Night Journey, Daydream
Written by: Kokona Ota
This year’s theme for the Roppongi Art Night was “Night Journey, Daydream.”
Indeed, it was both a journey and a dream of art. It could have even been a journey of a dream.
Different from the usual Roppongi, the city was filled with artworks and installations. Not only in and around the various museums, but also both public space and private shops — from restaurants, clubs, to even the pillars of the highway — were hijacked with art.
As my friend and I came from either a busy, crowded business district or a rather quiet, calm residential area in Tokyo, entering Roppongi that day was almost like entering another world for both of us.
The journey walking around Roppongi was like a dream as well. The sudden appearance of installations, the Red Ball, shadows of a girl…. For every step we took, there were new discoveries of art.
For dance and music, programs followed one after another. It was scheduled in this way so that the audience could be exposed to various programs, and as much as possible. At times, one program naturally led to another art piece. A particular example was the program “/psyche/”, which was a dance performance where the two dancers constantly moved around Roppongi Hills, unintentionally taking us to the progressed piece of “Spin a Memories.”
The journey of a dream continued as the night progressed. Artworks lit up the city, replacing the sunlight. Artists became more active, working on finishing up with their art. Some artists even called out to the audience to become artists themselves. We were drawn in by Yusuke Aonuma‘s project “Workshop: Unraveling Intentions”, tracing and arranging another tracing of a simple chair done by the person in front of us — and seeing how that ultimately develops into a completely different but unique chair when 100 people pass down their drawing to the next participant.
All of these experiences during the Roppongi Art Night 2019 shifted as well as opened up new views for art, just as how the System & Design Workshop conducted at the beginning of this My Night Cruising Project taught me is important in leading to new ideas and possibilities.
Roppongi Art Night exposed me to different styles and methods of art, most of all introducing me to contemporary art. This shifted my conservative views and stereotypes of art. After spending a few hours at the Roppongi Art Night, art seemed much familiar, and most importantly, I was enjoying the artworks without any hesitation or barriers, which I would usually feel at museums. Needless to say, my view change was caused by the efforts by the organizers of Roppongi Art Night. They had intentionally brought artworks outside of the museums to expose art to more people, especially those who are rather hesitant in visiting museums. Moreover, they emphasized the inclusion of the audience, having set numerous workshops as well as performances. Knowing that the organizers were previously concerned with the problem and its solutions to “how to attract more people to the Roppongi Art Night”, I felt that they also had opened their views in order to come up with the innovative idea of exhibiting artworks throughout the city and even making the Art Night lively and actively like a “festival”.
Just before dawn, as my friend and I came back to Roppongi Hills mostly finished going around the exhibitions, we both looked up and beyond the walls — to find the Tokyo Tower, standing there boldly, being lit with the morning glow. We were both astonished by its beauty. It seemed as if the Tokyo Tower was also included in the Roppongi Art Night as one artwork.
However, just as how the morning glow gradually changes to a strong ray of sunshine, or otherwise just as how you are suddenly awakened from a dream, Roppongi Art Night does not last for long neither. In fact, although the event has been held for almost every year since 2009, within each year, it is only held for 1 night and 2 days (except for Roppongi Art Night 2016 when it lasted 3 days). Moreover, most of the artworks and installations that light up the city during the event are taken down after the event — and some may even never be seen again.
This fact may sound sad and melancholic.
But this fact may also be the reason why the artists and sponsors put so much effort into the event, while the event is made so special and memorable to the audience.
So next time, why don’t you join in the dream?
No doubt that it will become a memorable day, or even a dream, to you too.
Kokona Ota was born in Aichi prefecture, spent the elementary school years in the US and went to a high school in India. She moved to Tokyo for university studies, and now studies in Minato ward. In university she majors Economics, but due to the years spent outside of her home country, she has developed interests in traditional Japanese culture such as ukiyo-e.
