Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura Create NFTs out of Broken Ceramics at SRR Project Space

By Sophie Mayuko Arni

Published on June 1st, 2023

Opened last Friday May 26th at SRR Project Space, an exhibition space operated by Japanese art blockchain company Startbahn in the heart of Shimokitazawa, Tokyo, Gravitation is an exhibition that puts forward an innovative proposition for the future of NFTs in contemporary art. Physical-meets-digital installations – or “phy-gital” for short, an abbreviation which gained momentum in the 2020-21 NFT surge – are gaining tractions worldwide, and reveal the technological possibilities to unlock artistic mediums, augment art viewing experiences, and facilitate digital art collecting.

1. Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura, Gravitation, 2023. Multi-channel video installation, LED display, wood, mp4 data, NFT. Video still. Courtesy of the artists.

Gravitation is an installation that highlights the concept of gravity through fragmented ceramics, multi-channel LED displays, and NFT technology.

Gravitation is a joint installation by Japanese contemporary artists Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura. The three artists were previously based outside of Japan. Tateisi lived in London, where he completed his MA at the Royal College of Art, while Matsuda pursued his performance and internet-based art practice in Berlin, and Yasura completed his MFA at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. They met after their respective return to Japan following the pandemic. All three artists have estalished their practice in their own rights, earning coveted awards and exhibiting in contemporary art museums and galleries globally. Gravitation marks the first time the three artists collaborate on a joint project – revealing the collaborative essence of NFT projects and the multitude of skills needed to create both a conceptual experience that translates both in physical and digital realms.

2. Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura, Gravitation, 2023. Multi-channel video installation, LED display, wood, mp4 data, NFT. Installation view at SRR Project Space. Photo by Masataka Tanaka. Courtesy of Startbahn.

This marks the first time the three artists collaborate on a joint project – revealing the collaborative essence of NFT projects and the multitude of skills needed to create both a conceptual experience that translates both in physical and digital realms.

Gravitation is unlike a traditional group exhibition, in which each artist presents their individual works under a common curatorial theme. Rather, the exhibition introduces a new collaborative installation, conceptualized and co-produced by the artists together. Described as succinctly as possible, Gravitation is an installation that highlights the concept of gravity through fragmented ceramics, multi-channel LED displays, and NFT technology.

3. Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura, Gravitation, 2023. Multi-channel video installation, LED display, wood, mp4 data, NFT. Installation view at SRR Project Space. Photo by Masataka Tanaka. Courtesy of Startbahn. Each custom-made LED panel comes with its own NFT certificate of authenticity minted on Startrail, Startbahn’s own blockchain infrastructure.

On a physical level, the exhibition first highlights the ground-figure relationship, with a multi-channel LED display showing a slow-motion video of a cup and saucer slowly breaking on a hard surface. Made by the artists themselves with assembled LED panels and wood frames, the four screens have a custom-made resolution and break the video, itself showing broken ceramics, into four parts. Responding to the exhibition space, the four screens are laid out in such a way to incite a gravitational pull from the audience to the screen. Breaking a porcelain cup and saucer is a strong metaphor for the fractional essence of the blockchain movement – a moment of singularity, fragmenting everything we know about space-ground relationship.

Made by the artists themselves with assembled LED panels and wood frames, the four screens have a custom-made resolution and break the video, itself showing broken ceramics, into four parts.

4. Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura, Gravitation, 2023. Multi-channel video installation, LED display, wood, mp4 data, NFT. Installation view at SRR Project Space. Photo by Masataka Tanaka. Courtesy of Startbahn.

The blockchain is built on the idea of decentralization: fractional ownership, set by royalties on resale rights, makes the backbone of NFTs’ appeal for artists and creators worldwide. Responding to the era of fragmentation, the artists turned the broken saucers of the Gravitation video into NFTs. This resulted in 16 broken ceramic saucers NFTs, exhibited in both physical and digital forms.

Breaking a porcelain cup and saucer is a strong metaphor for the fractional essence of the blockchain movement – a moment of singularity, fragmenting everything we know about space-ground relationship.

5. Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura, Gravitation, 2023. Multi-channel video installation, LED display, wood, mp4 data, NFT. Installation view at SRR Project Space. Photo by Masataka Tanaka. Courtesy of Startbahn. Each broken porcelain saucer is framed and titled after a UFO sighting. All resulting works come with their own digital rendering and NFT certificate minted on Startrail.

Flying Saucer (2023) is one of the 16 NFTs. In physical form, the broken saucer is exhibited in the adjacent window gallery, within a custom-made wooden frame with accompanying paper and NFC tag label, courtesy of Startrail, Startbahn’s blockchain infrastructure. In digital form, a 3D computer-generated rendering of the saucer turning around itself is exhibited on a monitor screen in the main gallery. When purchasing Flying Saucer, collectors are able to receive both physical and digital artwork, sold as a set, accompanied by its NFT certificate of authenticity.

6. Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura, Flying Saucer, 2023. Broken ceramic, wood, paper label, mp4 data, NFT. Photo by Masataka Tanaka. Courtesy of Startbahn.

When purchasing Flying Saucer, collectors are able to receive both physical and digital artwork, sold as a set, accompanied by its NFT certificate of authenticity.

The titles for all 16 broken saucer NFTs are all based on UFO sightings. Gravity is here expressed in terms of outer space exploration. Tateisi recounts the early stages of conceptualizing Gravitation: “When we first walked around the newly-developed area of Shimokitazawa, known as Bonus Track, we thought of alienation.” The three artists researched UFO sightings and picked 16 names, such as Roswell, or Linda Napolitano, which denominates either the town, the given UFO name, or the name of people who claimed seeing the UFOs at a particular place and time. Each broken saucer is thus named and certified using alien names.

7. Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura, Gravitation, 2023. Multi-channel video installation, LED display, wood, mp4 data, NFT. Installation view at SRR Project Space. Photo by Masataka Tanaka. Courtesy of Startbahn.

On a larger social perspective, it is true that the exhibition illuminates fragmentation and alienation in new urban communities. When the artists were first invited to exhibit next to the new Bonus Track in Shimokitazawa – a vibrant neighborhood in west Tokyo known for its vintage shops, live music and youth culture – they thought about the effects of gentrification on local populations. Thinking about the context of the neighborhood as well as the exhibition’s use of blockchain, the artists came together to reflect on the social fragmentation inevitably resulting from urban development. With shiny new buildings, new health-focused restaurant concepts, and an emphasis on individual comfort, the newly-redeveloped Shimokitazawa feels similar to many gentrified neighborhood found in other global cities: sanitized, happy, clean areas, made for consumerism and smart living.

The exhibition shines light fragmentation and alienation in new urban communities.

When thinking about the meaning of Gravitation, Matsuda recounted the words of Japanese poet Shuntaro Tanikawa: "Universal gravitation is the power of solitudes” (万有引力とはひき合う孤独の力である). This is perhaps the most poignant words that could describe our era of decentralization and fragmentation – while globalization and the Internet have accelerated our access to information, few artists and thinkers have thought of the aftermath of this flat earth we are now walking on. One of the effects of intense interconnectivity is the rise of solitude and loneliness, a topic on the minds of many other Japanese artists – I’m thinking of Rintaro Fuse in particular. Gravitation can thus be seen as a response to our current world made of individuals losing figure-ground relationship when connected through screens and social networks.

Universal gravitation is the power of solitudes.

- Shuntaro Tanikawa

8. Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura, Gravitation, 2023. Multi-channel video installation, LED display, wood, mp4 data, NFT. Installation view at SRR Project Space. Photo by Masataka Tanaka. Courtesy of Startbahn.

Gravitation can thus be seen as a response to our current world made of individuals losing figure-ground relationship when connected through screens and social networks.

^{Gravitation is now on view at SRR Project Space, Tokyo, until June 24th, 2023.}

Gravitation: Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura
May 26 - June 24, 2023
SRR Project Space
2-22-2-1 Kitazawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 155-0031
1min walk from Shimokitazawa Station, Odakyu Line, Southwest Exit
2min walk from Shimokitazawa Station, Inokashira Line, West Exit
Open Saturdays and Sundays only, 13:00 - 19:00
Free admission

Organized by Startbahn, Inc.
Curated by Sophie Mayuko Arni
Graphic Design by Utanosuke Izumiyama

Jukan Tateisi (b. 1986, Chicago) is a visual and sound artist based in London, Tokyo, and Nagano. His practice synthesizes dichotomic boundaries between virtual and real, natural and artificial, production and management, with installations using artificial intelligence, stereophonic sound, video, performance, and the development of food products. Tateisi has also launched art spaces throughout Japan. He is the co-founder of The 5th Floor, a contemporary art venue in Tokyo, as well as TOH and TŌGE Projects, developing food, education, and housing projects based on the concept of a new metabolism of people, nature, and artifacts. His previous exhibitions include “To The Fog” (KITTE, 2021), “The drowned world anchor“ (SPIRAL HALL, 2019), “Le Jardin Convivial” (Kyoto Botanical Gardens, 2019), “Allscape in a Hall” (Artists’ Fair Kyoto, 2020), for exhibitions, and “Re: Incarnation” (PERROTIN, 2021), “Kotobaodoru” (NHK, 2019), “Voyage in Sound” (AirBnB, 2017). He graduated with a Master of Arts from the Royal College of Art (UK) in 2020, with a Distinction for his thesis: “It can sing; it can compose; it can shoot”. He was also selected as part of “New Contemporaries 2021” and was awarded the Set Design of the Year “FRAME AWARD 2021” (with ULTRA STUDIO).
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Shōei Matsuda (b.1986, Japan) began his career in social media in 2010, garnering attention as an anonymous artist who has a significant impact on the masses and society. His events, instructions, and performances, which he creates collaboratively with people, are highly regarded as a practice that questions the subjectivity and authorship of the post-social media era and creates new communities by directly intervening in cities and society. Some of his notable solo exhibitions include "The Store" at Shibuya PARCO, Tokyo, "Extreme Conceptual" at Eukaryote, Tokyo, and "Magic Number" at TOH, Tokyo. Shōei has also participated in group exhibitions such as "It knows: When Forms Become Mind" at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, and "ATAMI ART GRANT" at Hotel ACAO in Shizuoka. In 2016, Shōei received the Prix Ars Electronica Awards of Distinction and was selected for the ISEA Hong Kong. He has also published works such as "A Field Guide to the Snowden Files" in Germany and "Cyberarts 2016" in Austria. Shōei's work explores a wide range of themes and mediums, from contemporary art to technology and media. His work has been exhibited both in Japan and internationally, including in Austria, Germany, Hong Kong, and the Czech Republic.
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Takeshi Yasura (b.Japan) is a visual and sound artist based in France and in Japan. His artistic practice derives from the perception of technology, living and non-living things, and human beings on a horizontal rather than vertical axis, acknowledging existence as existence. His exhibitions include “Material Differentiation” (N&A Art Site, Japan 2022), “We didnʼt know they stacked shit that high” (Gallery TOH, Japan 2022), “Ghostliness” (STUDIO Ghost, Japan 2022), “Le 65e Salon de Montrouge” (Paris, France 2021), “AAIC2020” (Museum of Fine Arts, Japan, 2020), “Jeune Création 69” (Fondation Fiminco, Romainville, France 2019), “Espace de Réflexion” (SPIRAL, Japan 2019). Yasura graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2018 with a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture, and an additional Master of Fine Arts from the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in 2020
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SRR Project Space is an exhibition space operated by Startbahn, opened in May 2022, and is located at the heart of Shimokitazawa, Tokyo. “SRR Project Space" derives its name from an abbreviation of Startbahn’s NFT "Startrail Registry Record (SRR)” and "Shimokitazawa Rail Road (SRR)", a new urban community part of NANSEI PLUS, developed by Odakyu Electric Railways.
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Sophie Mayuko Arni is an independent curator based between Tokyo and Dubai. She founded Global Art Daily in 2015.
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Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura Create NFTs out of Broken Ceramics at SRR Project Space

Gravitation is an installation that highlights the concept of gravity through fragmented ceramics, multi-channel LED displays, and NFT technology.

Gravitation is an installation that highlights the concept of gravity through fragmented ceramics, multi-channel LED displays, and NFT technology.

This marks the first time the three artists collaborate on a joint project – revealing the collaborative essence of NFT projects and the multitude of skills needed to create both a conceptual experience that translates both in physical and digital realms.

Made by the artists themselves with assembled LED panels and wood frames, the four screens have a custom-made resolution and break the video, itself showing broken ceramics, into four parts.

Breaking a porcelain cup and saucer is a strong metaphor for the fractional essence of the blockchain movement – a moment of singularity, fragmenting everything we know about space-ground relationship.

When purchasing Flying Saucer, collectors are able to receive both physical and digital artwork, sold as a set, accompanied by its NFT certificate of authenticity.

The exhibition shines light fragmentation and alienation in new urban communities.

Universal gravitation is the power of solitudes.

Gravitation can thus be seen as a response to our current world made of individuals losing figure-ground relationship when connected through screens and social networks.

︎︎︎Previous Next︎

E-Issue 08 –– SELSummer/Fall 2024

E-08++ Summer/Fall 2024

About ––

Interviews ––

Open Call ––

Newsletter ––

Chronological Archive ––

E-Issue 01 –– AUH/DXB Summer 2020

E-01++ Fall/Winter 2020-21

🎙️GAD Talk Series –– Season 1 2020

E-Issue 02 –– NYC Spring 2021

E-02++ Spring/Summer 2021

E-Issue 03 ––TYO Fall 2021

E-03++ Fall/Winter 2021-22

E-Issue 04 –– IST Spring 2022

E-04++ Spring/Summer 2022

E-Issue 05 –– VCE Fall 2022

E-05++ Fall/Winter 2022-23

E-Issue 06 –– DXB/SHJSpring 2023

E-Issue 07 –– AUHWinter 2023-24

E-07++ Winter/Spring 2024

🔍 Legal

Jukan Tateisi, Shōei Matsuda, and Takeshi Yasura Create NFTs out of Broken Ceramics at SRR Project Space

Gravitation is an installation that highlights the concept of gravity through fragmented ceramics, multi-channel LED displays, and NFT technology.

Gravitation is an installation that highlights the concept of gravity through fragmented ceramics, multi-channel LED displays, and NFT technology.

This marks the first time the three artists collaborate on a joint project – revealing the collaborative essence of NFT projects and the multitude of skills needed to create both a conceptual experience that translates both in physical and digital realms.

Made by the artists themselves with assembled LED panels and wood frames, the four screens have a custom-made resolution and break the video, itself showing broken ceramics, into four parts.

Breaking a porcelain cup and saucer is a strong metaphor for the fractional essence of the blockchain movement – a moment of singularity, fragmenting everything we know about space-ground relationship.

When purchasing Flying Saucer, collectors are able to receive both physical and digital artwork, sold as a set, accompanied by its NFT certificate of authenticity.

The exhibition shines light fragmentation and alienation in new urban communities.

Universal gravitation is the power of solitudes.

Gravitation can thus be seen as a response to our current world made of individuals losing figure-ground relationship when connected through screens and social networks.

︎︎︎Previous Next︎

E-Issue 08 –– SEL
Summer/Fall 2024

E-08++
Summer/Fall 2024

E-Issue 01 –– AUH/DXB
Summer 2020

E-01++
Fall/Winter 2020-21

E-Issue 02 –– NYC
Spring 2021

E-02++
Spring/Summer 2021

E-Issue 03 ––TYO
Fall 2021

E-03++
Fall/Winter 2021-22

E-Issue 04 –– IST
Spring 2022

E-04++
Spring/Summer 2022

E-Issue 05 –– VCE
Fall 2022

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Fall/Winter 2022-23

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Spring 2023

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