ABSTRACT
This chapter offers an analysis of different types of autonomy and modes of participation in the contemporary Japanese art scene. We provide an overview of the theoretical discussions of aesthetic autonomy and the autonomy of art in the Western history of art and recount the ways in which concepts of artistic autonomy have been adapted and applied in the formation of modern art in Japan. Furthermore, we delve into some relevant trends in the contemporary field of regional art projects (chiiki āto) and reflect on the meaning of “art projects” as part of the post-growth conditions of Japanese society.
The main part of the chapter focuses on fieldwork at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale 2018, founded by Kitagawa Fram as a means of community (re-)building (machizukuri), and contextualize it within notions of the postautonomous. We analyse two specific art projects featured at the art triennale, namely Atlas Lamenti by Chilean-French artist Emma Malig and Green Room Project 2018 by Japanese artist Sakai Kōichi. We show how the two art projects foster different kinds of negotiation of artistic and political autonomy among the artist and the art organization behind the festival, as well as the volunteers from the local neighbourhood associations of the villages involved. We conclude that many types of autonomy and involvement are at stake in the complex structure of art projects at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale so that we can talk of postautonomous state in this type of art project.
