A circle of friends connected by goo touch! The “FIST BUMP” corner of the radio program “GRAND MARQUEE” features people who live and enjoy Tokyo in a relay format.
On December 21, filmmaker/director Kosaku Shimamoto introduced artist Iichiro Tanaka. We asked him about the many works he has created while confronting “meaninglessness.
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“Street Destroyer” which turns cracks into play
Tanaka: My name is Iichiro Tanaka, and I am in charge of “Nonsense”.
Takano (MC): Mr.Shimamoto introduced you as “No Message Man”.
Tanaka: Yes, yesterday Mr.,Shimamoto called me “No-Message Man,” but if anything, I am in charge of “nonsense,” and I take pride in being in charge of all the nonsense in the world.
Takano: I would like to delve into this in various ways.
Celeina (MC): While still in college, Mr. Tanaka has been presenting videos, photographs, and objects under the banner of “No Message, No Meaning” regardless of genre or social context. As a creative and art director, you have planned and directed projects such as the au “Santaro” series and Asahi draft beer.
Takano: We had a chance to take a look at your work, but first, please tell us about your work “Street Destroyer.
Tanaka: Many people know about it after it appeared on NHK’s E-television program “Shakin! but in fact, we have been working on it for about 20 years.
It is a photo work in which an old man in a red jersey holds his fist against a crack in the road, making it look as if he has created the crack. As I continued, I decided to make a video as a project for a children’s TV show, and children all over the country were able to imitate my work.
Celeina: He also brings small figures to the studio.
Tanaka: I thought it would be interesting to have a figure of an old man from who-knows-where, so I took the liberty of having him appear in the video. Then, many people said, “I want this gacha,” so we made it.
Takano: For example, if you place it on top of a cracked smartphone, it looks as if Mr. Tanaka is breaking the screen, right?
Tanaka: That’s right. If people think that “Street Destroyer” did the cracking in the world, they won’t have to blame anyone else.
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Numerous works that go on to be “nonsensical”.
Celeina: It makes us happy. I am looking at your other works. What is “Pigeon Naming” about?
Tanaka: It is a work from 2000, in which pigeons are given names. Pigeons have an eye for round things, so when I point the camera at them, there is a moment when their eyes meet. I stop the video and name the pigeon “Tsuneo Okamoto” if I think it is “Tsuneo Okamoto” and so on.
Celeina: Is this a form of “meaningless activity”?
Tanaka: Yes, it is. I haven’t always been under the banner of “meaninglessness,” but as I have been involved in various activities, I have come to realize that what art is most based on is meaninglessness. In the end, I came to think that most things in the world are actually meaningless.
In the here and now, the air, water, cups, and tables here have meaning, but after the recording is over in the middle of the night, they have almost no meaning. When you think about it that way, most things in the world are meaningless most of the time, and if we could make use of that time, we would have a very wide world to live in.
Takano: Interesting! We humans are the ones who give meaning to things, and you, on the other hand, are the one who gives meaninglessness to things.
Celeina: I am very convinced.
Tanaka: Really? You looked like you didn’t (haha). The things that I think are meaningless are wider and more plentiful than the things that I think are meaningless. It’s interesting that once you step into it, you get caught in the storm of things that don’t make sense.
Of course, there is also pragmatic and meaningful work, so I don’t think either is better than the other, but by focusing on the meaningless, I feel that the world is indeed expanding.
Takano: While we are on the subject of meaninglessness, I am also interested in “Radio Gymnastics Ad-Lib” by Mr. Tanaka.
Tanaka: This one is really completely pointless. I participate in a radio calisthenics session as a person who knows nothing about calisthenics. They dance on the spot as they hear the words “turn your body wide” and “raise your arms and jump,” and that’s all they do. They are doing gymnastics, but their movements are a little different from those of the people around them.
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Practicing concepts such as “Shogyo Mujo” ” nothingness,” and “zero” in the context of art.
Celeina: You are practicing liberation from existing meanings with your own body.
Tanaka: That’s right! You both understand very quickly.
Celeina: Thank you very much. Do you perhaps have the predisposition to be able to move toward meaninglessness?
Tanaka: I think we all have it, actually.
Celeina: You are right, everyone has something hidden somewhere, and you seem to be releasing it.
Tanaka: I think it would be interesting if there were a genre of “nonsense” as one of things like Japanese, English, physical education, music, and art. So recently, I have been giving lectures called “nonsense juku” at several schools and universities.
Celeina: Are you saying that it is derived from the idea of “nothingness” that is at the root of Japanese culture?
Tanaka: That is also true. I think Japanese people place a lot of importance on concepts such as “Shogyo Mujo” “nothingness” and “zero. I am doing this because it is interesting to see what happens when you put them into practice in the context of art.
Takano: May I say something strange? I think it is very meaningful to talk about meaninglessness.
Tanaka: Sometimes people think so, but later when I go to bed, I feel like it was meaningless after all lhaha). For a moment it seems very meaningful, but when I think about it later, I often wonder what that time was all about.
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I want to make “Tokyo Nonsense Land”
Takano: I heard that you hold a solo exhibition every year titled “Serial Solo Exhibition.
Tanaka: I have been holding a solo exhibition every year for about seven years at a gallery called TS4312 in Yotsuya 3-chome, and in 2023, I released the catalogs and DMs for exhibitions five to ten years in later. By releasing them ahead of time, we set a date for when we will do this exhibition.
Celeina: I heard that you made a DM titled “Tokyo Nonsense – Land” as one of the DMs.
Tanaka: This is a theme park that I plan to build in Saitama, which is closer to Tokyo, in about 10 years as my life’s work. For example, I would like to build a “Nonsense Roller Coaster,” an attraction that keeps going up after you get on, and when you wonder when it will come down, it says, “Thank you for riding with us,” and then you get off in an elevator.
Takano: Nonsense!
Tanaka: Another one would be a “Ferris wheel specializing in viewing. Everyone would just sit on a bench and watch.
Celeina: Interesting.
Tanaka: There is also a character from the theme park that we now call “Moo-chan” (meaningless). Of course you can meet that stuffed animal, but we are also thinking of a space called the “Enchanted Locker Room” where you can meet the uncle who is inside taking a break.
Celeina: It feels like you are opening a forbidden door.
Tanaka: I think we will really make it in about 10 years. I think that when people actually visit the park, it will be completely different from other theme parks, but they will be enveloped in the same kind of uplifting feeling. I have a feeling that “It was so pointless” and “It was the most stupid thing I’ve ever seen” will be the best part of visiting a theme park.
Celeina: I am looking forward to the opening of “Tokyo Nonsense – Land”.
Tanaka: Please come and visit us all.
