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Seiji Shimoda ACTION Shimoda is one of Japan¹s most prolific contemporary performance artists. Having started making live works in the mid 1970's by travelling throughout Japan making Oart actions' at alternative venues; this has lent his itinerant lifestyle a unique identity , remaining rooted in the ideals of social mutual-aid and artist networks. In 1979 he produced the now legendary100 performances at Kid Ailack Art Hall in Tokyo followed in the 1980's and 90's by extensive travel and presentations throughout the world. Shimoda's famous piece 'The Table' was performed in over 150 international art festivals in 37 countries throughout the nineties. He presented this exhausting and contemplative piece in Cardiff in 1995 and 1996. He says , 'I am in search for a new way of conceiving the sense of the human being in society, and defining the image of the human body. The table, as a cultural product constructed by the human being, has the function of gathering people. ' The notion of gathering people is further articulated in Shimoda's commitment to presenting international contemporary performance art in Japan through his directorship of NIPAF [Nippon International Performance Art Festival] which he started in 1993. The influence of Shimoda and NIPAF has enabled many artist run projects and festivals to be initiated throughout South East Asia. Seiji Shimoda¹s work is often pared down, minimal ,austere and intimate, leaving one space for reflection,contemplation and meditation. For his work at trace: simply titled 'ACTION', he has stated, 'Singing body, imagination for the world, courage to shout.' The Japanese critic O. Jun writes of the artists work, '..that evening, Shimoda transformed to a fragrant animal and jumped over the fence of a thousand words. ' |
