Yoichi Kamimura
Mori to Kōri no Uta (“Song of Forest and Ice”)
12 Sep – 8 Oct 2023
Opening: 18 September, 19h – 21h
“The listening to sound directly stimulates the physical senses that we have as living beings and sharpens our perception of the world around us. In field recording, I hunt and meditate in the sound environment simultaneously. It is an act of negotiation and acceptance of the environment. I am bringing the experience and the sensation into the city and trying to penetrate inside people’s bodies the radical environmental changes that are taking place right now in the polar regions of the earth.”
Yoichi Kamimura
About the project
A nostalgic image of the Amazon rainforest hangs in La Boulangerie’s window! sounds of nature greet you upon entering the space. Details of ice drift are visible once inside. This is an immersive exhibition that transports you to the heart of the wilderness through nature and sound.
The Boulangerie! is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in Paris of Japanese artist Yoichi Kamimura. The exhibition Mori to Kōri no Uta (“Song of Forest and Ice”) unveils Kamimura’s new series of images and sound installations following his residency in the Amazon rainforest in August 2023.
On display, two images hanging “The Reverse”, a work that combines an image of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest’s landscape with an image of the drift ice in the Sea of Okhotsk in Shiretoko, Hokkaido, Japan. These tropical and frigid lands are located in opposite places and have polar opposite climates, yet they share a commonality in that their natural environments are changing rapidly due to the known effects of global warming.
Following, the visitor encounters “Ecotherapy”, an installation exploring sound and how it’s shaped by nature. The artist has created assemblages of sounds from the Amazon rainforest and environmental sounds of the Sea of Okhotsk ice floes in Shiretoko, Hokkaido, Japan. These sound modules bring together wind, water, ice, glass, earth and stone to explore each acoustic and in order to build a sonic environment in space. The work intends to provide a place for meditation to cultivate a sense of environment and to perceive the rapid global-scale environmental changes taking place in the polar regions of rainforest and ice in order to capture them as an everyday occurrence.
Kamimura has been recording continuously the ice drift since 2019. The Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011 was a major catalyst for Kamimura to begin incorporating field recordings into his work. In recent years, he has been making field recordings of drift ice in Shiretoko, Hokkaido, which is greatly affected by global warming, the bedrock of ancient glacier traces in Finland, and glacier areas in Iceland, and using these as materials for sound installations, musical works, sound performances, drawings, videos, paintings, and other works.
About Yoichi Kamimura
Drawing chiefly upon his field recordings, Kamimura experiments with methods that draw upon sight, hearing, and other senses to perceive different scenes. His extensive body of work includes sound installations, paintings, video works, sound performances, and audio works – unveiled in venues both within Japan and abroad.
Kamimura refers to the field-recording process as an act of “meditative hunting” – in the process, he acts as an observer of the amorphous relationship between humankind and nature. Kamimura composes his sound installations by creating highly immersive “soundscapes,” many of which draw upon our own biology to create unique sensory experiences.
Recent selected exhibitions, projects, and residency programs include “LABVERDE SPECULATIVE ECOLOGIES RESIDENCY 2023” (Manaus, Brazil, 2023), “FONTE” (Fonte, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2023), “SIM Residency”(SIM Residency, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2022-2023).
Selected sound-based publishes, performances, and screenings include “Therme Vals”(Cassette/Digital, Vertical Music, Milan, 2023), “Floating Between the Tropical and Glacial Zones”(Canteiro, Sao Paulo, / Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke, Manaus, Brazil, 2023), “Ambient November”(Space Odyssey, Reykjavik, Iceland).
Selected Awards / Nominates include “Sound of the Year Awards 2022 – Disappearing Sound category” (London, U.K, 2023), “the Prix Matsutani 2021”(Paris, France, 2022), Nominated for “Phonurgia Nova Awards 2021” (Paris, France, 2021).
Yoichi Kamimura
Mori to Kōri no Uta (“Song of Forest and Ice”)
12 Sep – 8 Oct 2023
Opening: 18 September, 19h – 21h
“The listening to sound directly stimulates the physical senses that we have as living beings and sharpens our perception of the world around us. In field recording, I hunt and meditate in the sound environment simultaneously. It is an act of negotiation and acceptance of the environment. I am bringing the experience and the sensation into the city and trying to penetrate inside people’s bodies the radical environmental changes that are taking place right now in the polar regions of the earth.”
Yoichi Kamimura
About the project
A nostalgic image of the Amazon rainforest hangs in La Boulangerie’s window! sounds of nature greet you upon entering the space. Details of ice drift are visible once inside. This is an immersive exhibition that transports you to the heart of the wilderness through nature and sound.
The Boulangerie! is pleased to announce the first solo exhibition in Paris of Japanese artist Yoichi Kamimura. The exhibition Mori to Kōri no Uta (“Song of Forest and Ice”) unveils Kamimura’s new series of images and sound installations following his residency in the Amazon rainforest in August 2023.
On display, two images hanging “The Reverse”, a work that combines an image of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest’s landscape with an image of the drift ice in the Sea of Okhotsk in Shiretoko, Hokkaido, Japan. These tropical and frigid lands are located in opposite places and have polar opposite climates, yet they share a commonality in that their natural environments are changing rapidly due to the known effects of global warming.
Following, the visitor encounters “Ecotherapy”, an installation exploring sound and how it’s shaped by nature. The artist has created assemblages of sounds from the Amazon rainforest and environmental sounds of the Sea of Okhotsk ice floes in Shiretoko, Hokkaido, Japan. These sound modules bring together wind, water, ice, glass, earth and stone to explore each acoustic and in order to build a sonic environment in space. The work intends to provide a place for meditation to cultivate a sense of environment and to perceive the rapid global-scale environmental changes taking place in the polar regions of rainforest and ice in order to capture them as an everyday occurrence.
Kamimura has been recording continuously the ice drift since 2019. The Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011 was a major catalyst for Kamimura to begin incorporating field recordings into his work. In recent years, he has been making field recordings of drift ice in Shiretoko, Hokkaido, which is greatly affected by global warming, the bedrock of ancient glacier traces in Finland, and glacier areas in Iceland, and using these as materials for sound installations, musical works, sound performances, drawings, videos, paintings, and other works.
About Yoichi Kamimura
Drawing chiefly upon his field recordings, Kamimura experiments with methods that draw upon sight, hearing, and other senses to perceive different scenes. His extensive body of work includes sound installations, paintings, video works, sound performances, and audio works – unveiled in venues both within Japan and abroad.
Kamimura refers to the field-recording process as an act of “meditative hunting” – in the process, he acts as an observer of the amorphous relationship between humankind and nature. Kamimura composes his sound installations by creating highly immersive “soundscapes,” many of which draw upon our own biology to create unique sensory experiences.
Recent selected exhibitions, projects, and residency programs include “LABVERDE SPECULATIVE ECOLOGIES RESIDENCY 2023” (Manaus, Brazil, 2023), “FONTE” (Fonte, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2023), “SIM Residency”(SIM Residency, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2022-2023).
Selected sound-based publishes, performances, and screenings include “Therme Vals”(Cassette/Digital, Vertical Music, Milan, 2023), “Floating Between the Tropical and Glacial Zones”(Canteiro, Sao Paulo, / Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke, Manaus, Brazil, 2023), “Ambient November”(Space Odyssey, Reykjavik, Iceland).
Selected Awards / Nominates include “Sound of the Year Awards 2022 – Disappearing Sound category” (London, U.K, 2023), “the Prix Matsutani 2021”(Paris, France, 2022), Nominated for “Phonurgia Nova Awards 2021” (Paris, France, 2021).