How do you feel, Matsudo?

Date:  October 11th, 18th, 25th
@Eindhoven, Netherlands＋Matsudo, Chiba
Sponsor: PARADISE AIR
Supporter:  Embassy of the Netherlands in Japan

Guest artists: Floor Hofman, Willie Wong
Workshop participants: High school students, office workers, artists, etc. living in Matsudo City, 6 people in total

As part of PARADISE AIR’s Learn Programme, which promotes diverse learning and exchange between artists and the local community, a workshop programme using online tools has been launched with overseas artists who are unable to visit Japan due to COVID-19.

The guest artists were Floor Hofman and Willie Wong, who live in the Netherlands.They were twice selected finalists in the LONGSTAY Programme 2018/2019 and applied ambitious work ideas, but unfortunately were not able to be selected. We were happy to take on the challenge of conducting a workshop with the citizens of Matsudo remotely, and planned, directed and produced the work from the Netherlands. How can we create artworks even when we are far from each other? Through the workshops, we thought about this with the participants.

Workshop: “How do you feel Matsudo?”

Concept
In this workshop, participants work on a task Willie and Floore have come up with based on the idea of making a documentary. The subject is ‘The city of Matsudo and the people who live there’. The distant Netherlands and Matsudo. From the city of Matsudo as depicted by the participants, we find out what this city looks like as a place and the personal episodes behind it.

Day 1 – Self-introductions made by others

They can say their own names, but must not introduce themselves verbally. A self-introduction game was played via Zoom, with the rule that others were to capture the person’s characteristics from behind the screen and introduce them. This game is about introducing people to ‘who they are’ through their predictions and interpretations from others. Observing things, that is what is essential in this workshop. The first session was an exercise in thinking about ‘how to see things’ with self-introductions.

Day 2 – Finding a face

Participants go out into the streets of Matsudo and collect as many ‘faces’ in the city as they can find in 30 minutes. They will not find human faces or faces that have been deliberately created, but ‘things that look like faces’. For example, on the street, in traffic lights, in cars, in the sky, etc. Once a face is found, participants post a photo of it on Instagram with a comment explaining how they feel about it.

The hashtag #documentaryinaction #facesinmatsudo #p_air shows the ‘faces’ of Matsudo as found by the participants. At the same time, Floor and Willie did the same in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. As homework, they also took a photo of a ‘face’ in their room every day for a week and posted it on Instagram in the same way.

Day 3 – Capturing the emotions of the city

We started by looking back at the facial photos that participants had uploaded throughout the week. Using an original worksheet called ‘Emotional Analysis Chart’, they interpreted and analysed what state they were in from the photos they had taken. They then go out on the town and think about the key words that come to mind from the faces closest to their chosen current state, and take a video of the scenery in Matsudo that best expresses that meaning.

As participants consider the relationship between themselves and the city in this workshop, a more deeply personal episode of the city of ‘Matsudo’ will emerge.

The finalised documentary video was presented as an online workshop transitional exhibition ‘Seeing from a distance: #documentaryinaction #facesinmatsudo’ at the small gallery QWERTY in front of Matsudo station.