Collectivism after Modernism - autonomous learning - Blogs

68 Reiko Tomii
After 1973, The Play’s collectivism increasingly assumed a communal
mode, often with an earthwork dimension. Although the members
had never been shy about the media’s attention, they became more aware of
the importance of communication through the group’s newspapers, magazines,
and documents, for if they “fail to plow people’s everyday life through
[these means of communication], [their projects] will be no more than personal
experiences.” 65 The group’s “farmer-like” persistence was demonstrated
by Thunder, a ten-year-long project to capture a thunderbolt on a mountaintop
outside Kyoto. Between 1977 and 1986, altogether Wfty people were involved
to annually build a pyramid with logs in June. The structure, twenty
meters long on each side and equipped with a lightning rod at its apex, was
then taken down every September. It proved to be a rewardless task, for they
witnessed or conWrmed no thunder hitting the structure; still, over Wve hundred
people shared the “time of waiting.”
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON COLLECTIVISM
AFTER MODERNISM IN JAPAN
Collectivism in post-1945 Japan evolved primarily in reaction to the modern
form of “exhibition collectivism.” However, its development toward
FIGURE 2.7. The Play, Current of Contemporary Art, 1969. Documentary photograph of
performance; photograph by Higuchi Shigeru; courtesy of Ikemizu Keiichi.