Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel: Charting the Contours of Time
September 28, 2023
Yamanaka Suplex and Kyoto Art Center are pleased to jointly present Charting the Contours of Time, a solo exhibition by Taipei-based artist collective Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel.
Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel has staged performance pieces that construct ephemeral situations through installation, sound, hypnotic rhetoric, urban violence, political turmoil, physical memories of anomalies, historical re-enactments, and symbols of Japan’s former sovereignty, inviting them into poetic and multi-layered performance spaces. The company has been directing works that construct ephemeral situations by inviting poetic and multilayered spaces into the performance space.
This work Charting the Contours of Time presented in Taipei in 2018 and premiering in Japan, is a live performance executed in complete darkness, inspired by the Tainai Meguri (Tomb Tour) at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. In the former gymnasium of an elementary school founded during the modernization of Japan (now Kyoto Art Center Free Space), the audience wears American-made night-vision goggles and observes the movements of the body under visually restricted conditions. We hope that the experience of Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel’s work will trigger interest in “participation” and “psychological immersion,” as well as the history of Taiwan and Japan and political relations between the East Asian countries.
◾️ Date and time
27 [Fri], 28 [Sat], 29 [Sun], 30 [Mon] October 2023.
11:02–, 12:15–, 13:32–, 15:15–, 16:32–,17:45– (Each session has a changeover system)
◾️ Venue
KYOTO ART CENTER (546-2, Yamabushiyama-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto)
◾️ Capacity
Capacity: 10 persons / per session (Reservations required)
Admission on site only if seats are available on the day.
◾️Admission
Adults ￥1,000 / Students (University/Highschool) ￥500 / Free (Under Junior high school students)
*Those applying at the student rate must bring proof of enrolment (e.g. student ID card).
*Children under 12 years of age must be accompanied by an adult aged 18 or over.
*Pre-school children are not allowed to watch the show.
*For those with small children, we offer a babysitting service at Kyoto Art Centre and ACK. For more information, see ‘Childcare service’ below.
◾️ Reservations
Please select the session you wish to attend from the link for each event date and make a reservation and pre-payment.
For 27 October: https://t.livepocket.jp/e/gmgs-1027–
For 28 October: https://t.livepocket.jp/e/gmgs-1028–
For 29 October: https://t.livepocket.jp/e/gmgs-1029–
For 30 October: https://t.livepocket.jp/e/gmgs-1030–
*Cancellation after booking is not accepted.
◾️ Notes on participation
This performance is a participatory performance work in which visitors experience the complete darkness of the space as they walk through it using night vision goggles. Please read the following instructions carefully in advance and make your own decision whether to participate. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the organizers.
*Please arrive at the reception 10 minutes before the performance starts. Please note that you will not be allowed to enter the venue after the show has started.
*Contact lenses are recommended for night vision goggles. If you wear glasses, please fill in the questionnaire when booking.
*If you need any assistance, such as a wheelchair, please fill in the questionnaire when booking.
*Please wear comfortable shoes for safe viewing.
*Please note that you are not allowed to bring hand luggage into the venue. Please leave them in the cloakroom located at the reception desk.
◾️Cast and staff
Concept: Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel
Director: Val Lee
Performers: Chu-Hua Wang, Chun-Wen Liang, Fly Wu
Sculptor: Momoko Kimura
Reception and Goggles Guides: Kazuya Inoue, Hiroyuki Kozaka, Lim Pei Ern
Curator: Takuya Tsutsumi
Stage Director: Yohei Sogo
Sound: Hao Luo
Graphic Design: Yusuke Mimasu (ym design)
Project Manager: Masayo Matsuda, Tomo Seto (KYOTO ART CENTER)
◾️ Childcare service
A childcare service is available by prior reservation at the following dates and locations
*KYOTO ART CENTER: 28 Oct [Sat] 14:45–16:15
Reserve at setou@kac.or.jp with name, number of children and age by 21 Oct.
Available in conjunction with the 15:15 start time (ends around 16:15).
*ACK at Kyoto International Conference Center: 27 [Fri] – 30 [Mon] Oct
◾️Organizer
Yamanaka Suplex, KYOTO ART CENTER (Kyoto Arts and Culture Foundation)
◾️Grant
Ogasawara Toshiaki Memorial Foundation, Istyle Art and Sports Foundation, Art Collaboration Kyoto Executive Committee
Selected Project for KYOTO ART CENTER Co-program 2023 Category A
◾️Inquiry
Mail Adrees: yamanaka.suplex@gmail.com (Yamanaka Suplex)
Phone Number: +81–75-213–1000 (KYOTO ART CENTER)
◾️ Artist Profile
As a director and visual artist, Val Lee founded Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel in 2008 in Taiwan. The art collective uses ephemeral situations to lead the audience into a form of live art that comprises action scripts, installations, sound, hypnotic rhetoric, composite structures, and mise-en-scène, while constructs political fables with a dream-like method. Ghost Mountain Ghost Shovel or Val Lee has been exhibited at Taiwan National Experimental Theater (2023), Taiwan Contemporary Cultural Lab (2023), the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (2022), Grand Palais (2022), Vernacular Institute (2022), Forum des Images (2021), National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (2021), and Hong-Gah Museum (2021), the Danish feminist initiative ARIEL and also invited by the Taipei Arts Festival (2019–-2022), the Gwangju Biennale (2021), the Taiwan Biennial (2021), the Urban Nomad Film Fest, and Month of Performance Art in Berlin.
