FINALIST

Takahiro Kaneshima

Associate Professor of Kanazawa College of Art

I am once again in charge of the final-round screening after the last TERRADA ART AWARD, which was full of excellent works. This year, again, there were many proposals that I would like to see in an actual exhibition. However, I had the impression that many of the proposals that placed too much emphasis on explaining the concept, making it difficult to visualize the actual contents of the work or the exhibition plan, or that the work was dragged away by immediate information and had little connection with the artist and society.While there were surprisingly few proposals that conveyed a strong will as an artist to create, challenge, or experiment with this opportunity, some artists came very close to being chosen as finalists. The five finalists however, were honest in their attempts to convey what they would like to accomplish in the future based on their past activities and productions, and how they continue to think about themselves in the society through their work.I anticipate that these strong feelings will be expressed in the form of concrete works at the coming exhibition.

Yukie Kamiya

Art Critic, Independent Curator

It is good that the motivation drives you to create an artwork by looking at yourself. A large number of proposals began to talk about “I,” and applicants sincerely confronted their own roots and experiences. However, many of these thoughts remained within their own personal territory. It is said “the personal is political.” How can you lock and connect your hands to a world that is swirling with dynamic changes? Questioning socio-political structures, analyzing and exploring the relationship between the individual and the world is a necessary practice to enhance the depth and strength of the artwork. Among the applicants of TERRADA ART AWARD 2023, the finalists took a bold step forward in their attempts to question and challenge to the global world through each artistic exploration .

Yuki Terase

Art Intelligence Global Founding Partner

I am pleased to see that TERRADA ART AWARD, now in its second occurrence since its re-launch, has already been recognized by artists as one of the most prominent open competitions in Japan, with a large number of proposals received again this year. In the final-round screening, there were many cases where the concept and output of the portfolio of past works were very interesting, however there was a lack of development in expressions when transferring the work from there to the final exhibition proposal. In addition, there were many cases where the works should have been aimed for a universal appeal through personal interests and themes, but instead, the story was completed from start to finish within an extremely personal perspective of the world, making it difficult for the audience to understand the final message from the works. In such situation, the five artists who made it the final stage had clearly established the method of verbalization in a given stage of expression, and the reason why they wanted to create the work in here and now. Considering the purpose of this award, which is to support artists who can work on the global stage, artists must have both of these abilities. I hope that those artists who were unfortunately not selected this year will continue to take on the challenges of these open competitions, and gain as much experience as possible as an artist.

Daito Manabe

Founder of Rhizomatiks, Artist, Interaction Designer, Programmer, and DJ

After viewing many of the proposals, it was very interesting that the background and research themes of the works often originated from the artists’ personal experiences. I was impressed by the subsequent development and sophistication of these themes into social and political themes. However, only a few works seemed to fully elevate the depth and complexity of the themes into visual and dimensional expression. While many of the artists challenged themselves to incorporate global perspectives, some works were noticeable for their repetition of views considered universal, and a lack of sensitivity to social phenomena. Nevertheless, some works clearly conveyed the enthusiasm and passion of their explorations. I feel that these works drew the empathy of the jury members and were particularly impressive in this year’s selection.

Meruro Washida

Director of Towada Art Center, Associate Professor of Tokyo University of the Arts

Kim has been creating multi-layered two-dimensional works with silkscreen by purposely using paraffin wax, a material that is slippery and hard to get ink to adhere to the top. In this exhibition, the artist combines a three-dimensional canoe made of paraffin wax with two-dimensional pieces. I expect that the wax will melt slowly during the exhibition, which will help the audience to feel the materiality of the wax.Tomiyasu, who specializes in expressing the sense of anxiety in the daily life, will focus on “liminal space” this time. The use of inorganic office furniture will be a new challenge for the artist, as Tomiyasu will not use textured used furniture, which is the artist’s signature style.Harada will tackle the theme of immigration using a digital technology called “face tracking.” I look forward to the crossing of the two major themes of “copying” in digital and “reproduction” in art.Murakami plans to connect various objects in a theatrical manner, rather than the artist’s representative work of “carrying and living in a house on his back”. I have a high expectation for new developments in the expression that connects two-dimensional contours and three-dimensional objects.yang02 has the most credible proposal in terms of feasibility, with a plan that combines elements with a proven exhibition record. It also fits the context of the “warehouse” which is the subject and venue of this award.Although many works explored themes such as gender and immigration during the screening process, it was regrettable that we were only able to keep Kim and Harada’s work in the final stage. Many of these works used movies as their expression medium, which was one of the reasons why it was difficult to keep them, since the core of the works- the content of the movie had not been finalized at the screening stage. On the other hand, the theatrical expressions of Murakami and yang02 will bring a new direction to this award.

Ryo Ikeshiro

Artist, Musician, Researcher, and Assistant Professor of School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong

The portfolios reflected a wide range in artistic activities and life experience of each artist, but the differences were even more pronounced in the older age groups. In addition to works that directly address social and political issues, there seemed to be an increase in works that portray imaginary worlds and the realm between reality and fantasy. How they chose to portray themselves, or not, in these various methods of expression also differed from person to person, reminding us again of the importance of diversity. I sincerely hope that the finalists, those who passed the first screening, and every applicant to TERRADA ART AWARD will continue to pursue artistic activities and lives that are fulfilling, in their own individual ways.

Shinji Ohmaki

Artist

As I participated in the primary selection for the first time, and looked through nearly 1,000 entries, I was impressed by many artists’ consciousness towards their activity. It was also refreshing to see entries with contemporary dance and other forms of physical expression. It was very interesting to see the wide range of genres of entries, and I went over the proposals and movies over and over again, having a hard time making my final choice.It was also interesting to see so many works exploring the uncertainty of this era and a real sense of reality. Concepts and words are important, but I feel that some of the works had more power than that. It may be difficult to remain in an open competition like this award. Still, I hope that these artists will continue their activities because I believe that will lead to future opportunities. I am looking forward to seeing the finalists’ works in person.

Eriko Kimura

Deputy Director and Chief Curator of Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art

This is the first time I have participated in the jurying process, and I felt responsible for setting the direction of this award, which is being held for the second time in a different form. Unlike the collaborative screening process by jury members, each jury member’s perspective is strongly reflected in the single jury screening process. The age and experience of the applicants, as well as the range of artistic expression are unique to this award, and I was committed to selecting artists who tackled current topics as unbiased as possible. Many of the entries, reflecting recent trends, explored the relationship with history or referred to the new physicality acquired in the relationship with new media. On the other hand, there were few works with a sense of scale that referred to relationship with others beyond the realm of human society, which made me consider the gap between the global trend of art addressing global issues and the Japanese art scene.

Ryutaro Takahashi

Psychiatrist, Art Collector

How long has it been since we were told it is a “bad place?” Who is responsible for the history of repeating the same thing without the criticism of a “bad place?” Is it the artist’s problem? Is it a lack of support from those who should provide it? Or is it a fundamental problem that a healthy critical spirit has not developed? I feel that all of these factors are tangled together in a comprehensive manner, making it impossible for us to prepare for the situation. So what to do? There were no major discovery this time as many of the artists were people I knew, but will the situation change if the supporting side shows the strength like TERRADA ART AWARD? I can only hope for that now, but I felt that everyone was a bit too well-behaved. The art scene was poor in the past, but there were more energy and controversy. To sum up my comment, “be more controversial.”

Yuu Takehisa

Curator, Artistic Director of Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito

There were entries from artists ranging in age from 18 to 45, from a wide variety of careers, each of them working in a diverse range of expression fields. This diversity and the number of applicants show the need for a platform that provides young to mid-career artists with opportunities to create and present their works with reasonable budget-prize money. This indicates that there are not enough open competitions that allow especially young artists to have opportunities to present their works –regardless of the method or form of expression– in galleries with budget. Because TERRADA ART AWARD is an open competition that meets the needs of artists, it attracted a great number of applicants again this time, and the primary selection was a tough battle with juries. After the selection, I felt that the artists were asked to determine what art is in their own way. And for those who already have a career, they were expected to develop and expand their existing activities.

Reiko Tsubaki

Curator of the Mori Art Museum

Looking at the entries as a whole, the expression techniques varied, but I felt an increase in digital, interactive, game-related, and expressions connecting the virtual and reality. I also noticed themes such as the reaffirmation of history, the liberation of gender and minorities, the relationship between nature and humans, and the transformation of society through digital technology. The question of what to define as art has always been asked, but I felt once again that it is being asked even now. There were so many entries from various regions, and I was impressed by the variety of expressions and possibilities. Of course, the selection was tough! But it was also obvious who worked hard to present them in those entries and who did not. And one more thing, quite a few entries had movie links but they did not work, which was very disappointing!