Partner organization: Mapped to the closest address
15 October-2 November, 2020　
Online / Morishita Studio (Tokyo), El Arenero Yumita (Berlin)

■Program Outline
In collaboration with the art collective, “Mapped to the closest address,” the Open Forest Launch was a digital residency connecting art activities in Tokyo and Berlin.
Open Forest Launch explored the possibility of perceiving time from a non-human perspective by exploring and observing various organisms, from bacteria to avocado trees, and the ecosystems and landscapes they inhabit, in parallel in Tokyo and Berlin. The communication between Tokyo and Berlin was done using an analog method of faxing, and Instagram was also used. The production process of the performance was documented and made public as a digital archive and video archive.

Video archive

Participating artists
Alex Viteri
Catalina Fernandez
Shuntaro Yoshida
Maharu Maeno

■Participating artists’ profile
Alex Viteri [Colombia]
Dance researcher, performance artist
Born in 1987. She lives and works mainly in New York and Berlin. As a dramaturg, she collaborates with choreographers and artists. Her new work Fan de Ellas, in collaboration with choreographer Juliana Piquero and lighting/sound designer Catalina Fernandez, was premiered at Sophiensaele in November 2019. She is a doctoral candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at the City University of New York and teaches at Hunter College.

Catalina Fernandez [Colombia]
Lighting and sound designer　
Born in 1977. Lives and works mainly in Berlin. She works with theater, dance, and performance in off-stage environments. In 2017, she presented the video installation Soapy Postmodern Bathwater at the Sharjah Biennial as part of the art collective Fehras Publishing Practice. In 2018, she received a research grant from the State Office for Culture and Europe, Berlin, Germany.

Shuntaro Yoshida [Japan]
Dancer, choreographer, contemporary dance and performance researcher
Ph.D. in music from Tokyo University of the Arts in 2020. 2017-2019: JSPS Research Fellowship for Young Scientists. His recent choreographic works include the following two. Migration in Red Pepper in collaboration with Alex Viteri (2018-2019, traveling performance art festival in New York, organized by Art Space Deconstruct). Of Chroma (2019, organized by Queens Museum in New York)

Maharu Maeno ［Japan］
Artist
Born in Ibaraki, Japan in 1994. Graduated from Department of Music Environment Creation, Tokyo University of the Arts.. Creates artworks using food as a material, and plans and manages performances and art projects. Her major works include the Museum of Make-up Art (FIGMENT, New York), RedHook Horror Lemonade (De-Construkt, New York), and Haze or Cloud (MEXT, Tokyo). After working as an assistant, she is currently the project manager of ART360, an exhibition 360° archive project in Kyoto.