'Here and There:' Food, Safety and Community in Contemporary Performance Art 「あちらとこちら」：現代パフォーマンス・アートにおける食、安全、そしてコミュニティ

Vivien Jiaqian Zhu (Stanford University, University of Cambridge, University of California, Berkeley)

https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/eajs2026/paper/101689

https://research.berkeley.edu/surf-fellows/jiaqian-zhu/

https://nomadit.co.uk/conference/eajs2026/pp/101689

Paper short abstract In the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, artists attempt to explore ways to present the motif of “3/11” beyond geographic confinement—beyond Japan. Given restricted access to the nuclear zone, how do artists respond to “3/11” without direct physical proximity to Fukushima? Paper long abstract

In the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, artists attempt to explore ways to present the motif of “3/11” beyond geographic confinement—beyond Japan. Given restricted access to the nuclear zone, how do artists respond to “3/11” without direct physical proximity to Fukushima? How do overseas Japanese artists represent what took place back in their homeland? How do people outside Japan gain the access to experience and respond to “3/11”? To grapple with this representational dilemma of “here and there,” this paper looks at the performance art of the contemporary Japanese artist Ei Arakawa—Does This Soup Taste Ambivalent? (2014). In this conceptual project, he attempted to mediate a geographic gap between New York (where he works) and Fukushima (where he comes from). He also intended to reach a geographical balance between Fukushima and the international audience by bringing his family to Frieze London. In dialogue with Does This Soup Taste Ambivalent?, this paper brings comparative examples of Rirkrit Tiravanija’s installation Untitled (Free/Still) (2007) and the socially engaged art piece Conflict Kitchen (2010). This paper attempts to extend the metaphor of a geographic boundary to invisible yet crucial boundaries among people, and to further spatialize what Nicolas Bourriaud regards as relational aesthetics. Visual representations of “here and there” can thus be thematically translated into a rendering of boundaries between artists and spectators/participants, between social environment and human beings and between different ethnic groups. Moreover, this paper examines the instrumental role of food in performance art. With the same incorporation of food, these works take advantage of the taste to unite people from different backgrounds, and to provide a corporeal medium to raise concerns for nuclear radiation and safety. The remediation of food, in art practice and social media, further produces a micro-social and micro-political narrative to think of food safety, human safety, and community conflicts.

Abstract in Japanese (if needed): 「あちらとこちら」：現代パフォーマンス・アートにおける食、安全、そしてコミュニティ 要旨では、2011年の東日本大震災と津波のあと、アーティストたちが 「3/11」を日本の外でどう表現するか を考える研究だと説明されています。特に、福島に直接近づけない状況で、アーティストはどう反応するのか、海外にいる日本人アーティストは故郷で起きたことをどう表すのか、日本の外にいる人はどうやってその出来事に触れ、応答するのか、という問いが立てられています。中心事例として扱われるのは、Ei Arakawa の Does This Soup Taste Ambivalent? (2014) です。要旨によれば、この作品は ニューヨークと福島の地理的な隔たりを媒介しようとした企画として読まれています。比較される例として、Rirkrit Tiravanija の Untitled (Free/Still) (2007) と、社会参加型アートの Conflict Kitchen (2010) も挙げられています。福島の出来事を、食べ物を使ったアートで世界の人にどう伝えるかを考える発表です。
そして、食べ物は人をつなぐだけでなく、安全や不安、社会の対立について考えさせる力を持つ、というのがポイントです。