SHIOMI Mieko + FLUXUS

Sep. 2 [Fri.] ― Sep. 17 [Sat.] 2022 11:00-19:00
Gallery closed Sun., Mon., and natl holidays.

*Click images to view in original size

The exhibition will feature approximately 30 works by SHIOMI Mieko (b.1938), including "Invitations to Spatial Poem", series 'Pillows for Dreaming', which are scattered with fragments of CDs containing various types of music, and "Bottled Music #1～#14", in which a musical concept is contained within each bottles. In the atrium, visitors will see a series of ten 'Windows to Observe Constellations', each of which are windows created to observe particular constellation.
Also on display are rare Fluxus newspapers and works by George Maciunas (1931-1978), Nam June Paik (1932-2006), Ay-O (b.1931), SAITO Takako (b.1929), Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), Jonas Mekas (1922-2019), and Joseph Beuys (1921-1986), Merce Cunningham (1919-2009), and John Cage (1912-1992) and other Fluxus artists will be exhibited.

To celebrate this exhibition, we are publishing "SHIOMI Mieko + FLUXUS" catalogue with 35 special edition and 365 limited edition.

The special edition, planned and supervised by SHIOMI Mieko herself, includes the original cassette tape of "Requiem for Matiunas" composed in 1990, the autograph score by SHIOMI of the same piece and a signed postcard, all packed in an attache case (limited 35 editions).

■"SHIOMI Mieko + FLUXUS" Limited Edition Catalogue

Text: SHIOMI Mieko "Recollections of Fluxus", "Commentary on Major Works"
Editing/Design: SHIBATA Takashi
Photographs: Colla:J SHIONO Tetsuya
Documentation: ODACHI Reiko, MATSUSHITA Kenta
Translation: SHINZAWA Yu, KATSUMI Mio
Format: size 24.0×16.0cm, 110 pages, text in English and Japanese
Published by Watanuki Ltd. / TOKI-NO-WAUSUREMONO
SHIOMI Mieko / Number of works: 30, Number of illustrations: 46, Illustrations: 12 (English/Japanese)
Fluxus / 9 artists, 28 works, 47 illustrations. (George Maciunas, Nam June Paik, Ay-O, SAITO Takako, Allen Ginsberg, Jonas Mekas, Joseph Beuys, Merce Cunningham, and John Cage)

●Special Edition packed in an attache case (Ed.35)

  A) Numbered "SHIOMI Mieko + FLUXUS" Catalogue, signed postcard
  B) Original cassette tape "Requiem for George Maciunas"
  C) Copy of hand written score of "Requiem for George Maciunas" by SHIOMI Mieko (Ed.35)
  D) Attache case for storage (26.5×21.0×10.0cm)

●Limited Edition (Ed.365)

A) Numbered "SHIOMI Mieko + FLUXUS" Catalogue

※For inquiries and orders, please contact us from our inquiry form or e-mail us with a clear message title.

SHIOMI Mieko was introduced to George Maciunas by Nam June Paik in 1963, and in 1964 was invited to New York by Maciunas where she joined Fluxus. In 1965, she began her air mail series "Spatial Poem". "Spatial Poem" was an event that considered the whole world a stage, wherein people from around the globe received invitations to perform the same event during their daily life, then their reports of that event were collected onto a world map. The first event was "Word Event". In total 9 events were carried out over 10 years, including "Falling Event", "Shadow Event", and "Listening Event". In 1976 a collection of those events was self published in "SPATIAL POEM".
Also, she was selected to participate in the international art festival "Aichi 2022" which was held in July 2022, where her new work "Spatial Poem: Moving Event" (2022 edition) was exhibited.

Many artists have become wrapped up in Fluxus since Lithuanian designer George Maciunas founded the avant garde group in 1962. ONO Yoko, SHIOMI Mieko, KUBOTA Seiko, and SAITO Takako are four notable women from Japan who were members.

Fluxus activity spans many forms of media including music, poetry, visual arts, film, and theater, and was spread across borders and people with events and multiples and the publishing of Fluxus newspapers. Fluxus was also notable for compiling and editioning boxes of various Fluxus artists' works like "Fluxus 1", "Fluxus Year Box", and "Fluxus Kit", delivering the members to the world in a uniquely Fluxus way. Even after the death of Maciunas in 1978, Fluxus exhibitions continue to be held around the world and contemporary activities still gather attention.

■SHIOMI Mieko (b.1938)
Born in Okayama Prefecture in 1938. Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts Department of Musicology in 1961. During her studies, together with KOSUGI Takehisa and others she formed “Group·Ongaku” and created tape music and improvised performances. In 1963 she was introduced to Fluxus by Nam June Paik, and in the following year, went to New York by George Maciunas’ invitation. In 1965 she came up with the “Spatial Poem” series conducted through international mail, and held 9 events over 10 years. After pursuing the performance art that triggered the initial event, she settled on intermedia. Moved to Osaka in 1970. Since then, she has composed many pieces of chamber music focused on voice and words.

Her invitation to the Fluxus Festival in Venice in 1990 reignited relationships with European and American artists. Participated in events like FLUXUS VIRUS in Cologne in 1992 and SeOUL NYmAX held by Jonas Mekas and Nam June Paik in New York in 1994; domestically, she planned performances like Fluxus Media Opera and Fluxus Trial, as well as collaborative visual poetry like Fluxus Balance. Held solo exhibitions at Donguy Gallery in Paris in 1995 and Hundertmark Gallery in Cologne in 1998. She also created several works and editions for group exhibitions in Europe and the United States.

Advocated the concept of “transmedia”, the expression of a single concept across differing mediums, at the “Intermedia/Transmedia” talk & performance at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, in 2012.

Aside from musical work and performances, SHIOMI’s visual poetry, object poems, and other works are collected by many museums across the world. She currently works as an invited researcher at Kyoto City University of the Arts Archival Research Center.

Exhibited works

1. "Endless Box"
1963/2011
Wooden box, paper, wrapping cloth
Wooden box size: 16.0×16.0×9.0cm
Open edition
Signed

2. "Water Music white label"
1964/2019
Glass bottle, label
Φ4.0×H10.5cm
Ed.10
Signed and numbered

3. "Water Music blue label"
1964/2019
Glass bottle, label
Φ4.0×H10.5cm
Ed.10
Signed and numbered

4. "Invitations to Spatial Poem"
1965/2020
14 sheets, printing on paper
33.0×24.0×1.0cm
Ed.23
Signed and numbered

5."A FLUXATLAS"
1965/1992
Printing on paper
Cover: 19.0×21.6cm
Map: 36.4×84.7cm
Ed.282
Signed and numbered

7. Flipbook〈Disappearing Music for Face〉2002 Edition B (39 photos)
1960s/2002
Plastic case, printing on paper, objet
4.0×6.2cm
Case size: 6.0×10.0×2.0cm
Signed

9. "Fluxus Suite"
2002
Set of CD and 10 sheets of sheet music
Sheet music size: 12.2×24.3cm
CD case size: 12.5×14.0×1.0cm
Open edition
Signed

10. "Fluxus Balance"
1993
Portfolio
33.0×24.0×1.0cm
Ed.100
Signed

12. "Bottled Music #1～#14 "
1993
Mixed media
Bottle height: 8.0～9.5cm
Attache case size: 12.0×42.5×34.0cm
Ed.2
Each bottle signed and numbered

14. "Bottled Music #9 Ready to Blend Expressions"
1993
Objet
Φ4.0×H10.5cm
Ed.12
Signed

15. "Bottled Music #10 Time-Capsules"
1993
Objet
Φ5.4×H8.5cm
Ed.12
Signed

16. "Bottled Music #12 Sonic Palindrome"
1993
Objet
Bottle size: Φ5.5×H8.5cm
Tray size: 13.0×6.0×1.4cm
Ed.12
Signed and numbered

17. "Bottled Music #14 Dream Inducer"
1993
Objet
Bottle size: Φ5.0×H8.0cm
Box size: 6.5×7.5×8.5cm
Ed.12
Signed

19. "Assorted Spices for Dinner & Daydreams"
1995
Mixed media
Bottle height: 16.2cm
Box size: 21.5×13.0×9.0cm
Ed.12
Signed and numbered

20. "Grappa Fluxus Musical Embryo"
1995
Mixed media
Bottle height: 28.0cm
Ed.4
Signed and numbered

21. "Grappa Fluxus 12 Musical Embryos"
1995
Mixed media
Bottle height: 30.5cm
Ed.4
Signed and numbered

23. "Time Labyrinth"
1994
Silkscreen
21.5×30.5cm
Ed.10
Signed and numbered

25. "Ultimate Music No.1～No.6 "
2004
Set of 6 visual poems, printing on paper
21.0×29.7cm
Ed.46
Signed and numbered

27. "An Incidental Story on the Day of a Solar Eclipse #1, #2, #3",
"An Incidental Story on the Night of a Lunar Eclipse #1, #2, #3"
2008/2019
Set of 6 volumes
Comes with attache case
Case size: 27.0×38.0×7.0cm
Ed.6
Signed and numbered

28. Series "Windows to Observe Constellations"
2019
Mixed media set of 10
34.5×42.3×5.0cm
Ed.3
Signed

29. "A pillow for listening to a Labyrinthian overture which will lead you to a sound sleep or to Nirvana"
2003
Collage
29.7×42.0×1.0cm
Ed.4
Signed

30. "A pillow for stealing into a ballerina's dreams"
2003
Collage
29.7×42.0×1.0cm
Ed.4
Signed

Exhibition View

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