THE VIDEO

Fhe Wav a Very Veautiful Woman

Watching the beginning of "Fhe Wav a Very Veautiful Woman", an imaginary head emerges on the corner of Koizumi's face. Framing Koizumi's head upside down, it is perceived on the chin by presupposing Koizumi's beard as hair, two dots drawn by a pen as eyes and Koizumi's inverted mouth as another mouth. The work starts with a series of actions of the small head, in which it suddenly turns and shows its full face, finally crunching on an apple. To create such an illusion, Koizumi sets up a dark room and closes up on his chin with a spot light. In such a situation, it begins to gently tell a sad story of a young couple. It looks and sounds intimate to the degree that one might have an impression like being confessed to by a stranger in a dark chamber. What seems to be nothing more than an assemblage of a beard, two dots and a mouth transforms into the head of an imaginary person.

THE SPACE/COLLECTIVE

AIT Tokyo Arts Initiative Tokyo

WHAT IS AIT?
A new alternative platform for contemporary art in Tokyo.

AIT stands for Arts Initiative Tokyo. We are an officially recognised NPO (non profit organisation) from the City of Tokyo, receiving our status in May 2002. AIT aims to create a new alternative platform where artists, curators, critics, collectors, students and a larger audience can access contemporary artt through a range of programs and events in Tokyo and beyond.
AIT is unique in that we take the position of being a public organisation with a highly mobile working method. There is a growing interest in contemporary art in Japan and we feel that there is a need in Japan for art groups that are not wholly commercial nor institutional. Responding to the unique urban situation of Tokyo, we operate without costly infrastructure or buildings, rather choosing to collaborate with different spaces and organisations to realise projects. We therefore emphasise good content and a flexible working methods, often making programs in days to respond to changing situations and emphasise ease of accessibility through informal and non-hierarchical ways of working. Through our activities we create an expanding network of AIT friends and members who support and take interest in what we do. Our current mailing database covers some 1500 arts individuals and groups in Japan alone.

OUR WORKING PHILOSOPHY:
Minimize unnecessary costs and maximise good content through collective and sustainable practice.

AIT purposefully included Tokyo in its name to focus on this city as the base of our activities. Our working philosophy is to maintain international links and outlooks whilst transmitting our activities from Tokyo and its unique cultural and social circumstances. We strive to make our programs as bi-lingual as possible as well as keep our eyes on different parts of the world. We are also keen to introduce new or younger Japanese curators, artists and writers through our programs.

AIT PEOPLE:
AIT was started by six young curators and arts administrators, all of whom have worked in the contemporary art field in Japan over the past five to ten years. We originally came together to initiate AIT because we felt that many areas within contemporary art in Japan could benefit from our new ideas.
AIT is supported by advisors and trustees. Our current advisors come from many different countries and fields within the arts and form a valuable core of close friends. Trustees provide AIT with financial support and status, helping us to expand our networks and projects.

AIT PROGRAMS:
AIT runs several programs. MAD (ie. Making Art Different) is our education program which currently offers five courses in various aspects of contemporary visual arts. We have successfully run this since 2001, and have been the first to offer a curation course in Japan. In our EXHIBITION AND EVENT PROGRAM, we make artists talks, curators talks and symposiums with speakers from Japan and abroad. We also make exhibitions and events around Tokyo, including AIT Hour Museum which was an eight hour museum event that took place in an old disused school building in central Tokyo in September 2002. We have made regular club nights and other social events to provide opportunities for our students and members to meet and network. AIT also focuses on bilingual PUBLICATIONS. AIT RESIDENCY PROGRAM was started in December 2002. We have the use of one apartment in Sumida ward in the East end of Tokyo. We have been actively seeking partners for this, and currently IASPIS (International Artists Studio Program in Sweden) sent one artist in fall 2003. AIT also plans to invite one artist wit the support of the Toyota Foundation in the spring of 2004. We have also forged a partnership with the DaimlerChrysler Foundation, Japan, to organize their artist in residence program called Art Scope, from 2003. We maintain contacts with various foreign embassies in Japan who have an interest in artist in residency programs.