Albrecht PISCHEL

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Albrecht PISCHEL

Participating Project	Research Residency Program
Activity Based	Germany
City	Tokyo
Period	2019.6- 2019.7

Purpose of the residency

During my stay at TOKAS I am doing an artistic research into Japanese Techno-animism and Shintoism. Techno-animism is a cultural practice where technology is imbued with human and spiritual characteristics. It assumes that technology, humanity and religion can be integrated into one entity. The practice of instilling spiritual characteristics into physical objects has always been part of the Japanese Shinto religion. My research is concerned with Japan's fast transition to modernity and how it maintained to embrace technology as part of the inspirited world. I am trying to understand techno-animism as a place where the discourses of modernity and its flipside animism may be reconciled. 

Plan during the residency

・research about techno-animism and Shintoism in Japanese culture
・visit of Shinto shrines (Nezu Shrine, Yushima Tenjin, Kanda Myojin Shrine)
・visit of Kawada Robotics Corporation
・open studio and presentation of new art work at the end of my residency

Activities during the residency

During my residency at TOKAS I researched about Japanese techno-animism, a cultural practice where non-living objects and technology are imbued with human and spiritual characteristics. It is rooted in traditional Japanese Shinto religion. Today it manifests in the myriads of cutified objects and commodities, in robotics and generally in the way non-living things receive empathy and are bestowed with an assumed subjectivity. Animistic ideas can ultimately serve as a backdrop for reflecting on the very nature of art – its agency, its assumed ability to speak, to act, to emit. From everyday conversations with Japanese people about their actual relationship with technology to more specific encounters with scholars of robotics my experiences have been very enriching. Visits to Shinto Shrines dedicated to technology and museums and institutions relating to my interest have been very benefitting to my research.

Overview of the residency

For the Open Studio exhibition at TOKAS Residency I realized a site-specific work that rendered a screen saver as a potential living entity. I consider the fruitful two months research period about techno-animism as a starting point and base for further projects and art works to be realized in Japan and Germany.

Creator Information