Bulletin "New-Method" No. 20 - New-Method

"New-Method" No. 20

We introduce the email bulletin "New-Method" No. 20 with our works and guest contributions. This issue features Haruya Nakajima for the contributor, an artist to hold his solo exhibition at Gallery Ajito in August. He is also a member of Shibuhouse, now holding "House 100" show at The Container.

[Contribution]

New-Style
Haruya Nakajima (Contemporary Artist)

Houhou ["method" in Japanese] means "Style" as well as "Method". Style can be read as writing style. In this sense, "New-Method" can be said as "New-(writing)Style", speaking of which I would like to think about art and the letter.

When I was handwriting on a manuscript paper, over and over again for drafting a thesis, I came to feel it as if being a drawing. As Foucault ("This is Not a Pipe" 1968) pointed in his discussion of Magritte, "[a]s a sign, the letter permits us to fix words; as line, it lets us give shape to things." That is, the letter is simultaneously the sign and the line. This duality is evident in Cy Twombly's work. Facing his écriture=painting, as put by Barthes ("Cy Twombly: Works on Paper" 1985), we discover "intelligibility of signs" and also all its residual as "non-signifying elements......which are not necessary to the functioning of the graphic code" such as "the nervous turn of the letters, the spurt of the ink, the tensile quality of the strokes". Thus, it brings the presence of "materiality" of the letter as what exists there.

Still, as we Japanese casually use ideographic Chinese characters, it could be not surprising to see "the letter" as "the painting." As if the word "Character" spoke for itself, each Chinese character has its own character (specialities and properties). Graffiti is the very example of characterizing alphabet letters. It is a beautiful style out of the fusion of its artistic aspect of visual construction and its linguistic aspect of authentic message.

What I'm essentially interested in is the relation of "art and Japanese language" in this context, but it seems to be the point to conclude here for now.

[Web Works of the New-Methodicists]

- Takahiro Hirama

"monogram" Robert Rauschenberg

http://hrmtkhr.web.fc2.com/new-method/020_e.html

"monogram" is the work that Robert Rauschenberg produced.

- Shogo Baba

Quantity and Border No. 4

http://7x7whitebell.net/new-method/shogobaba/020_e.html

This work is made as the last piece of the series of demonstrating quantity and border as visual. As a result, in some aspects, this work has abundant visual varieties. Those visual varieties exist to obnubilate quantity and border. This work represents the quantity and the border of 'Ascending Order Sort No. 4 "Odd-even Transposition Sort".'

- Masaru Kaido

Enumeration of Insignificant Numbers

http://masarukaido.com/newmethod/b020_e.html

A computer keyboard has number keys from 0 to 9. I randomly typed these keys to enumerate numbers. Those typed numbers do not make any sense, but just lined out there as so typed.

[Information]

- "Sunday" http://7x7whitebell.net/new-method/sunday_e.html

- "Saturday" http://7x7whitebell.net/new-method/saturday_e.html

- "Friday" http://7x7whitebell.net/new-method/friday_e.html

- "Thursday" http://7x7whitebell.net/new-method/thursday_e.html

- "Wednesday" http://7x7whitebell.net/new-method/wednesday_e.html

- "Tuesday" http://7x7whitebell.net/new-method/tuesday_e.html

- "Monday" http://7x7whitebell.net/new-method/monday_e.html

- "New-Method" official webpage has been updated. http://7x7whitebell.net/new-method/

- Takahiro Hirama has updated his website. http://hrmtkhr.web.fc2.com/

- Shogo Baba has updated his website. http://7x7whitebell.net/

- Masaru Kaido has updated his website. http://masarukaido.com/

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[Editor's Note]

Hideki Nakazawa interview is available in the booklet "Zenkankaku" ("TOTAL SENSE") launched by Taxxaka, who was the contributor of this bulletin No. 18.  "New-Method" was also mentioned in the interview.  Please have a look.
info http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22882132
"Follow-Follow", the group we introduced in this bulletin No. 4, has continued their activity modestly but constantly.  They released "Annular Solar Eclipse" on 20th May.
info http://togetter.com/li/306516
Hideki Nakazawa lectured about "Method" and "New-Method" at "Delta Poetry Meeting" on 26th May.  The lecture was recorded.  Please have a look.
info http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22856713 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22858019
Masaru Kaido participated in talk event of the exhibition "House 100" on 27th May.  The event was recorded.  Please have a look.
info http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/22882132
See you again in the next issue. (M)