Bigakko research project｜美学校

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Bigakko (research project by Alice Maude-Roxby and Yoshiko Shimada)

Theme:
Art and Politics and Alternative Art Education – the beginning of Bigakko (1969-72)

The focus of this study is Bigakko, an alternative art school established in 1969 (continues to present) in Tokyo, Japan. Bigakko was established by Gendai Shicho-sha, a radical, cutting edge publishing company established by Kyoji Ishii in 1957. They published eclectic selection of books by Marx, Trotsky, de Sade, Lautreamont, Andre Burton, Georges Bataille, Rosa Luxenburg, Mikhail Bakunin, Jacques Derrida, Takaaki Yoshimoto(philosopher and radical politics advocator), Tatsuhiko Shibuzawa (novelist and translator of de Sade) , Eiko Hosoe (photographer), Taruho Inagaki (novelist) among others. These books of radical politics and heretic aesthetics were the ‘must’ read for young intellectuals and students in the mid- to late 60’s. Although they had published books by artists such as Hiroshi Nakamura, starting an art school was a drastic change from their practice. Bigakko was a brainchild of the director, Ishii and an editor, Hiroshi Kawani, and Yoshihiko Imaizumi, an old friend of Kawanis’s.

The period around the end of the 60’s to the early 70’s was a turning point for radical movement, both artistic and political. The avant-garde art movement (reportage paintings, Gutai) in the 50’s and neo-DaDa, anti-art activities in the 60’s were co-opted into Osaka World Expo in 1970. Anti-Anpo (US-Japan Security Treaty) movement in 1960, although it mobilized significant number of people, ultimately failed. Zenkyoto students movement and the New Left in the late 60’s never got popular support and ended up in faction fights and terrorism. It was the time for reflection and search for the different ways to look at the avant-garde art and politics. Imaizumi said that Kawani and Ishii, both radical new left, seeing the failure of the youth movement, realized that real social changes were only attainable through education and art.

Precisely what was done at Bigakko in order to change the world? There has been very little study done about Bigakko. It is perhaps because this quest was not done under singular vision or system. The artists and intellectuals who were asked to teach were left to form a class curriculum in whatever way they desired, and their practices and approaches were vastly different from each other. Therefore, at first glance, the class descriptions seem so esoteric and contradictory that it is difficult to analyze and figure out what it was they were trying to do as a whole. Also, the radical new left and politics as whole had been increasingly separated from art and art education in the following decades. Those who were involved became silent or tried to dismiss their activities as embarrassing discretion in youth.

The artists who taught there are now all well-established figures in Japanese contemporary art. Some even went on to teach at National Academy of Art and Music. Their experiences at Bigakko contributed to the changes and development of their own practices. It is about time to examine their experiments at Bigakko, summarize their different approaches and evaluate their attempts.

It has been 40 years since Bigakko was established. In these 4 decades, Art in Japan has become more and more isolated and de-politicized. The quest of Bigakko, their attempt to realize the new possibilities of avant-garde art and politics in the society, has not answered and still valid and relevant. This study is not a nostalgic looking back of the 60’s or mere documentation of a dead institution - Bigakko is still alive, though not exactly thriving. The main part of this study is based on interviews with the artists who taught there in the beginning years. They are Natsuyuki Nakanishi, Hiroshi Nakamura, Mokuma Kikuhata and Genpei Akasegawa. The other important artist, Yutaka Matsuzawa, unfortunately passed away in 2006 and we based for his classes his writings and published interviews. Hiroshi Kawni, who was the key person to realize Bigakko, also passed away in 2003. We managed to interview Yoshihiko Imaizumi who passed away shortly after in July 2010. We also interviewed some ex-students, Fujikawa who is the current director of Bigakko, and Shinbo Minami, a well-known writer and illustrator both of whom were the students of Bigakko on the first year.

Syllabus

  • Introduction – purpose of Bigakko study
  • Summery of Bigakko history
  • List of main teachers/lecturers (1969-72)
  • Short history of avant-garde art in Japan 1950’s-1972 (reportage painting, surrealism, Kyushu-ha, Yomiuri Independete, Neo-Dada, High Red Center, 1,000 yen case, Shibuzawa, Shuzo Takiguchi, Suehiro Tanemura)
  • Short history of Japan of above period (Japan Communist Party, JCP 6th meeting, 1955 system, Anpo 60, Miike coal mine strikes, Jiritsu gakko with Gan Tanigawa and Yoshimoto, Rapid economic growth, Apathy, Anti-modernism, Zenkyoto student movement, Anpo 70, Expo 70, Yukio Mishima, Japan Red Army)
  • Gendai shicho-sha and establishment of Bigakko (Kawani, Ishii, Imaizumi)
  • From the pamphlets of Bigakko- class descriptions (technique, anti-modernism, conceptualism, comparison to other art academies)
  • Hiroshi Nakamura (interview) – reportage paintings, realism, classic technique, memories.
  • Mokuma Kikuhata (interview) – Coal minor paintings, War paintings, Objects
  • Genpei Akasegawa/Shinbo Minami (interview, lecture) – High Red Center, 1,000 yen, Sakura-gaho, Kogengaku(modernology)
  • Natsuyuki Nakanishi(interview) – project 1970, performative exercise for perception of the world and painting
  • Yutaka Matsuzawa (writings, conversations with Kikuhata) – Nirvana activities, conceptualism, disappearance of objects and human
  • Quest of Bigakko – what they were and their relevance today