慶應義塾大学アート・センター　Keio University Art Center

Ko Nakajima's MY LIFE is an unfinished work, the production of which began in 1971 and is still ongoing almost 50 years later. It has been packaged several times so far. Representative editions include the 1976, 1982, 1992, 2012, 2014 and 2019 editions. Nakajima's first film was shown for the first time in 1977 at the Kumanichi Gallery in Kumamoto, Japan. It is a work in which a vast amount of recorded footage, with the family as the central subject, is condensed to several tens of minutes and divided into two screens. Nakajima is an artist as well as an archivist who produces a vast amount of material that is folded into the unfinished "MY LIFE".
In order to create a new MY LIFE, an event will be held as a study group. An important aspect of the newest work is that not only Nakajima himself, but also other persons will produce a new MY LIFE based on their own edits.
What role does MY LIFE take in the history of art and the history of media? In the present day, when video has become popularized and essential to our lives, we will also consider video and its archives once again, and explore the core of its possibilities.

*This event is a closed event, but a record of the event will be distributed afterwards.
**This event is related to the 2022 Media Arts Archive Promotion Support Project "Digitization and Recording of Video Art Materials based on Ko Nakajima/VIC III".

22 January 2023, 13:30-16:30.

Part 1, 13:30-14:30: Viewing of MY LIFE.
Part 2 14:30-15:30: Object Theatre (Yoshiya Yoshimitsu + Sanghae Kwon) Viewing and Discussion on For Chiyo, To Yachiyo
Part 3 15:30-16:30: Discussion about NEW MY LIFE.

Participants : Ko Nakajima, Rui Hara, Yutaka Iida, Yushiro Inoue, Mayuko Kimura, Hitoshi Kubo (moderator), Eugene Kwon, Fusako Matsu, Yosuke Nakagawa, Yuki Okumura, Tatsuro Ogura, Kentaro Taki, Kenji Yamada, Ryosuke Yamakoshi, Yoshiya Yoshimitsu

This project is a collaboration with CCJ (Collaborative Cataloging Japan), which works with various organizations on cataloging post-war Japanese experimental film and video works (1950s-1980s) CCJ has the following project featuring the films of Ko Nakajima, which were digitized at Keio Art Center.

Below from CCJ.
Wonderful guests Ko Nakajima, Barbara London, Alexander Zahlten, and Fusako Matsu will help us celebrate the beta launch of CCJ’s Viewing Library beta testing version with a discussion around Nakajima’s works with screenings. In addition, Nakajima is offering a free screening of his key work, My Life for the month of January!

Plus (!), for members only, we are beginning a 4-month long study on Ko Nakajima’s newly digitized titles, courtesy of Keio University Art Center. In January, we are coordinating with Keio University. Art Center’s “My Life Study” project, and will offer for CCJ Members a 2019 version of My Life and related materials.
JANUARY MEMBERS' VIEWING: KO NAKAJIMA PART 1
FEBRUARY MEMBERS' VIEWING: KO NAKAJIMA PART 2
MARCH MEMBERS' VIEWING: KO NAKAJIMA PART 3
APRIL MEMBERS' VIEWING: KO NAKAJIMA PART 4

*CCJ (Collaborative Cataloging Japan): Founded in 2015, Collaborative Cataloging Japan (CCJ) is a non-profit organization based in Philadelphia, USA, that works with collections of post-war Japanese experimental film and video works (1950s-1980s). CCJ works with museums, universities, libraries, archives, and private collections to explore issues related to documentation and preservation, and to work toward solutions. The goal is to provide access to these materials for researchers and the general public.
We work in partnership with collection institutions and individuals to create an infrastructure for the creation of shared databases by considering the extraction of uniform metadata. In addition to the documentation work, CCJ will assist in the maintenance of the experimental film legacy by supporting the preservation of the works themselves. In addition, CCJ will introduce the legacy to the rest of the world through exhibitions and screening programs outside of Japan. CCJ also aims to contribute to the research of curators, archivists, researchers, artists, and students around the world through plans to make related materials available to the general public.