Image: Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, CONTEMPORARY ART TOKYO
The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo will present the 65th MOT Museum Lecture on September 8, bringing together sound artist Akio Suzuki and performer Hiromi Miyakita for a tour and performance centered on Suzuki’s 'Point Sound' project. The event, titled 'Tour of Point Sound (Otedate),' runs from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. and is free to attend without advance registration.
According to the museum, the programme is part of its educational outreach series and will focus on Suzuki’s work 'Point Sound,' a project that began in 1996 as an exploration of locations that sharpen attention to listening. The work uses marks that resemble both an ear and a foot as “echo points” placed in public space, prompting visitors to tune in to natural sounds and surrounding landscapes. At the museum, there are 12 echo points installed indoors and outdoors.
Suzuki is identified by the museum as a collection artist and a pioneer in sound art whose practice has developed through repeated acts of “throwing” and “following” in response to nature. The profile on the museum site notes that he began this line of inquiry in 1963 with 'Throwing Objects on the Stairs' at Nagoya Station, later created instruments such as the echo instrument 'Analapos' in the 1970s, and initiated the 'Point Sound' project in 1996. His work has been shown or performed at venues and festivals including documenta 8, the British Museum, the Musée Zadkine, Bonner Kunstverein, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo.
Miyakita, who appears alongside Suzuki in the programme, is described by the museum as a dancer and artist from Itami, Hyogo, whose work explores improvisation and the possibilities of visual art through simple actions such as standing, walking and sitting. After graduating from the dance department of the University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts, she worked in stage performance and choreography before developing site-specific performance practices that engage ordinary objects and phenomena. Since moving to northern Kyoto’s Tango Peninsula in 2012, she has created and performed works including the stone-based dance 'NuTu.'
The museum says the September 8 event will combine a performance by Suzuki and Miyakita with a guided tour led by Suzuki himself, giving participants the chance to hear his explanation of 'Point Sound' while moving through the project. In fair weather, the route will mainly take place outdoors; in the event of severe weather, the meeting point will change to the entrance hall in front of the collection galleries.
Participants are asked to gather at the museum plaza next to the main entrance at the start time. The museum lists the venue as the outdoor exhibition area, entrance hall and other spaces within the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, with conditions subject to weather. The lecture is offered as a drop-in programme, and the museum states that no prior application is required.
