Hilde Aagaard is a Norwegian visual artist who has produced a series of “Public Situation” works, performing art events that explore interactions between locals and foreigners.
Organized by curator Johnnie Walker, today’s performance, entitled Point Tokyo brought together violinists Karl Espegard and Bjarne Magnus Jensen to perform the original score Point by Arnt Håkon Ånesen.
While in Japan, Aargaard was inspired by the prominence of the colour red and the power of its symbolism. in Harajuku, the artist laid down a large, red circular carpet, recalling the hinomaru of the Japanese flag and working as a focus for public attention at this busy pedestrian junction of the city. Through this work, the artist aimed to “explore local people’s reactions to a foreign element expanding into their familiar, highly structured environment”.
As well as attracting listeners and a group of children who played on the carpet, Johnnie Walker encouraged some Harajuku goths to see and be seen in the middle of the performance; the sight of these goth kids standing next to the violinists in their suits was certainly a juxtaposition of cultures one notch stranger than what Tokyo residents usually see in this visual remix of a city.
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