“Mimicry of Hollows” Opens at The 5th Floor

By Global Art Daily Editorial Board

Published on June 11, 2021

Tokyo’s new independent art space The 5th Floor is pleased to announce the opening of Mimicry of Hollows, an exhibition co-curated by Dutch artist Vincent Ruijters and Japanese curator Seiha Kurosawa.

1. Mimicry of Hollows, poster design by Heijiro Yagi (2021)

Supported by The Embassy of the Netherlands in Japan as well as Tokyo University of the Arts, Mimicry of Hollows takes from the concept of hollows hidden in the black boxes of the knowledge economy. “In recent years, with the rapid development of algorithms and Artificial Intelligence (AI), our society has been radically altered by the algorithms of social networking platforms, market systems, and unconsciously manipulated to maximize profits,” explains Seiha Kurosawa, co-curator of the exhibition, who is also a PhD candidate at Tokyo University of the Arts Graduate School of Global Arts and co-curator of the upcoming Thailand Biennale 2021. Opening during a pandemic during Tokyo’s presupposed 2021 Olympics, Mimicry of Hollows aims to seek out the invisible AI-entities which hold significant influence in the age of digital acceleration.

2. Floris Schönfeld, Selection of output images from PUK* Breakdown, 2020. Generative adversarial neural network (GAN) outputting live-generated video. Image courtesy of the artist.
3. Floris Schönfeld, PUK* Beta, 2017. Live-generated digital video with soundtrack on auto-stereoscopic monitor. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo credit: Melanie Hyams.

“Needless to say, the coronavirus pandemic that occurred with the beginning of 2020 has made us critically aware of what is going on behind the scenes of our recognizable world. This exhibition aims to shine light on the invisible hollows of our earth and societies, ones that are becoming increasingly apparent in this day and age. As human beings, we tend to mimic and anthropomorphize that what we cannot see or comprehend with the naked eye” notes Vincent Ruijters, Dutch artist based in Tokyo and co-curator of the exhibition. The exhibition will showcase artists’ current responses to AI technology, from both Euro-American and East Asian perspectives. Participating artists come from the Netherlands, Japan, and the U.S.

This exhibition aims to shine light on the invisible hollows of our earth and societies, ones that are becoming increasingly apparent in this day and age. As human beings, we tend to mimic and anthropomorphize that what we cannot see or comprehend with the naked eye.

_{- Vincent Ruijters, co-curator and participating artist}

4. Tanja Engelberts, Geography of a Hollow, 2019. Polymer photogravure. Photo: PH.GJ. van Rooij. Courtesy of the artist and Rijksakademie

The exhibition will present works from artists who deal with the anthropomorphization of AI technology and its consequences on society and the natural terrain. Selected artists include Anne de Vries, an acclaimed figure of early post-internet art, Tanja Engelberts, known for her projects dealing with artificial landscapes in her native Holland, Floris Schönfeld, Dutch artist questioning the relationship between artificial and human intelligence, Vincent Ruijters, Dutch artist based in Tokyo & Ray LC, Assistant Professor at City University of Hong Kong’s School of Creative Media, who together have created Chikyuchi, a specially-commissioned game incorporating machine-learning and codes of consumer cultures to raise awareness to ecological crises, Nile Koetting, Japanese artist known for his immersive experiences blurring the lines between performance, installation, and video art, and Masahide Matsuda, Japanese conceptual artist commenting on the consumerist tendencies of digital culture with themes such as privacy paradox and narrative therapy.

5. Vincent Ruijters and Ray LC, Chikyuchi (Amazonchi), 2021. Detail views. Images courtesy of the artist.

Mimicry of Hollows takes from the concept of the “Hollow”, referring to the relationship between Figure and Ground and the increasingly blurry boundary between the Digital and Physical. Works presented in this exhibition will contemplate the potentialities of capturing this world of unclear boundaries by mimicking the realm of unrecognizable hollows. “In this day and age, with various "Hollows areas" moving into the foreground on a global scale, we should try to to face them and see what we can discover about them instead of separating ourselves from them.” explains Kurosawa. These hollows encompass major forces that are shaping the contemporary world such as A.I. and ever-changing natural landscapes.

In this day and age, with various "Hollows areas" moving into the foreground on a global scale, we should try to to face hollows and see what we can discover about them instead of separating ourselves from them.

_{- Seiha Kurosawa, co-curator}

^{Mimicry of Hollows opens today, June 11th, at The 5th Floor, Tokyo. It will be on view until July 2nd, 2021.

Book your viewing appointment here.}

The 5th Floor is a new alternative art space in East Tokyo, Japan, specializing in unique and experimental curating. Founded in February 2020, The 5th Floor is located inside a former typical Japanese apartment complex. The entire fifth floor of the building is used as an independent art space promoting curatorial experiments. Three former studio apartments on this floor have been transformed into exhibition spaces, creating a unique blend between the atmospheres of the classic ‘white cube’ gallery spaces and typical post-war Tokyo urban living spaces. Other floors of the building have been transformed into artist studios and office space for curators, thereby becoming a creative hotspot for a new generation of artists and curators in Tokyo’s contemporary art scene.Tokyo, Taito City, Ikenohata, 3 Chome−3−9 Hanazono Alley 5F,
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 12:00 to 19:00

^{Visit The 5th Floor’s website.

Follow The 5th Floor on Instagram: @T5F.tokyo}

Vincent Ruijters is an artist born 1988 in The Hague, The Netherlands who currently lives and works in Tokyo. He obtained a PhD degree in Intermedia Art at Tokyo University of the Arts in 2020. His practice is concerned with emotion and human relations, overstimulation, speed and coldness of contemporary systems clash with the artist’s need to cherish and express what is deeply human. Ruijters is an artist who architecturally models his inner affective space as material space to realize what he calls “Intimacy as Aesthetics”. By crossing boundaries of inner space and outer public space, his goal is also to challenge notions of intimacy. Past exhibitions include solo exhibition ‘Breathing IN/EX-terior’ (Komagome SOKO gallery, Tokyo) and ‘Radical Observers’ group exhibition (Akibatamabi gallery, 3331 Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, 2019). Awards include Japanase Government Scholarship (Monbukaga- kusho: MEXT) and the Prins Berhard Culture fund Scholarship. Ruijters activities also comprise curation and exhibition design. Recently curated exhibitions include co-curation of ‘To defeat the purpose: guerilla tactics in Latin American Art’, Aoyama Meguro Gallery, Tokyo.

Seiha Kurosawa is a curator born in 1991. He lives and works in Tokyo. Graduated with an MFA in Global Arts Practice from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2019. A PhD candidate in the same course and university. Through his curatorial practice, Kurosawa researches relationships between contemporary art and new ecological concepts in which the fields of environment, society, and psychology intersect. In addition to producing exhibitions, he also works collaboratively with other artists. Kurosawa is the co-curator of the upcoming Thailand Biennale 2021 and works as a curator at the Yayoi Kusama Museum in Tokyo. Past curated exhibition include World Art Tokyo "PANGAEA TECTONICS - Diastrophism of Emerging Art / Diverging New Tales" Art Fair Tokyo 2018, Tokyo International Forum; "Clouds ⇆ Forests" 7th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, 2017 (curatorial assistant).

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“Mimicry of Hollows” Opens at The 5th Floor

This exhibition aims to shine light on the invisible hollows of our earth and societies, ones that are becoming increasingly apparent in this day and age. As human beings, we tend to mimic and anthropomorphize that what we cannot see or comprehend with the naked eye.

In this day and age, with various "Hollows areas" moving into the foreground on a global scale, we should try to to face hollows and see what we can discover about them instead of separating ourselves from them.

︎︎︎Previous Next︎

About ––

Open Call ––

Newsletter ––

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

🔍 Legal

“Mimicry of Hollows” Opens at The 5th Floor

This exhibition aims to shine light on the invisible hollows of our earth and societies, ones that are becoming increasingly apparent in this day and age. As human beings, we tend to mimic and anthropomorphize that what we cannot see or comprehend with the naked eye.

In this day and age, with various "Hollows areas" moving into the foreground on a global scale, we should try to to face hollows and see what we can discover about them instead of separating ourselves from them.

︎︎︎Previous Next︎

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

E-05++
Fall/Winter 2022-23