This conceptual and minimalist sound installation project is designed to address the significance of the notion of breath in the contemporary cultural (and intercultural) political, social and transgenerational contexts, from the perspective of experimental art-meets-anthropology* approach.

Breath is not as definitive and flexible as words or direct actions, however it can manifest presence and endurance in an almost purest possible form. And a mere presence can suggest readiness for action, becoming sort of an initial tool of a silent/soft resistance – in a way very poetic and a bit abstract, but simultaneously subversively defiant.

The process of forming this project seemed, in a way, like combining intimate therapeutic sessions (as participants/collaborators were recorded in an one on one, safe environment) with rehearsing for and pre-orchestrating a strange sound composition, which unlike a regular protest (musical) piece–loud and with powerful lyrics, had also a very intimate and fleeting feeling with the presence of each of participants certainly sensed there.
Recording the source material, which came from small-scale field work experience from a dedicated research workshop that took place on 2nd and 6th of December 2023 at Koganei Art Spot Chateau 2F, Koganei, Tokyo.

* This is an example of art practice that has a very strong connection within cultural anthropology, as it deals mostly with already existing anthropological phenomena such as “resistance” itself.

Piotr Bujak

Born in 1982, living in Kraków and Tokyo, Piotr Bujak graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków (2009) and the San Francisco Art Institute in the United States (2012). Piotr Bujak’s art combines the punk culture of protest, minimalism, conceptualism, neo-avant-garde inspirations, and critical discourse. With the principles of Low Budget, Quick and Dirty, Do It Yourself and Hit and Run in mind, the artist comments on violence, identity, cultural heritage, politics, and the pathologies of neo-liberalism. He analyses the activity of the Catholic Church and the mechanisms of disciplining an individual with the use of media. Bujak consciously opts for modest methods of provocation and, by refusing to use softened language, composes formally austere but strongly saturated visual signs.
https://culture.pl/en/artist/piotr-bujak

Free

How can we connect events that seem distant and unrelated to us with the place in which we live and our daily lives? In this era of rapid change and flux, it is important to take back our time and try to resist the current in our own small way. We will think more about the current situation and society itself, and search for ways to live and resist, in other words, “expressions of living,” using the three English words with “re” at the beginning: “retrace,” “resist,” and “record. This is a series of six-month workshops to explore the expression of living with the participants and guests with various backgrounds, using the three English words with “re” in the beginning as keywords.

Artfull-action, Non profit organization
FAX: 042-316-7236
E-mail: mail@artfullaction.net