Tokyo, Japan Feb 19, 2019 (Issuewire.com) - Every night, from midnight to 1 am, during a week in February, French artist Sophie Calle’s art film, Voir la mer played across four large screens overlooking the iconic and chaotic Shibuya Scramble Crossing. This project was produced by NION Founder and Executive Producer Takayuki Moriya and sponsored by BizReach in collaboration with Perrotin Tokyo.
This takeover captured the hearts and attention of Tokyo’s creative and art world with a phenomenal turnout each night and social engagement as people captured and shared the unique juxtaposition of Calle’s quietly emotional film amongst the chaos of the city that never sleeps. A film documenting the night with Sophie discussing her work as she watched among the crowds has been released by NION.
“Voir la mer- Shibuya Crossing by Sophie Calle (2019) (Directed by Satoshi Watanabe, Produced by NION) :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV25_WNOfY4
“I first met Sophie in France last year. I remember talking with her about her desire to go beyond individual exhibitions and explore the realm of film art,” explains Takayuki Moriya.
Calle’s film, Voir la mer, is about people from Istanbul whom had never seen the ocean arriving at the ocean and literally seeing it for the first time in their lives, even though living only 15 minutes away.
“We discussed how important it is to push art out of only a gallery experience and offer to the general public in new ways. She had previously shown her piece Voir la Mer at Times Square in New York, and so we began to think about how to bring together Tokyo:s always on nightlife and the quiet, moving piece voir la mer. This is what led me to hijack the four main monitors at Shibuya’s Scramble Crossing. My hope is to help people out of their constantly moving life, create a pause, and let people feel the experience and surprise similar to those in her film. Japan is very tidy, with everything in it:s proper place, but I want to push those expectations and bring art out to the mainstream in new and unexpected ways” said Takayuki Moriya.
About Sophie Calle’s Exhibitions in Tokyo:
“Exquisite Pain”
Hara Museum of Contemporary Art: 2019 January 5th - March 28th
“My mother, my cat, my father, in that order”
Perrotin Tokyo
2019 February 2nd - March 10th
“Parce que”
Gallery Koyanagi
2019 February 2nd - March 5th
About NION Inc.,
http://nion.tokyo/
NION was founded in 2106 when four award-winning directors and 3 industry leading producers teamed up to disrupt the film and visual content industry in Japan and export that out to the world. Their first endeavor was producing and distributing the first interactive feature film/art installation, KAMUY, which was then featured in Miami Art Basel later that year. Recently NION created “Tower of the Sun” and “Love At Least” feature films, the later won Japan’s Academy Award for Newcomer of the Year. Since then NION have been creating branded content, films, artistic installation, music videos, and virtual reality content. With the purpose to create visual storytelling that transcends culture, religion, and ethnicity, hoping to give viewers new ways to imagine, see, and interact with the world.
Media Contact】
NION PR: yumi@nion.tokyo
Media Contact
NION INC yumi@nion.tokyo http://nion.tokyo
