Rui Yamaguchi

Rui Yamaguchi Solo Exhibition ‘SWEPT ALONG, BUT NOT SWEPT AWAY’
Courtyard HIROO Gallery​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​, Tokyo, November 1-17, 2024
Support:Project to Support Emerging Media Arts Creators, 2024
Photo:Ujin Matuso

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‘SWEPT ALONG, BUT NOT SWEPT AWAY’

When did we lose the ability to walk aimlessly?
When did we forget how to get lost?

Each time I’m asked “Are you looking for something?” in shops I happen to visit during my walks, I find myself hesitating. I’m not looking for anything in particular at these stores. Come to think of it, are we really looking for anything in life at all?

A social system that prioritizes efficiency and productivity; an endless whirlpool of information; other people’s stories forced upon us in the name of emotion. While we constantly find ourselves in various flows, these currents possess the power to push us in predetermined directions.

Neither completely surrendering to these flows nor constantly resisting them, I present a series of performance works conducted in various cities from 2017 to 2024.

Each practice has centered around the act of walking. Walking might be slow, tedious, and mundane. Yet precisely because of this, it grants us the freedom to get lost. Departing from linear movement toward a destination, we begin to listen to the dialogue between self and world. While surrendering to a certain flow, our footsteps, generated by our inner rhythm, simultaneously remain open to unexpected directions. It’s like walking on paths that don’t exist on any map.

If I told my ten-year-ago self that I would become an artist, I probably wouldn’t believe it. I continue to hope for such paths that exceed my imagination.

This exhibition is both a fragment of my journey and an invitation for viewers to enter a world of wandering. It’s not about “finding” something—rather, it might be a journey to “lose” oneself, to be released from existing frameworks and conventions.