The Work of Art in Contemporary Japan: Inner and outer worlds of creativity

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Being 'creative' appears to require two distinct forms of attention: an outward-facing engagement with the world around oneself, including with the work of others and with the materials one employs; and a kind of withdrawal into the self, or into a relatively solitary space characterised by a sense of focus and immersion. This project will explore the relationship between these 'inner' and 'outer' worlds, as mutually entwined dimensions of artistic production, as a way of enlarging our understanding of the nature of creativity and, especially, how experiences and expressions of creativity are shaped and constrained by social, cultural and institutional contexts. Research will be based on ethnographic fieldwork with young Japanese contemporary artists engaged in painting, dance, video, music, costume art, among other cross-genre and trans-genre forms of expression. In the course of developing a rich and detailed analysis of the contemporary art world in Japan, the project will seek to develop a new 'atmospheric' theory of creativity that will challenge existing understandings and tie creativity much more closely to theories of the self. A central question of the project pertains to authorship, that is, the question of who exactly should be understood as responsible for making a particular piece of work, and where the creative process is thought felt to originate, not least by artists themselves. In the Japanese context in particular, considerable importance is placed on relationships with other people and objects and the influence these have. How then should we approach the idea of individual authorship, or artistic agency, and how is this constructed? For many contemporary artists in Japan, art events and distinctive forms of collaborative interactions these facilitate provide an important frame for creative production; and yet descriptions of the creative process by artists themselves also tend to emphasize the importance of creating a solitary or private space - an interiority as it were - in and for the process of making. By placing these two dimensions of artistic practice alongside one another - the reclusive space of interiority and the sociable space of events and collaborations and, more broadly still, the contemporary context of society and work - the project will also shed new light on the nature of work and immaterial labour in post-industrial contexts. The Japanese contemporary art scene is thus a privileged space to explore how individual authorship and responsibility are constructed and understood. A central premise of the project is that studying the experience of artists in a major non-Western context such as Japan can offer a powerful corrective to existing studies of art production in the West and the narratives of creativity on which they are founded. More broadly, the research will open a space for discussion and cross-disciplinary engagement between scholars of art, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy. Events such as an interdisciplinary workshop at the University of Exeter, will help to coordinate this engagement. Key findings will be disseminated in an academic monograph and in articles in leading journals. An art event and an open artist workshop in Japan will facilitate engagement with the local community and a discussion around the role of art and artists in contemporary Japanese society. Meanwhile, an art event in London will seek to change popular perceptions of Japanese art, moving these past the popular culture of manga and anime and the traditional Japanese arts. A public workshop will encourage the general public to reflect on aspects of creativity in their own lives, and the interplay of interior and outer worlds in their daily life. Research will be accompanied by regular updates in the form of blog posts and a podcast mini-series on the project website, which will also continue to host a digital exhibit.