Feeling the passage of time
over 24 days at Le Forum
Tomoko Mukaiyama, Pianist & Artist
An elevator transports you
to another world
Every time I return to Japan, I visit Le Forum. To get there, I take the elevator at the Sony Street entrance. Inside, an attendant presses the button for the floor I want to visit, and I ride the little elevator up to the 8th floor. It’s always a pleasure to visit the gallery because it transforms into a strikingly different place with each new exhibition. I love that elevator because it feels as though it takes me to another dimension as it rises.
※Japanese Audio only
A hint of the wild
creeps into the city
In February 2019, I organized Pianist, an exhibition centred on a series of piano performances over 24 consecutive days at Le Forum. My performances took place in “Piano Forest”, an installation consisting of some 20 pianos ranging from toys to grand pianos. Every day, I began my concert an hour later. That means halfway through the exhibition, I began a concert at midnight; a few days later, I began my concert at dawn. In this way, I traversed the 24-hour cycle of a day through the end of the exhibition.
In the depths of night, true darkness descended on Le Forum as the streetlights and neon lights of the surrounding buildings went dark. At dawn, the morning twilight shone through the glass blocks like warm air slowly pouring into a cold room. It was a tough 24 days for the staff and, above all, for the audience, but what we experienced together in that space was the sedate passage of time and—even in the heart of the city—the energy of the wild. Renzo Piano’s Ginza Maison is a rare building that is not only contemporary in design but also reflects the dynamism of nature.
※Japanese Audio only
Tomoko Mukaiyama
Mukaiyama is a pianist and artist who lives and works in Amsterdam. In 1991, she won the International Gaudeamus Competition for Interpreters of Contemporary Music. In addition to her activities as a soloist, she also creates installations and directs stage works. She presented Pianist, a solo exhibition, at Le Forum in 2019.
Photo: Takashi Kawashima
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