Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

Under the influence of “Happening,” The Play was founded by artist Keiichi Ikemizu in Osaka, Japan in 1967 and active until the present. In this essay, I compare The play’s original intention of the flow of the consciousness with the two contemporary restagings to discuss how curatorial decision changes the final representation of the work and their historical and curatorial significance. IE was first performed from 5 to 10 August 1972, which was shorter than their initial plan due to an unexpected typhoon. The artists built a wooden house with a floatable styrofoam base and lived inside. At the end of the trip, the house was burned on a weir. In 2015, IE was recreated for the Dojima River Biennale 2015 in Osaka and re-performed from where it ended in 1972. This time it only floated one day and was later exhibited in the gallery space. In 2017, IE travelled to the Venice Biennale 2017. The house floated around thirty minutes at the preview within the harbour. After the float, it was exhibited on the shore.