Takahiro Yamamoto
Cowlitz, Clackamas, and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (Portland, Oregon)
NOTHINGBEING
World Premiere
Instigated by Takahiro Yamamoto
Collaborative research by David Thomson, Anna Martine Whitehead, Samita Sinha, and Takahiro Yamamoto
Physically engaged by David Thomson, Anna Martine Whitehead, and Takahiro Yamamoto
Sound Design by Coast2C
Lighting Design by Jeff Forbes
Costume Design by Alison Heryer
ACCESS NOTES
This performance will include flickering lights and sudden loud noise.
DESCRIPTION
NOTHINGBEING is a project initiated by choreographer Takahiro Yamamoto, and developed in collaboration with Samita Sinha, David Thomson, and Anna Martine Whitehead. This work investigates ways to embody the presence of nothingness and "being," breathing spaces that we could easily dismiss and considering possibilities for the unfiltered self. Based on philosophical and physical research on the approaches to nothingness as well as extensive discussions and reflections with participating artists about their own sense of existence in the society, their needs in life, and their embodied daily experiences, this work will invite the viewers to "be" in the space together as they witness the performers engaging in questions of not thinking, feeling, surrendering, transforming, conjuring, and forgetting. Placing three performers in the center, this project addresses the notion of nothingness and "being" from multiple modalities such as moments of highly physical movement, a communal meditation, and internal activation of sensory memories. How can we allow ourselves to shed our protective layers to feel our core existence? How could we unlearn together? What does the presence of nothingness and "being" feel like? In this multifaceted process, this project hopes to underline the value in nothingness to re-recognize the complex presence of our subjectivity, the consequences of forced dismissal/erasure in society, and the importance of our agency in nothingness to empower our way of “being.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Takahiro Yamamoto is a multidisciplinary artist and choreographer based in Cowlitz, Clackamas, and Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (Portland, Oregon). His current conceptual investigations revolve around the phenomenological effects of time, embodied approach to the presence of nothingness, and the social/emotional implications of visibility. He has received support from New England Foundation for the Arts, Bogliasco Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, MacDowell, National Performance Network, Japan Foundation, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Africa Contemporary Arts Consortium, and others. His performance and visual art works have been presented at Portland Art Museum, Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Diverseworks, Contemporary Arts Center Cincinnati, The Henry Art Gallery, and GoDown Arts Centre Nairobi, among other venues. Yamamoto holds an MFA in Visual Studies from Pacific Northwest College of Art. He is part of the Portland-based support group Physical Education with Allie Hankins, keyon gaskin, and Lu Yim.
SPONSORSHIP
NOTHINGBEING is supported by the Japan Foundation through the Performing Arts Japan program. It is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creative Fund Project co-commissioned by Portland Institute for Contemporary Art in partnership with Chocolate Factory Theater, On The Boards, and NPN. The Creation Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency). Takahiro Yamamoto is a 2021 NDP Finalist Grant Award recipient. Support was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to address continued sustainability needs during COVID-19 and in support of NOTHINGBEING. Creative development supported by Portland Institute for Contemporary Art and Dance Center at the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago.