Video Letter Exchange

As a way to highlight the video letter exchange format that accompanied the rise of video discussed in the Community of Images exhibition, CCJ and JASGP commissioned a group of four contemporary video artists to produce today’s video letter exchange. A nod to the Video Letter (1983), a remarkable 64-minute compilation ­exchange of video letters that took place between video artists Shuji Terayama and Shuntaro Tanikawa, the contemporary exchange is led by Philadelphia-based artist Nadia Hironaka, who organized an exchange with US and Japan-based artists Shinpei Takeda (San Diego), Hikaru Suzuki (Tokyo) and Yu Araki (Kyoto).

The final 2024 piece by the four artists—which each videos were anonymized during the exchange that took place between February – May 2024—will be premiere as a single screening, accompanying the Video Letter (1983) as part of cinéSPEAK’s outdoor screening series at the Bartram’s Garden.

Contemporary video artists’ exploration to the prompt question—what grounds you, where are you located, do you feel connected to your space, does your environment influence who you are and/or the work that you create, etc.—will present alongside Terayama (a playrwright) and Tankikawa’s (a poet) exchange of highly abstract philosophizing, slightly aberrant behavior and occasionally flamboyant visuals.

Before the screening, Philadelphia-based Japanese-Taiwanese artist Eiko Fan will perform her Live Wood Sculpture.

Host or Publisher Collaborative Cataloging Japan