Who
conception

You Nakai, Ai Chinen, and Earle Lipski

performance

You Nakai

When

2010. 7. 3

Where

Group Exhibition "Weather and Lifetime," Asahi Art Square, Tokyo

Fono Balono

PHONY

a

One narrator carrying a wireless microphone.

b

During the exhibition the narrator talks to as many audiences as possible, narrating: (a) descriptions of ‘collaboration pieces’ which verbally connects two or more otherwise non-related pieces in the exhibition, and/or, (b) description of a ‘ghost piece’ which verbally constructs an otherwise non-existent piece within the exhibition. Descriptions should preferably contradict each other, and vary every time.

c

Example of a ghost piece:

There is a dance piece performed inside the elevator by a blindfolded dancer. The audience must move around to dodge her movement within that tiny space. Because all public activities inside the elevator are prohibited for security reasons, this is an unannounced guerrilla performance.
The dance continues outside of the elevator, where the dancer constantly tries to maintain a fixed distance from a given audience member. As a result, the dancer is always almost out of sight.
So inside the elevator the audience is forced to run away from the dance; outside, the dance runs away from the audience. In either case, the dance disrupts the usually presupposed, 'adequate' distance for appreciating a performance, triggering the audience to move instead.

LIFE-TIME

3pm
5pm
7pm
8pm
9pm

BALONEY

a

Seven or more clouds of 50 to 60 helium balloons (assorted colors), each carrying a portable radio.

b

All the balloons are released right before the start of the exhibition, and should land near its closing time (falling onto other pieces in the exhibition).

c

The size of balloons is determined by their ‘life-time’ which should correspond to the length of the exhibition.

d

The number of balloons is determined by the weight of each radio.

e

The number of clouds is determined by the size of the exhibition space.

f

The seven or more balloon clouds are themselves organized into two or three groups.

g

The number of groups is determined by the size of the exhibition space.

h

All radios in the same group are set to the same frequency.

i

A wireless microphone is attached to one of the balloons in each group.

WEATHER

a

Whatever the narrator says along with whatever responses from the audience are picked up by the wireless microphone, delayed for (a) 20 minutes, and (b) 40 minutes, and sent respectively to each balloon group (if more than two groups, add necessary number of delay times). The narrator's description of some time past is thus played aloud belatedly on a floating PA system.

b

The sound coming out of one radio is picked up again by the wireless microphone attached to another balloon clound in the same group, and sent to the same delay system connected to the narrator's microphone before being sent to another radio. As a result, a constant recycling phenomenon is generated, whereby the initial sound is looped over an extended period of time, gradually deteriorating its quality and filling the environment with noise.

c

When more than half of the balloon groups touch ground, all delay times should be synchronized.

| Tokyo, June 23 - July 3, 2010 |

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