Cypher and Cypher II
I accepted an invitation from the 2023 Tokyo Biennale to create and present two new pieces. It’s not often that contemporary art exhibitions include dance, so in order to involve as much of the local dance community as possible, I decided to organize two public dance sessions for the exhibit.
Cypher is a gathering of dancers and DJs at the Tokyo Dome that took place on October 8, 2023. The event was free and open to the public to participate to any extent they wished. Over the course of four hours, people walked by, stopping to watch, enjoy the music, hang out and socialize; the cypher was so welcoming that most who got close enough couldn’t resist joining in.
Cypher II is the more intimate and meditative of the two dance sessions, featuring local dancers Go Yamashiro, Jasmine Mazlika, Runa Miura, and Rion Watley; myself wearing a GoPro to provide viewers with an inside vantage point; and the temple’s Abbot Mr. Sugitani. The live performance which was free for the public to watch, took place on October 10, 2023 in front of Kiyomizu Kannon-do of Kan’ei-ji Temple, the video documentation was installed inside the Konpon-Chudo of Kan’ei-ji Temple for two weeks of viewing after.
Cypher (2023)
The entire session was documented using four cameras: two GoPros and an insta360 x3, which were passed around between the dancers, as well as Sony ac7 that sat on a tripod for the four hours. The footage was cut together (with minimal editing) and displayed on the top floor of the Tokyo Biennale’s main venue, the Etoile Kaito Living Building.
To cypher is to be simultaneously the audience, the artist, and the artwork itself—not a performance, but a continuous free flow of extemporaneous exchanges contained within and by a mass that is in constant states of flux, held together and guided by the unspoken agreement that all who are present are a part of and are responsible for holding the space and keeping it alive.
Both cyphers were filmed from various dancers’ points of view.
Cypher II (2023)
Filmed on GoPro 12 from my point of view as one of the performers, Cypher II is a dance session in front of Kiyomizu Kannon-do of Kan’ei-ji Temple featuring dancers Go Yamashiro, Jasmine Mazlika, Runa Miura, Rion Watley, and the temple’s Abbot Mr. Sugitani. The video of this dance session was exhibited in the Konpon-Chudo of Kan’ei-ji Temple. Subsequent to Cypher (I) which took place a few days earlier at Tokyo Dome City, Cypher II is the more intimate and meditative of the two gatherings