I am the sort of person who believes that, just as artists are expressers, so are galleries. While I will go into the implications of this belief later on, I think that a retrospective look at the achievements of biscuit gallery with the approach of the first anniversary of its opening will afford a view of another kind of expression, creation, or output of conviction.
Artists show their own identity mainly through their works. This raises the questions of where the individuality of galleries lies, what distinguishes, differentiates, and characterizes them relative to others, and how this is expressed. Although the answers naturally vary with the person, I would suggest, for example, that the key elements are the esthetic sense of the gallery owner or director, the presence or absence of regulation at work in the selection of artists, and the creation of a venue for exhibitions.
This brings up another question: just what is the ID that sets biscuit gallery apart from the many other young galleries? To put it in a slightly indirect way, I would say it is a lust for the times. Japan’s art scene is in an ongoing process of formation and development, and lust is at the very roots of efforts to grasp, analyze, and map it, and moreover all on a large scale and at a high speed. As I see it, the source of biscuit gallery’s appeal and power is precisely this lust. Proceeding from the pure and innocent question about the kinds of artists out there today in this age, biscuit gallery engages in style-making while staying attuned to the times. This is exactly why, at first glance, the scope of its coverage seems too vast to be handled by a single gallery. However, this is not the result of random action, and I believe that things will look different if viewed from a perspective on a little higher plane.
Consider, for example, the case of Vitamin Creative Space, an art scene player born in China in the early 2000s. This space studied the relationship of traditional Chinese philosophy, thought, and culture with contemporary art, and developed activities that mashed these elements up together. At present, both the space itself and artists whose careers started there are appearing on the international stage. The aforementioned “perspective on a little higher plane” is nothing less than the kind of vision this player has. In other words, it is a vantage for an overview of the relationship between a globalized world and our own local position.
In our view, the contemporary world is, on the surface at least, becoming exceedingly seamless and borderless. It is being redefined as a single mass society on a global level. Beginning in the 1980s, the ideas of Edward Said and others stimulated discussion of diversity. The network culture and metaverse concept hint at a shift from a world of physical separation to a new integrated topos. Meanwhile, the emergence of issues on a global scale and other factors engendered linkages with worlds “over there” which (we thought) had had no connection with us. As I see it, due to the aggregate effect of these and other developments, we have acquired a new sort of grammatical person, i.e., the “we who live in a globalized world.”
For this very reason, global standards and rules are now liable to be required in anything we do. The need for awareness of this “larger world” definitely applies to art as well. Contemporary art is undoubtedly a genre whose birth, spread, and maintenance are based in Western Europe, but the door is, of course, also open to other regions. Today, the distance between “global” (= Western Europe) and “local” (= non-Western-European regions) has greatly narrowed as compared to the past. What attitude must we adopt when we stand on this bigger stage and become involved in art from the standpoint of Japanese nationals? In my opinion, an excessive focus on learning from Western European players may not necessarily yield only benefits. If we take a step or two into the world, we find countless players already there. They have their feet firmly planted on the foundation laid by the dense history of their (i.e., Western European) art, which has been edited over such a long period of time. In addition, we presumably also notice that all of their discussion unfolds along the lines of this history. In short, I am afraid that, the more we learn from these Western European players or put this learning into practice, the higher the risk of being perceived as merely imitating the artists “over there,” regardless of our intentions.
I have digressed quite a bit from my main subjects here, which are the expressiveness of biscuit gallery and the wide range of its selection of artists. Based on the foregoing remarks, it is clear that one of the requirements for an art player is recognition of the “larger world view.” This must be accompanied by confirmation of one’s own positioning. In our case, I would define this as the awareness of being in the locale of Japan, and that this locale is but one part of the larger world. Next, we must ask ourselves which of our many assets we can put to effective use in competition in the larger world. Instead of further beating around the bush, let me simply state that I think, in its activities over this last year, biscuit gallery has been a kind of explorer.
To compete in the larger world and to make preparations for doing so demand knowledge of the world around us, as related above. Much of the work of a “gallerist” is performed together with artists. Over the last year, I believe biscuit gallery has practiced PoC-type action on the proposition that knowledge of the art and artists in your own country in the current age is a prerequisite for venturing out into the international art scene. The lust for the times I mentioned above is nothing less than the energy and drive needed for in-depth examination of the times we live in and the artists active in them. To return to the topic presented at the start of this text, what biscuit gallery is portraying is, needless to say, the contemporary art of this country and these times – something based on an eminently standard theme. That’s how it looks to me, anyway.
Shinzo Okuoka
Translate by James Koetting
I am the sort of person who believes that, just as artists are expressers, so are galleries. While I will go into the implications of this belief later on, I think that a retrospective look at the achievements of biscuit gallery with the approach of the first anniversary of its opening will afford a view of another kind of expression, creation, or output of conviction.
Artists show their own identity mainly through their works. This raises the questions of where the individuality of galleries lies, what distinguishes, differentiates, and characterizes them relative to others, and how this is expressed. Although the answers naturally vary with the person, I would suggest, for example, that the key elements are the esthetic sense of the gallery owner or director, the presence or absence of regulation at work in the selection of artists, and the creation of a venue for exhibitions.
This brings up another question: just what is the ID that sets biscuit gallery apart from the many other young galleries? To put it in a slightly indirect way, I would say it is a lust for the times. Japan’s art scene is in an ongoing process of formation and development, and lust is at the very roots of efforts to grasp, analyze, and map it, and moreover all on a large scale and at a high speed. As I see it, the source of biscuit gallery’s appeal and power is precisely this lust. Proceeding from the pure and innocent question about the kinds of artists out there today in this age, biscuit gallery engages in style-making while staying attuned to the times. This is exactly why, at first glance, the scope of its coverage seems too vast to be handled by a single gallery. However, this is not the result of random action, and I believe that things will look different if viewed from a perspective on a little higher plane.
Consider, for example, the case of Vitamin Creative Space, an art scene player born in China in the early 2000s. This space studied the relationship of traditional Chinese philosophy, thought, and culture with contemporary art, and developed activities that mashed these elements up together. At present, both the space itself and artists whose careers started there are appearing on the international stage. The aforementioned “perspective on a little higher plane” is nothing less than the kind of vision this player has. In other words, it is a vantage for an overview of the relationship between a globalized world and our own local position.
In our view, the contemporary world is, on the surface at least, becoming exceedingly seamless and borderless. It is being redefined as a single mass society on a global level. Beginning in the 1980s, the ideas of Edward Said and others stimulated discussion of diversity. The network culture and metaverse concept hint at a shift from a world of physical separation to a new integrated topos. Meanwhile, the emergence of issues on a global scale and other factors engendered linkages with worlds “over there” which (we thought) had had no connection with us. As I see it, due to the aggregate effect of these and other developments, we have acquired a new sort of grammatical person, i.e., the “we who live in a globalized world.”
For this very reason, global standards and rules are now liable to be required in anything we do. The need for awareness of this “larger world” definitely applies to art as well. Contemporary art is undoubtedly a genre whose birth, spread, and maintenance are based in Western Europe, but the door is, of course, also open to other regions. Today, the distance between “global” (= Western Europe) and “local” (= non-Western-European regions) has greatly narrowed as compared to the past. What attitude must we adopt when we stand on this bigger stage and become involved in art from the standpoint of Japanese nationals? In my opinion, an excessive focus on learning from Western European players may not necessarily yield only benefits. If we take a step or two into the world, we find countless players already there. They have their feet firmly planted on the foundation laid by the dense history of their (i.e., Western European) art, which has been edited over such a long period of time. In addition, we presumably also notice that all of their discussion unfolds along the lines of this history. In short, I am afraid that, the more we learn from these Western European players or put this learning into practice, the higher the risk of being perceived as merely imitating the artists “over there,” regardless of our intentions.
I have digressed quite a bit from my main subjects here, which are the expressiveness of biscuit gallery and the wide range of its selection of artists. Based on the foregoing remarks, it is clear that one of the requirements for an art player is recognition of the “larger world view.” This must be accompanied by confirmation of one’s own positioning. In our case, I would define this as the awareness of being in the locale of Japan, and that this locale is but one part of the larger world. Next, we must ask ourselves which of our many assets we can put to effective use in competition in the larger world. Instead of further beating around the bush, let me simply state that I think, in its activities over this last year, biscuit gallery has been a kind of explorer.
To compete in the larger world and to make preparations for doing so demand knowledge of the world around us, as related above. Much of the work of a “gallerist” is performed together with artists. Over the last year, I believe biscuit gallery has practiced PoC-type action on the proposition that knowledge of the art and artists in your own country in the current age is a prerequisite for venturing out into the international art scene. The lust for the times I mentioned above is nothing less than the energy and drive needed for in-depth examination of the times we live in and the artists active in them. To return to the topic presented at the start of this text, what biscuit gallery is portraying is, needless to say, the contemporary art of this country and these times – something based on an eminently standard theme. That’s how it looks to me, anyway.
Shinzo Okuoka
Translated by James Koetting
⚡ AI Translation
나는 예술가들이 표현자인 것처럼 갤러리도 또한 표현자라고 믿는 종류의 사람이다. 이 신념의 함의에 대해서는 나중에 논하겠지만, biscuit gallery의 개관 첫 주년을 맞이하여 그 성과를 회고적으로 살펴보는 것이 또 다른 종류의 표현, 창작, 또는 신념의 산출물에 대한 관점을 제공할 것이라고 생각한다.
예술가들은 주로 자신의 작품을 통해 자신의 정체성을 보여준다. 이것은 갤러리의 개성이 어디에 있는지, 무엇이 다른 갤러리들과 구별하고 차별화하며 특징짓는지, 그리고 이것이 어떻게 표현되는지에 대한 질문을 제기한다. 답은 당연히 사람에 따라 다르지만, 예를 들어 핵심 요소는 갤러리 소유자나 큐레이터의 미적 감각, 예술가 선정에 있어서 규제의 유무, 그리고 전시 장소의 창출이라고 제안하고 싶다.
이것은 또 다른 질문을 야기한다. 수많은 다른 젊은 갤러리들로부터 biscuit gallery를 구별 짓는 정체성이 정확히 무엇인가? 조금 간접적인 방식으로 말하자면, 나는 그것을 시대에 대한 갈증이라고 말하고 싶다. 일본의 미술계는 지속적인 형성과 발전의 과정에 있으며, 이 갈증은 그것을 파악하고 분석하고 매핑하려는 노력의 매우 근원에 있으며, 더욱이 모두 대규모로 그리고 고속으로 이루어진다. 내가 보기에, biscuit gallery의 매력과 힘의 원천은 바로 이 갈증이다. 오늘날 이 시대에 어떤 종류의 예술가들이 있는가에 대한 순수하고 순진한 질문에서 출발하여, biscuit gallery는 시대에 민감하게 반응하면서 스타일 메이킹을 한다. 이것이 정확히 왜 처음 보기에 그 범위가 단일 갤러리가 다루기에는 너무 광범위해 보이는 이유이다. 그러나 이것은 무작위 행동의 결과가 아니며, 좀 더 높은 차원의 관점에서 보면 상황이 다르게 보일 것이라고 나는 믿는다.
예를 들어, 2000년대 초 중국에서 탄생한 미술계의 주요 플레이어인 Vitamin Creative Space의 경우를 생각해보자. 이 공간은 전통 중국 철학, 사상, 문화와 현대미술의 관계를 연구하였으며, 이러한 요소들을 함께 혼합하는 활동을 전개했다. 현재 이 공간 자체와 이곳에서 경력을 시작한 예술가들은 국제 무대에 나타나고 있다. 앞서 언급한 “좀 더 높은 차원의 관점”은 바로 이 플레이어가 가진 비전과 다름없다. 즉, 세계화된 세계와 우리 자신의 지역적 위치 사이의 관계를 조망하기 위한 유리한 지점이다.
우리의 관점에서 현대 세계는 표면적으로나마 점점 더 경계 없고 국경이 없어지고 있다. 그것은 글로벌 차원에서 하나의 대중 사회로 재정의되고 있다. 1980년대부터 Edward Said 등의 사상이 다양성에 대한 논의를 자극했다. 네트워크 문화와 메타버스 개념은 물리적 분리의 세계에서 새로운 통합된 공간으로의 이동을 암시한다. 한편 전 지구적 규모의 문제 출현과 다른 요인들로 인해 (우리가 생각했던) 우리와 아무 연관이 없었던 “저쪽” 세계와의 연결이 생겨났다. 내가 보기에, 이러한 발전들의 집합적 효과로 인해, 우리는 “세계화된 세계에 사는 우리”라는 새로운 종류의 문법적 인칭을 획득하게 되었다.
정확히 이러한 이유 때문에, 우리가 하는 어떤 일이든 글로벌 기준과 규칙이 이제 요구될 수 있게 되었다. 이 “더 큰 세계”에 대한 인식의 필요성은 분명히 미술에도 적용된다. 현대미술은 의심할 여지 없이 그 탄생, 확산, 유지가 서유럽에 기초한 장르이지만, 물론 다른 지역에도 문호가 열려 있다. 오늘날 “글로벌”(= 서유럽)과 “지역”(= 비서유럽 지역) 사이의 거리는 과거에 비해 크게 좁혀졌다. 우리가 이 더 큰 무대에 서서 일본 국민의 입장에서 미술에 관여할 때 어떤 태도를 취해야 하는가? 내 생각에는 서유럽 플레이어들로부터의 학습에만 과도하게 집중하는 것이 반드시 이득만을 가져올 필요는 없다. 우리가 세계로 한두 발 내딛으면, 이미 그곳에 있는 수많은 플레이어들을 발견한다. 그들은 오랜 기간에 걸쳐 편집되어 온, 그들(즉, 서유럽)의 미술의 깊은 역사라는 토대 위에 발을 굳건히 디디고 있다. 더욱이, 그들의 모든 논의가 이 역사의 맥락을 따라 전개되고 있다는 것을 우리가 아마도 깨닫게 된다. 요컨대, 우리가 이러한 서유럽 플레이어들로부터 학습할수록, 또는 이 학습을 실행할수록, 의도와 무관하게 “저쪽” 예술가들을 모방하는 것으로만 인식될 위험이 높아질까봐 두렵다.
나는 여기서 biscuit gallery의 표현성과 그것의 광범위한 예술가 선정이라는 주요 주제로부터 상당히 벗어났다. 앞의 언급에 기초하면, 미술 플레이어의 요구 사항 중 하나는 “더 큰 세계관”의 인식이다. 이것은 자신의 위치 설정의 확인을 동반해야 한다. 우리의 경우, 나는 이것을 일본이라는 지역에 있다는 인식, 그리고 이 지역이 더 큰 세계의 단지 일부일 뿐이라는 인식으로 정의하고 싶다. 다음으로, 우리는 우리의 많은 자산 중 어느 것을 더 큰 세계와의 경쟁에서 효과적으로 활용할 수 있는지 스스로에게 물어봐야 한다. 더 이상 서둘러 설명하지 말고 단순히 말하자면, 나는 지난 1년 동안의 활동에서 biscuit gallery가 일종의 탐험가였다고 생각한다.
더 큰 세계에서 경쟁하고 그를 위한 준비를 하려면 위에서 언급한 대로 우리 주변 세계에 대한 지식이 필요하다. “갤러리스트”의 많은 일은 예술가들과 함께 수행된다. 지난 1년 동안, 나는 biscuit gallery가 현 시대의 자국 미술과 예술가에 대한 지식이 국제 미술계로 나아가기 위한 전제 조건이라는 명제에 대한 PoC 타입의 행동을 실행했다고 믿는다. 위에서 언급한 시대에 대한 갈증은 바로 우리가 살고 있는 시대와 그 시대에 활동하는 예술가들에 대한 깊이 있는 검토에 필요한 에너지와 추동력이다. 이 텍스트의 시작 부분에서 제시한 주제로 돌아가자면, biscuit gallery가 묘사하고 있는 것은 말할 것도 없이 이 나라와 이 시대의 현대미술이다 – 매우 표준적인 주제에 기초한 무언가이다. 어쨌든 그렇게 보인다.
Shinzo Okuoka
Translate by James Koetting
⚡ AI Translation
我是那种相信艺术家是表达者，美术馆也同样是表达者的人。虽然我稍后会深入讨论这一信念的含义，但我认为从biscuit gallery开幕一周年之际回顾其成就，将能够呈现出另一种形式的表达、创作或信念的输出。
艺术家主要通过作品展现自己的身份。这引发了一个问题：美术馆的个性究竟在何处，什么因素将其与其他美术馆区分、区别和定义，以及这如何被表现出来。虽然答案自然因人而异，但我建议，关键要素包括：美术馆所有人或策展人的审美意识、艺术家选择中是否存在约束机制，以及创造展览场所的能力。
这又提出了另一个问题：究竟是什么ID将biscuit gallery与众多其他年轻美术馆区别开来？换一种稍微间接的说法，我会说那是对时代的渴望。日本的艺术界正处于持续形成和发展的过程中，这种渴望正是致力于大规模、高速度地把握、分析和绘制该场景的努力的根源。在我看来，biscuit gallery的吸引力和力量正源于这种渴望。biscuit gallery从对当今时代存在何种艺术家的纯真而天真的提问出发，在契合时代的同时从事风格建构。正因为如此，乍一看，其覆盖范围似乎太广，超出了单一美术馆的处理能力。然而，这并非源于随意行动，我相信如果从稍高的平面视角来看，情况会有所不同。
例如，考虑Vitamin Creative Space的案例，这是一个在2000年代初期在中国诞生的艺术界参与者。这个空间研究了传统中国哲学、思想和文化与当代艺术的关系，开展了融合这些元素的活动。目前，该空间本身和在那里开启职业生涯的艺术家都正在国际舞台上亮相。前面提到的”稍高平面的视角”正是这一参与者所具有的那种眼光。换句话说，它是俯瞰全球化世界与我们自身本地位置之间关系的有利位置。
在我们看来，当代世界在表面上至少正变得极其无缝和无边界。它正被重新定义为全球范围内的一个统一的群众社会。从1980年代开始，爱德华·萨伊德等人的思想激发了关于多样性的讨论。网络文化和元宇宙概念暗示了从物理分离的世界向新的一体化拓扑的转变。与此同时，全球范围内问题的出现和其他因素产生了与”那边的”世界的联系，我们曾（认为）与这些世界没有任何关联。在我看来，由于这些及其他发展的累积效应，我们获得了一种新型的语法人称，即”生活在全球化世界中的我们”。
正是由于这个原因，全球标准和规则现在往往被要求用于我们所做的一切事情。对这种”更大世界”的认识需求肯定也适用于艺术。当代艺术无疑是一种起源于西欧、传播和维持都基于西欧的类型，但当然，大门也向其他地区敞开。与过去相比，今天”全球”（= 西欧）和”本地”（= 非西欧地区）之间的距离已大大缩小。当我们站在这个更大的舞台上并以日本国民的身份参与艺术时，必须采取什么态度？在我看来，过度关注向西欧参与者学习不一定只能产生益处。如果我们进入这个世界一两步，我们会发现已经有无数参与者在那里。他们的脚稳稳地踩在由西欧艺术悠久而密集的历史基础之上，这段历史经过了长期的编辑整理。此外，我们大概也会注意到，他们所有的讨论都沿着这段历史的轨迹展开。简言之，我担心的是，我们向这些西欧参与者学习的越多，或越是将这种学习付诸实践，就越有可能被认为仅仅是在模仿”那边的”艺术家，无论我们的初衷如何。
我在这里已经远离了我的主要课题，那就是biscuit gallery的表现力和其广泛的艺术家选择范围。基于上述评论，显然艺术参与者的要求之一是认识”更大的世界观”。这必须伴随对自身位置的确认。在我们的情况下，我会将其定义为意识到自己处于日本这一地点，而这一地点仅是更大世界的一部分。其次，我们必须问自己，在与更大世界的竞争中，我们众多资产中的哪些能被有效利用。与其继续绕圈子，不如让我直白地说，我认为在过去一年的活动中，biscuit gallery一直是某种探险家。
要在更大的世界中竞争并为此做准备，需要了解我们周围的世界，如上所述。”美术馆策展人”的大部分工作是与艺术家一起进行的。在过去一年中，我相信biscuit gallery在以下命题基础上实践了PoC型行动：了解你自己国家当今时代的艺术和艺术家是冒险进入国际艺术界的先决条件。我上面提到的对时代的渴望正是深入审视我们所生活的时代和活跃其中的艺术家所需的能量和动力。回到本文开头提出的话题，biscuit gallery所描绘的无疑是这个国家和这个时代的当代艺术——一个基于极其标准主题的东西。至少在我看来是这样。
Shinzo Okuoka
翻译 James Koetting
⚡ AI Translation
biscuit gallery