Pipeline - Issue 51

この号の内容

Body, space, time and presence but also rituals and inspirations are all part of Dancing in The Wild.
Buying objects, paintings and drawings especially, is the easiest strategy to follow for well-off, investment-minded individuals who are thinking about becoming collectors to validate their position as art connoisseurs. But intangible, experimental or in-progress works of art, which are sometimes awkward or progressive and not easy to brand, naturally get overshadowed in the art market. It is probably a shortsighted version, and one that might be evolving in particular cases, but it is understandable in the survival-of-the-fittest atmosphere of the art world. Hesitation, vulnerability and uncoolness are only accepted if the artist promises to be market-savvy.

But it is this quality, and the relinquishing of control over one’s market success, that makes many works interesting – in addition to the works themselves actually being interesting. Openness to the unsafe, an attitude tainted of freedom when it comes to art creation and the bravery to be unique are the main theme of this issue of Pipeline. Dancing in the Wild represents the shaking off of inhibitions often associated with dancing, and the leaps of faith necessary to embracing the unknown. It is a refreshing issue, but one that still tackles grave subjects.

A case in point is the work of Japanese collective Chim↑Pom, featured here after I visited their studio in Tokyo. They and their work are full of risk-taking and wildness, even including exposure to radiation and land mines. Yet their process is well thought through and marketed, and they are getting much of the traction necessary to survive as artists.