As Above, So Below
Exhibition, Photosynthesising Flowerpots • 18/08/2023
The exhibition As Above, So Below presents the work of artists participating in the TOKAS Creator-in-Residence program, which offers opportunities for artists active in various disciplines to stay and create works in Tokyo or at various overseas destinations. In this exhibition, eleven artists who participated in the residency program present the work that emerged from ideas and insights deepened through their research at TOKAS.
Date: 19/08/2023 > 24/09/2023
Place: Tokyo Arts and Space Hongo
EXHIBITION
As artist duo we were selected to participate in the 2022 TOKAS Creator-in-Residence program which is an initiative by Tokyo Arts and Space (TOKAS), an art center that is run by the Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
TOKAS runs a residency program for creators of diverse genres with participants from Japan and abroad staying at the center for about three months to produce work and conduct research, with the aim of promoting creative international cultural exchange.
During our stay, we conducted research on the ecology of the microbiome of urban green spaces – mainly street gardens in residential areas – and explored the symbiotic relationship between microfauna and flora, be it a blade of grass, a flower or a shrub.
For this exhibition, experimental work is presented featuring a flowerpot that is photosynthesizing, crafted out of an uncanny symbiosis between a man-made flowerpot and cyanobacteria, the oldest inhabitants of the ecosystems of the earth. This is a reflection on research we conducted during our residency in Tokyo on plant life in urban environments as a critical concern within the climate debate concerning urban regeneration.
The exhibition runs from 19 August to 24 September 2023 and presents the second part of works created by artists participating in the Creator-in-Residence Program 2022, with creations by Ohta Haruku (JP), Grzegorz Stefański (UK/PL), Arai Takashi (JP), Bertrand Flanet (FR), LarbitsSisters (BE).
