Photo: Public libraries in Jimbocho
This project's aim is to analyze the conception that they have in Tokyo of public spaces, and to study the relevance they place on performativity. The idea of "public space" does not align with the way in which the Japanese society organizes and uses its cities; the way in which we differentiate between "public" and "private" clashes with their conceptions, blurring some boundaries and reinforcing others. In any event, what places are used in Tokyo for social congregation, for dialog, for the establishment of structures around what they consider to be common? What social groups look for those types of places and where do they find them?
In this first approximation, I aimed to analyze the city and its art centers in order to discover the need to create common spaces and to understand those spaces. I wanted to know what type of response art has provided in terms of this social organization, and I have observed that there are several spaces, such as, for example, Shibaura House, that –although privately owned– have relaxed their borders and created a common meeting ground for local mothers and children. Another example would be the MAT of Nagoya, an art center that houses an environment which was created alongside the locals and in which programming can include –not only simultaneously but also with absolute naturality– an exhibition on community gardens and the "Semiotics of the Kitchen" exhibition by Martha Rosler.