ABSTRACT
Nelson Goodman’s groundbreaking work Languages of Art established a working taxonomy of alternative forms of mark-making. By describing marks in terms of their intentions, Goodman describes scripts and scores with particular attention: sets of instructions such as a piece of classical music where both the composition and the performance of a work can be understood to be valuable artistic practices.
This chapter discusses Sanja Matsuri, an annual festival in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. The festival has its roots in the foundation of Edo, precursor to modern Tokyo. The primary elements of the festival are a procession, the construction of temporary architecture including stages and food stalls, and Mikoshi (portable shrine) parades. Each element activates the district of the city in a manner which enfolds the human social sphere into the physical infrastructure of the city and its architecture.
The chapter demonstrates an ongoing project of Graphic Anthropology based on a close engagement with the ideas of dwelling perspective and co-production in the anthropology of Tim Ingold. This emerging method utilises multiple inscriptive practices simultaneously including drawing, diagramming, mapping, and notation to explore the ways in which Sanja Matsuri constitutes an alternative form of architecture. It is an architecture of embodiment and effort, of temporary and mobile structures, of costumes and comportments, communities, and collaborations.
Sanja Matsuri is a performance, but it is a performance of the city: it treats Asakusa as a score.
