Minimalist Space

If one were to attempt a simple explanation of "minimalism" in architecture, art, and music, it might be described as an expressive method that primarily uses small, identical constituent elements, repeating them while introducing slight variations to create a collective of a certain scale.

The works by German artist Thomas Bayrle currently on display at Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo are largely based on minimalism.

The most typical example is the work titled “Carmageddon”.

This piece consists of multiple gray cardboard forms, folded into a C-shape with slits resembling the kanji character "三" (san), arranged on rectangular panels. Each panel with these arranged "C" shapes forms a unit. These units are then placed side-by-side to create something akin to a large rectangular panel, which then becomes a single artwork.

The arrangement of the "C" shapes within each unit varies subtly, and miniature car models are placed on some of these "C" shapes.

When viewed from a distance, this collection of "C" shapes appears to form a patterned surface, much like a textile.



Erik Satie's “Furniture Music,” playing in the space, is also a form of minimalist music, where the piece progresses through repetition of the same short musical phrase.

Thus, Espace Louis Vuitton Tokyo is currently a minimalist space.

Intensity

The word "Intensity," used by Thomas Bayrle during his explanation of his work upon his visit to Japan for this exhibition (which opened on May 18th), also seemed to hold a clue.

Here, we will use the word "intensity" to translate "Intensity." This intensity refers to the degree of forcefulness, the burden that an object imposes on "me" as the subject.

For example, when we view people as large units, such as "Japanese" or "German," we don't concern ourselves with each individual within that unit. Even when referring to "100 Japanese men in their 30s," we temporarily forget the obvious fact that these 100 individuals are all distinct. Or rather, we cannot perceive people in such vague categories without forgetting this fact.

Bayrle poses a question to this innocent yet crude way of thinking.

When someone is right in front of us and recognized as "you," their intensity as a 36-year-old Japanese man might be 100 to "me." Yet, when we say "100 Japanese men in their 30s," does not the intensity of each of those 100 people become 100 to "me"? If so, why is a person who should have an intensity of 100 as an individual reduced to an intensity of 1 when they join a group? If 100 people, each with an intensity of 100, gather, shouldn't the total intensity be 10,000? He asks questions like these.

Bayrle's works re-examine these self-evident truths.

However, his approach is very gentle.

Swimming Through Japan

The story behind “Carmageddon” is the future. Each of the aforementioned "C" shapes represents a highway-like road. The assumption is that if a world comes where cars are no longer needed and roads are left abandoned without any cars to use them, children will view these countless remaining road objects as something mysterious.

Similarly, the work titled “Mountains on Motorways,” where "C" shapes representing roads are arranged, features mountain landscapes depicted on the surface of these "C" shapes. After seeing “Carmageddon,” this piece appears as the future of nature, left in a state of disarray after being cut and reshaped by artificial structures like roads, and then abandoned when those roads became obsolete.

Does the artist, through this work, criticize technology? No, Bayrle does not simply criticize technology. He suggests that even if nature is soiled or transformed by human hands, it continues to exist as valuable nature, just as it did before.



According to Bayrle, the merits and demerits of technology are roughly 50-50. Therefore, it is not wise to view the advantages and disadvantages of artificial objects as opposing forces. In a 50-50 battle, a clear winner is unlikely.

In the aforementioned series of photographs capturing Tokyo in the late 1970s, this approach to contrast is further developed.

Bayrle states that he took these photographs during a six-week stay in Tokyo in August. When asked why he described his experience as "swimming" through Tokyo, he explained that despite the high population density, people in Tokyo do not collide with each other. They pass by each other smoothly, like the flow of water, without greetings or signals, as if it were the most natural thing. This impression led him to use the word "swim."

He further elaborated, "Japan has a culture that presupposes interaction between individuals, such as the way people eat sushi. It has a culture that respects personal time for introspection, like reading or meditating on a train. In Japan, the collective and the individual are not in opposition; they are each respected. This is a fundamental element of my creative process."

When finally asked about Tokyo today, nearly 40 years later, this was the response:



"Various problems, both international and domestic, will likely continue to arise in Japan. My hope is that society will continue to be one where people do not clash but rather merge smoothly."
Monuments of Traffic
5-7-5 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Louis Vuitton Omotesando Building 7F
Dates | Saturday, May 18, 2013 – Sunday, September 1, 2013
Hours | 12:00 – 20:00
Phone | 03-5766-1094
Web | www.espacelouisvuittontokyo.com