[Performance] “The Rules of Disengagement” Kristof Trakal | LONGSTAY Program 2017

His curiosity backed by flexible intelligence is the driving force for his creation. Rather than taking the shortest distance, he instead explores how far he can go, making a detour. His artwork developed through multiple lectures and workshops will come to fruition in a form of “LARP (Live Action Role Play).” From Matsudo, he has taken a three-hour journey to a nearby supermarket, visited a small village called Atarashiki-Mura (new village) that was founded by a group led by Mushanokoji Saneatsu almost 100 years ago, and has done research on cosplayers at “Comiket (comic market).” He gropes to outline “an alternative way of living” through his activities.─Arata Hasegawa, Guest curator

Role-Playing Game Event “The Rules of Disengagement” 
Date : Saturday, October 14tht, 2017
Time : 12:00-20:30 *11:30 Open / 12:00- Workshop / 14:00- Game / 18:00- Feedback
Starting Point : PARADISE AIR 5F Lounge
Address : Hamatomo Bld., 15-4, Honcho, Matsudo-shi, Chiba, JAPAN

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Message from Kristof

The Artist-In-Residence program at Paradise is a fitting opportunity for artists working across diverse media. It offers a funded 3 month stay for 2 artists in Matsudo, Chiba, an outskirt of Tokyo.
I spend my fall 2017 at Paradise AIR and my first month of the residency in research mostly based on Guattaris notion of the production of subjectivity, Cosplay and the well concealed history of Japanese Anarchism. The Paradise team picked me up from the airport, fed me, introduced me to artists, elders and government officials all in the first week alone. In the continuing months they helped me translate, adjust, orient, shop, cast performers, organize events, build props, conceptualize my project and connect to other artists and institutions. The young team was extremely supportive of my
experimentation and open to take risks. The residency is ideal for artists working conceptually and practically with public space or social engagement as the staff is well connected to the community of Matsudo. The staff is invested to have public presentations and interaction with the area and I met several members of the community who were curious and supportive of my project as well.

From the outset the location of Paradise AiR made a strong impression on me and became part of my thoughts on site-specific work and public space. The residency is housed in a former love hotel (a fact so obvious that it hasn’t been explored in works by residents ) above a Pachinko parlor, which sends snippets of its diabolic soundscape on gushes of wind, up to my swiss-themed room. From my window I could see the high rises crowded around the Matsudo train station, from which trains take you in an hour to central Tokyo. From the same window I could hear the cicadas chirp in the gardens of the few old wooden houses, shrines, temples and cemeteries. The Edogawa river is a 10 min walk from the residency, where serious deceleration saved me from my computer, urban surroundings and studio=living space overload. Much of my process was
connected to walking and reading the urban landscape of Matsudo, which has developed from a village to a suburban center in the past 150 years, with a train station that boards 100.000 daily passengers. Though at times it still feels like a village with self-sufficient gardeners and unused plots. The former shoguns temple, marks the military history of the area that raised war horses and housed an engineering school.

I visited Cosplay events (like the fair during Comiket) to try to learn more about this complex subculture. Despite my efforts of acquiring some basic Japanese in preparation to the residency, my obnoxious colleague the language barrier became my best companion. The latter also attended my visit to the 80-year old Commune of Atarashiki Mura, which could not have been possible without the support of the translation efforts of Arata Hasegawa. Contrary to these lessons I still embarked on a collaborative process with the 4 wonderful and gifted perfomers (Sachiko Fujita, Kun Jinnai, Hiroshi Iwata, Rikka Katase) to develop the role playing game Rules of Disengagement. Together we made props and costumes, rehearsed, ate, got lost in translation, figured out how to collaborate, succeeded by failing and vice versa. The game was played on 13th of October at Paradise Air and at several sites in public space around it. We hosted about 20 players and had fruitful discussions after wards. Out of my photographic process and research I am working on a publication that is half photo-album / half narrative index and hope to finish it in the summer.

The program presents an array of possibilities to develop and organize, meet the community that is connected to the residency and develop a project with plenty of support from the staff members. Thank you Moe, Aki, Junpei, Mackey, Shoji and also Minwoo for your support.