Artist in the gallery days :3/12、3/19、4/2、4/3

LOKO GALLERY is proud to present TEPPEI YAMADA’s solo exhibition “Mæssage”. Born and raised in Shibuya, Tokyo, YAMADA received his MFA at Hiroshima City University Graduate School of Art in 2009. Since then, he has been practicing his art through various media such as sound, film, motion, and photography as “a devise to comprehend the structure of the world”. One of his renowned works “Apart and/or Together”, which won Silver Award at ifva Awards Hong Kong (2018), Special Commendation at Aesthetica Art Prize (2019), and Jury Selections at 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival, expressed the similarity of the fundamental structure of global society and humanity.

“Mæssage” is a coinage of “message” and “massage” made by the artist. The exhibition consists of two installation works placed throughout the whole gallery, from the basement floor to the second floor – “The Dawn”, a repetitive video installation capturing the formation and destruction of sea waves, and “Inside out”, a sound installation which visualizes and materializes the appreciator’s heartbeat. Through the experience of these works, appreciators may expect to “massage” their senses and receive any sort of “message”.

Artist statement
“In a flowing state or any moment within, a unique state appears. In this world, not a single state has appeared the same. In other words, a single peerless occurrence is being countlessly repeated in the same pattern.” (*1)

To keep moving on, to repeat construction and deconstruction, and restlessly evolve like a life form – This is some sort of a rule which constructs the world. I am wandering about amid this dynamic phenomenon, searching for the connection of consciousness and unconsciousness, the sense and consideration.

I presume my pursuit of the world began since discretion. “How is this world made?” This question, which may have had been thought by many others at least once in their lifetime, is continuing ever since. It was difficult to solve this question from a single methodology or a point of view – therefore I am executing what I discovered through the practices and failures gained from attempts in numerous fields, as a form of art. Through this act, I am trying to comprehend the world surrounding myself. For me, my works are “devises” which intermediates myself or the appreciators and something invisible hidden in this world.

The quest to comprehend this world is approached from various viewpoints, such as philosophy, science, and esthetics. Things created from this process make the relationship of each other lost at times – however, it connects and intersects somewhere else. The state of the world could not be depicted in a single way. It begins from oneself, or the origin of the quest, which transects other fields such as others, the society, the nature, the universe – it connotes or is connoted by others, and is restored to oneself by accompanying nested layers of alternation and reversal – because the bodily organ of yours or mine is the countering border of this world.

I use many forms of media in my works. In each works I search for the most ideal material, or medium, and convert it to a media which connects the work and the appreciators. Each unique media is a devise necessary to create unique sense or viewing experience. As McLuhan stated, “All media are extensions of some human faculty—psychic or physical”(*2), it draws out and amplifies human’s sensorial organs, and contributes to bring new sense. It directly appeals to receptive organs such as vision, audition, and taction. I am expecting to deliver any sort of message through the massage to the sense.

New media arise in new phase of generation. Will it update our senses? I would like to enjoy the simultaneous phenomenon beyond time and space – without systemising it. When it is systemised by someone, it has already changed to another state. Will I construct a new world while putting myself in a world instantly connected by a new media? Or will I return to the world of primitive senses? At any rate, we will be burnt to ashes, or return to soil and become part of nature.

*1 Noboru Nakamura “The Philosophy of White Head” (Kodansha Publishing, 2007)
*2 Marshall McLuhan & Quentin Fiore “The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects”

TEPPEI YAMADA CV
2016 Lives in Kanagawa, Japan
2009 Hiroshima City University, Graduate School of Art, M.F.A
1979 Born in Tokyo, Japan

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2021 “Différence de nature””, Life Science Building Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan 18 Sep – 3 Oct.
2020 “The Dawn”, TAKU SOMETENI GALLER2Y, Tokyo, Japan 4 Jul – 26 Jul.
2019 “Open studio”, Grey Projects, Singapore,20 Feb – 24 Feb.
2016 “Teppei YAMADA”, Hiroshima Art Center, Hiroshima, Japan, 12 Nov – 20 Nov.
2015 “It might be also in the inside”,Creation gallery Nihonbashi-Hakozaki , Japan, 23 May – 6 Jun.
2014 “Giving a form to natural sound”,YOKOHAMA MUSEUM OF ART, Yokohama, Japan, Feb – 11 Feb.

Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
“ON PAPER “, TAKU SOMETENI GALLERY, Tokyo, Japan, 2 Feb – 27 Feb.
2021
“OPEN STUDIO 2021“, ART FACTORY JONANJIMA, Tokyo, Japan, 9 Oct – 24 Oct.
“24th Japan Media Arts Festival “ Miraikan, Tokyo, Japan, 23 Sep – 3 Oct.
“TAION “, Spiral Garden, Tokyo, Japan, 9 Sep – 15 Sep.
“Summer Art Meeting “, Gallery TK2, Tokyo, Japan, 4 Aug – 8 Aug.
“ENCOUNTERS “, Tokyu Plaza Ginza, Tokyo, Japan, 5 Mar – 14 Mar.
2019
“Shanghai International Digital Vision Exhibition “SHIFT+ MEDIUM”, base, Shanghai, China, 16 Nov – 25 Nov.
“Accomplishment report exhibition”, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi, Japan, 24 Mar – 6 May.
“Aesthetica Art Prize Exhibition”, York Art Gallery, York, U.K ,8 March – 14 July.
“On the Verge of Fiction”, Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts, Taipei, Taiwan, 18 Jan – 7 Apr.
2018
“Flying Supermarket -Koganecho Bazaar 2018-“, Koganecho, Yokohama, Japan, 21 Sep – 28 Oct.
“Dressing -Teppei Yamada w/z Yuta Ogawa-“, Gallery Choukou , Tokyo, Japan, 16 Aug – 23 Aug.
“The 23rd ifva Awards”, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong-Kong, 6 May – 20 May.
2017
“Season 3 Residency Artists Exhibition”, Taipei Artist Village, Taipei, Taiwan, 22 Sep – 15 Oct.
“Jodori Khiang- Community Artfest”, My Milly Zakka, Taipei, Taiwan, 9 Sep – 29 Oct.
“Narrative of Narrative, Art of Art #2”, Shibuya Hikarie8, Tokyo, Japan, 11Jan – 17 Jan.
2016
“Narrative of Narrative, Art of Art”, YCAD, Yokohama, Japan, 5 Oct – 21 Oct.
“Art Album 2016 EXISTENCE”, Fujisawa City Art Space, Kanagawa, Japan, 2 Jul – 31 July.
“trans_2015-2016”, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi, Japan, 28 Feb – 7 Mar.
2015
“Arts Challenge 2015”, Aichi Arts Center,Nagoya, Japan, 17 Feb – 1 Mar.

Selected Workshops
2021 “Field recording and Onomatopoeia”, SIT Univ., Japan, 21,24 Dec.
2018 “Workshop for sound and the sense of touch”, Yokohama, Japan, 23 Jan.
2017 “Workshop for sound and the sense of touch”, Yokohama, Japan,18 May.
2016 “School of Night”, Yokohama College of Art and Design, Yokohama, Japan.
2013 “Yokohama Midori Up Workshop” ,Yokohama Museum of Art,Yokohama,19 May, 7 July, 14 Oct, 4 Nov.
2012 “Let’s drawing the parallel world ” , Yokohama College of Art and Design,Yokohama,25.26 Aug.
2010 “Let’s change into a Therianthrope” ,Elementary school of Kamiseya,Yokohama,17 Nov.

Artist-in-Residence
2019 Grey Project, Singapore , Jun – Feb (43days)
2017
Shoulang Artist Village, Tainan, Taiwan, Sep.(7days)
Taipei Artist Village, Taipei, Taiwan, Jul-Sep, (71days)
Bank Art NYK, Kanagawa, Japan, Apr – Jun.(71days)
2016
Fujisawa Art Space, Kanagawa, Japan, May – Jun. (50days)
Trans_2015-2016, Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi, Japan, Jan-Mar.(55days)
2010
The Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Shiga, Japan, Jul.

Grants and Honors
2022
Won the prize, Yamanashi Media Arts Award / Yamanashi Prefecture (Japan)
2020
Project to Support Emerging Media Arts Creators / Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan)
Continuation support project for cultural and artistic activities / Agency for Cultural Affairs (Japan)
2019
Selected as Shortlisted Artist on Present Future Art & Technology Star Award / MANA (Shanghai)
Won the Special Commendation, Aesthetica Art Prize / Aesthetica Magazine (U.K)
Won the Jury Selections, 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival / 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival Executive Committee(Japan)
Selected as Shortlisted Artists on The Aesthetica Art Prize / The Aesthetica magazine (U.K)
2018
trans_2018-2019 AiR Overseas Dispatch Program / Akiyoshidai International Art Village (Japan)
Nomura Foundation Assistance the arts and culture / Nomura Foundation (Japan)
Won the Silver Award , The 23rd ifva Media Art Category/ Ifva Hong Kong Arts Center (Hong Kong)
Won the prize , KITAKYUSHU DIGITAL CREATOR CONTEST/ KDCC Executive committee (Japan)
2015
The winner in Akiyoshidai International Art village, residence support program / Akiyoshidai International Art Village (Japan)
Won the prize , Arts Challenge 2015/ Aichi Triennale Development of Region Executive committee (Japan)
2009
Won the highest award of Graduation work / Hiroshima City University (Japan)
Scholarship total exemption / Japan Student Services Organization (Japan)
2004
Won the Impressed Award , Mizunami Ceramic clay festa / Mizunami Ceramic clay festa Executive committee (Japan)

ARTIST PROFILE: TEPPEI YAMADA​​