Overduin and Co

Ei Arakawa

16 Sep - 27 Oct 2012

Installation view
EI ARAKAWA
16 September - 27 October 2012

Overduin and Kite is pleased to present a solo exhibition by New York based Japanese artist, Ei Arakawa. The exhibition is supported by the painter, Nikolas Gambaroff; the performer, Shimon Minamikawa; and the designer, Daishiro Mori.
Los Angeles, whoever happens to be here, invites three performance artists who work as a collective. With their expanded organizational skills, they manage to fly 100,000 miles (160,000 km) in a calendar year, all operated by one airline alliance. Museums and galleries covered all of the expenses. The collective is now Premier 1KTM.
Since 2005, their performances have been all over: Jan: Tokyo, 14,000; Feb: Berlin, 7,000; Mar: London, 7,000; Apr: Paris, 7,000; May: Seoul, 14,000; Jun: Basel, 7,000;
Aug: Milan, 7,000; Sep: Sao Paulo, 9,000; Oct: London, 7,000; Nov: Warsaw, 8,000;
Dec: Hong Kong, 14,000; total: 101,000. This is typical of a performance artist today.

Description of Performance Artists (what they wear)
*No strict uniform or uniformity.
*Patterns slightly tropical/oriental.
*Loose fitting. Styles that are able to breathe well during the long haul.
*Women? Men?
*Not necessarily exposed outfits, yet uplifting.
*Considering an upcoming performance with a suit. A fake queer architect.
*3,000 USD is good pay for performance art. Average is 1,000 USD or less though.
*No dog. Because an animal needs her/him so much. Cat possible?“We are exhausted. As long as we can get nice shiatsu, it is okay.”
“It is manageable for our age (early 40s). In the morning, we sat among older businessmen in the lounge. I wonder who they think we are.”
“Inside our carry-ons, each under 14 inches x 9 inches x 22 inches (23 x 35 x 56 cm), there are objects not claimed as art. Those objects are almost like tools, yet too precious and fragile to send them over by FedEx.”
“The objects are scanned and explained at the security gate (officers don’t really care what they are). We take care of those objects as if smugglers.”
“Those are Whitney Houston paintings.”
Everywhere they go, they recognize the same employees in the lounge, check-in counter, and the fuselage. One flight attendant makes eye contact, “You again.” The three performance artists feel like they are employees of UNITED. UNTIED. UNITED.
UNTIED ... Boarding is complete, the artists quickly search for empty seats. Each takes the middle seat in a row of three empty seats. This will prevent other passengers from sitting next to you. Non-shared positions. Using three economy seats, that’s the way for them to sleep full flat while flying economy.

*Tickets (appropriated)
*Ceiling Figures
*Performance Artists
*Les Orientales (from 1910)
*Air Purifier
*UNTIED LOGO
*Whitney Houstons
*Window Film (that will also appear in November’s show by Mr. Gambaroff)
*Fingerprints (of LA audience)
*Real Humans (Arakawa/Gambaroff/Minamikawa)
“Sort of scarecrow.”
“SOCIAL SCARECROW?”

I am an employee of UNITED Vol.2
 

Tags: Ei Arakawa, Nikolas Gambaroff, Shimon Minamikawa