may surpass advances in science, technology, and theory and connect to new discoveries and creative avenues that provide important hints for going to the moon.
The Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2024 will attempt to unravel the proposition of “finding a means to go to the moon” through various expressive forms with a focus on photography and moving images, considering together not only with the artists but also with the audience participating in the festival. Through historical and contemporary works, the festival will explore the possibilities for “images” from diverse perspectives.
Featuring moving images, photographs, and documents by artists from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, including works from the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum collection, the 2nd floor exhibition gallery explores the world to come through the collective intelligence that is derived from these works. Held in the center of the exhibition space will be a daily program of performances, live events, screenings, talks, discussions, and workshops, creating a space where the artists and visitors can communicate and share ideas. By making each person a witness and experiencer of the events, this exhibition aims to create a viewing experience that resembles both a recording device (media) and an illustrated book of memories.
The basement floor exhibition gallery presents works and projects that suggest unknown possibilities and ideas that cannot be fully understood by science and theory. If the 2nd floor is a collective intellectual space, the basement floor can be seen as the starting point of an endless journey into the future where we can learn from collective knowledge and leap forward with our imaginations.
One of the features of this year’s festival is its focus on the one-time nature of moving images. The festival plans to introduce performances and unique pieces; works that address temporal depth and limitations by rendering it impossible to witness (or view) them in their totality, and works that are completed and seem to disappear on site by allowing physical action and thought to affect the filmmaking process. All are works of film and video—reproducible art forms—and yet their focus on originality or “one-timeness” is the antithesis of repetition and non-location.
The festival will also further strengthen connections between the screening and exhibition programs, attempting to create mutual crossovers among them.