chim↑pom interview

to gather six chim↑pom members all at once is a task in itself. after a month of calls, email exchange and one failed attempt, the meeting is set—saturday, 2pm in front of the hachiko. it's a gray, rainy and unseasonably cold day. group members arrive one by one, sporting at least three adidas items each. four members in total out of six—group's leader ryuta ushiro, yasutaka hayashi, masataka okada, motomu inaoka and tamura, our mutual friend explicitly requested by ryuta as a translator for the interview. ellie, group's most celebrated and only female member, and toshinori mizuno are absent. after half an hour scouting for a suitable spot, wet and cold, we settle in a noisy chain coffee shop. tamura tests his recording device, curiously named polaroid—ready.

yasutaka hayashi: rapper.

ryuta ushiro: i didn't rap. it's... how can i call it?

ru: no way!

yh: agitator?

ru: that's it, mc agitator!

yh: a dj, but we have only performed three times. (laugh)

ru: let's say it was ellie. we just wanted to make something together with her.

ru: well, all of us liked art... i couldn't predict how we would advance in the beginning, could've been art just as well. (laugh)

ru: nothing specific, we just wanted to make something exciting and fresh by bringing a gal into art. like boredoms, something you've never seen. there was a semi-concept—to discover what chim↑pom is along the way.

ru: ellie.

ru: no, no concept there. we just liked the sound of it. (laugh)

ru: "elligero" [a video of ellie vomiting pink liquid].

ru: japanese art scene? you can't talk about it without chim↑pom... so whether we fit it or not...

yh: gotta fit.

ru: you mean, the art scene should fit us, right?

yh: you got it!

ru: although the japanese art scene has been upgraded by chim↑pom it is still behind. we're more interested in placing ourselves in the increasingly challenging situations than expanding the scene's capacity. what we really enjoy is the challenge of overcoming the limitations we face starting a new project. how far can we push it? like turning around, where we had to find a relevant way to display street art within museum's walls.

ru: very poor, almost crap (laugh). i write about it in my book, "geijutsu jikkohan" [art perpetrator], it's coming out this summer.

ru: a lot, if i name problems one by one the list will never end. in short, it would be impossible for the japanese art scene to achieve so-called "international standard." we may be able to turn its inferiority into the energy source instead. this is what i strongly felt in korea while participating in asia art award. it was very westernized, made from the beginning with the "western perspective" in mind. the "standard" which takashi murakami tries to get a hold on. i've read a blog that compares the situation to upstream/downstream of the river, arguing that everything coming from the west is the upstream and it's easy to catch things on the current towards the downstream, but it's hard to bring something from the downstream up. i find it to be true, murakami had a very hard time doing it and succeeded. art should be more like an ocean—collecting from many sources, drifting around the world, delivering to each specific location in a vernacular way. if japan tries to adapt itself to the given "western standard" it'll end up reproducing the same upstream/downstream scenario, which doesn't make any sense.

yh: dare i say that even if the japanese art scene is behind from the western perspective it has some good aspects...

ru: so what?

yh: what?! i just wanted to simplify, make it easier to understand...

ru: how shallow. (laugh)

mo: none of the japanese have art as a backbone. we have a variety of things that excite us just as much, like...

yh: hey, that's what i said!

mo: ...music bands and stuff.

yh: that's what i said! (big laugh)

yh: let me answer! i feel people who indulged themselves only with an entertainment take us more seriously after the earthquake, but chim↑pom hasn't changed.

ru: basic attitude, that we always try to come up with something new and exciting, remains unchanged.

ru: ask fujiki-san [the head of mujin-to production representing chim↑pom]! i think the gallery/museum model will change drastically in a few decades. the traditional way of showing works and facilitating people how to think about art will remain as it is, but different kinds of art, like outdoor works at documenta, must become far more common in the future. museums must adapt to be capable of coordinating such projects not only inside their spaces but also at the nearby sites and online, acting as the "centre". like mori, a museum woven into the urban fabric of roppongi. it's difficult to sell outdoor or online works right now, but once the system changes it'll be easier to provide support to the works and activities like ours. that should be museum's mission in the future.

ru: of course, as soon as we can afford it.

mo: tv. (big laugh) …almost brainwashed by it. i love tv, not even the content, i like its… presence. favorite programs? cooking.

yh: music and women.

yh: kinniku shojo tai.

ru: what type of women?

yh: with big tits.

mi: tezuka osamu.

ru: kamuiden [it became a bible for leftist activists through 1960s and 70s, especially among students]. my father had given it to me as a christmas present.

mo: i have no special skills…

ru: he's our idea man.

mo: receiving them straight from the tokyo tower.

yh: i'm in charge of editing and design.

mi: sculptor?

ru: and performer, rather extreme…

mi: like burning [he burnt himself during chim↑pom's debut performance, "chim↑pom's ike ike action", organized by a.r.t.]?

ru: and starving [inaoka starved himself for their "making of the sokushinbutsu" piece]! (laugh)

mi: it's not my speciality.

ru: it is!

ru: i'm the leader. hey! it's hard to manage this group! you can be a prime minister once get a hang of them!

ru: mizuno, his contribution is…

mo: submiting his body. he devotes his body to us.

ru: charisma.

mo: not only of chim↑pom, the whole japanese nation.

ru: she embodies chim↑pom itself. she is a living art.

ru: we don't think of ellie as the face, we're one body.

ru: well… mizuno got worse.

mo: more and more. we all have grown up, but not him.

ru: yes, we all grow up, he grows down!

ru: i like people who has a broader view of the local matters, who can understand that we're addressing international issues through our works. not those who just conclude "ok, it's japanese."

mi: wherever we go we find people like us, trying to do inspiring works beyond their local scene. if we join our efforts it may as well be a new way forward.

ru: there are definitely downsides, but it doesn't concern us that much. we live in japan and do what we should be doing here, same goes to the other countries. we prefer focusing on the positive aspects, but negative ones may be quite inspirational also and often become a part of our works.

ru: i don't even know who wrote it!

ru: oh yes, no half-measures. when i think of something exciting i always end up with "life and death," "past and present"… people feel thrilled when the opposites join. this uncertainty, or vulnerability is the very essence of art. we want to express the joy of life, but if we only show the joy it'd be very one-sided, which is very superficial, isn't it? life is directly linked with death. they are two extremes, but also come in a pair. we can't produce a thrill unless we walk along a tightrope between two extremes.

ru: that, i don't want to experience again! never. ever! the feeling we had on the way to the nuclear power plant to raise the flag… that was not a "thrill." it was fear… we were simply scared. just wanted to finish and leave as soon as possible.

ru: absolutely! no kidding, can't enjoy such a thing at all.

ru: yes. unconsciously, everyone has changed. this whole nuclear crisis is a shock and must remain in the unconsciousness. it will reemerge when the moment comes and those who are young now will be faced with the decision. it'll motivate and change them. not so sure about the older generation…

ru: i enjoy the "but" part, no fun without it. i much prefer it to "love it!" or "great!" "but" makes it real. it connects us. i like to act along "yes, but…"

ru: no, it's unintentional! (laugh)

ru: it's not catchy unless there is an unexpected element of shock. momentum is also very important.

ru: that's it! speaking of art, the term "action" was first translated into japanese art as "koui" [action, or performance], but chim↑pom has now come to embody "koudou" [social, politically oriented activity]. as "koui" has been dominant in japanese art, people disapprove of our "activity," like "it's a journalism!" thus not art.

ru: my family has already given up on me. (laugh)

yh: let me clarify—this is not a chim↑pom's problem, but ours as individuals.

mo: if it wasn't for chim↑pom we wouldn't even be here.

yh: chim↑pom makes us better!

ru: finally, you said something meaningful hayashi! (big laugh)

ru: potential eruption of mt. fuji! i saw a special tv program about it, looks very realistic. (everyone jumps in the discussion about the latest rumors)

ru: more quakes… we're in danger. if we restart nuclear power plants… what the hell is going to happen next?!

ru: yes, but…

ru: yes. (laugh)

ru: sure!

mo: i don't want to suffer.

mi: death is inevitable.

mo: it's ok if i die watching tv.

mi: i want to survive.

ru: i'm not ready to die yet.

ru: it must be ellie! ellie's body with ellie's heart! others—just a small presence. (laugh)

ru: occupy a little spot in her brain! me and okada will help her with ideas, hayashi may improve her editing skills…

all (nodding at once): ellie-chan.

ru: it only makes sense for ellie to survive, doesn't it?

yh: i say ellie will survive anyway, only her!

ru: (making a face) i guess mizuno is more likely to survive… like a roach. i want ellie to prevent eruption of mt. fuji. (laugh)

i think japan now is in a very unique situation. of course all countries have faced various difficulties, but mostly social and political, say, man-made issues. the situation we're facing now is very different from john and yoko's "stop the war!" because we're dealing with nature here. we have to unite and show a different form of love.

ru: continue in the same vein. if we'll be just praised for the "effort" we've made, like "you did it!" it won't be a sufficient contribution to the following generation. we must succeed, this is very important.

ru: chim↑pom will endure and become a part of art history.

(silence)

ru: did i say anything wrong? anyway, what we're now interested in, which happens to be a post-3.11 talk, is that japanese artists seem to become more avant-garde. they're becoming more and more aware of the body, heading towards direct actions rather than paintings. it's similar to traditional "angura" [japanese underground theatre/body-art movement], which is rather gloomy, but also more appealing to the general public while still being avant-garde. i expect this trend to grow even stronger with the next generations, and chim↑pom to become a significant model for it.

we catch a taxi and head to watari-um, which hosts weekly events in addition to "turning around" exhibition curated by chim↑pom. at the cafe downstairs we catch up with the group's embodiment ellie. her hair dyed blue, she appears to be adidas-less.

e: inspires ellie [she refers to herself as ellie]? must be chim↑pom.

e: (eating cake) me.

e: (pointing at herself) me.

e: hey hayashi! can i say my presence itself? hayashi nods.