demons of good dreams (2022)
In our myths and dreams, demons are wardens of our lost wildness. Even ancient stories that have been altered over time, modernized to construct and reinforce political narratives, still hold traces of their primal wisdom, which can be found hidden deep within the characters or symbols that are most often demonized within these stories. A good dream is one that disturbs our core beliefs, stirring the feelings that dwell at the bottom of our subconscious. The demons of good dreams thus provoke dialogue between all parts of the self, thereby creating the opportunity to discover the whole.
Commissioned by the Okayama Art Summit in 2022, demons of good dreams is a series of screen dances I directed and filmed in collaboration with local dancers Yasunari Kinjo, Yuko Hirai, Luna Kishimoto, Yuki (“Octo”) Nakazawa, and Tatsuki Nishikawa, based on workshops I facilitated over the course of a week, using freestyle as a form of self narrative inquiry. The project includes a 45 min live improvised performance in collaboration with Yutaka Sone’s band “Untitled” on Rirkrit Tiravanija’s Oil Drum Stage.
The Okayama Art Summit
I received an invitation from the legend himself, Rirkrit Tiravanija, to participate in an international art triennial in the historic city of Okayama. The exhibition ran for two months from 30 September to 27 November, 2022.
One of the two video works was installed in the Okayama Shrine on two monitors. The second was installed in the dohyō (sumo wrestling ring) of the former Uchisange Elementary School (a building that was repurposed into an art gallery).
Watch Excerpts Below
dogd x Untitled collaboration
demons of good dreams, led by My-Linh Le, and Untitled band, led by Yutaka Sone, improvise together on Rirkrit Tiravanija’s Oil Drum Stage in a 45-minute long performance for the opening day of the 2022 Okayama Art Summit. Recorded by Jardy Santiago.