Hiroko Yokomizo (横溝廣子), academic

In 2011 I did an article on an exhibition at the Geidai Museum for the Japan Times. I had absolutely no idea about the contents of the exhibition, which were artworks connected to Japan's ancient perfume culture, so I had to dig up one of the curators, an academic lady, and shoot her some questions that reveal my ignorance of the subject and her erudition. The image is an AI-generated image of a serious Japanese lady academic, not an actual image of Yokomizo herself, whom I suspect is not so hot.

________________________

Liddell: How many fragrance boxes are in the exhibition? I counted two. What are the fragrances in them? Are these fragrances different at different times or the same fragrances throughout the exhibition.

Yokomizo: If you are referring to the boxes that you can open the lid, and smell the fragrance, there are three boxes. The fragrance changed from ume plum to orchid this Monday, but the "Kyara" and "Takimono" are the same throughout the exhibition.

Liddell: When we think of perfume we think of "hiding bad smells." This is certainly the case with France, a country that was once notorious for poor bathing habits. Although the origins of Japan's fragrance culture are in Buddhism, it was developed by the Heian nobility. Is it true that they seldom bathed, and that they used perfume in the same way as the old French nobility to "hide bad smells"?

Yokomizo: Yes, it is considered so in Japan also.

Liddell: In Japanese culture you talk about "hearing" aroma. By contrast, this exhibition invites us to "see" the aromas. The connection between smelling and hearing seems natural as aromas are a little unclear and abstract like music, but seeing is precise and definite, so it may seem an unusual idea. How would you compare and contrast "hearing" an aroma with "seeing" an aroma?

Yokomizo: "Hearing" aroma is the term used in Kodo, because the person heartfully "listens" to what the fragrant wood is expressing, as if the wood was a person. "Seeing" aroma is rather an attempt to see what the painter is expressing, in the case of the paintings in this exhibition, the painters have the aroma as a part of the theme in painting.

Liddell: The English philosopher John Locke made a distinction between Primary qualities of sensation (solidity, extension, motion, number and figure) and Secondary qualities of sensation (colour, taste, smell, and sound). The former were regarded as more objective, while the latter were regarded as more subjective. This distinction was a foundation of the mechanistic outlook common in Western culture. Is there a similar distinction in Japanese culture? If not, why not?

Yokomizo: I am not quite sure about this, and will send this question to Mr. Ryo Furuta, the main curator of this exhitibion. I hope he will respond quickly.

Liddell: Japanese fragrance culture is unique and highly developed and an important part of general Japanese culture. What is the foundation of this? Why did Japan develop this strong fragrance culture, while in other cultures, even in France, smell and aroma have traditionally been regarded as mere aspects of other cultural areas, such as cuisine, wine, flowers, and fashion?

Yokomizo: Considering how widely tea is enjoyed in Japan, there is much [in] common with fragrance appreciation, and incense was used in various scenes in the Japanese daily lives. Incense is most the essential item when we pray for the souls of those who have past away, even today. It is essential in all scenes in Buddhist rituals, as offerings to Buddha and other subjects of rituals, widely carried out throughout Japan from ancient times to the present . Since the Heian period, it was considered an etiquette, to create unique incense fragrances. Fragrance was enjoyed with literature, expressed often in poems, and is probably part of the spirit in Japan to enjoy the various different elements of the four seasons, such as the many plants and flowers. It was also used to both rise and calm  spirits, and Kodo developed along with Sado, and widely carried out, first throughout the nobles, and later to the common people.

Angelo Visigalli, Restaurateur

Back in 2010, I was putting together a feature article for Metropolis magazine on art in restaurants. As part of this I ran a few questions past the owner of BICE, one of the restaurants featured. The interview was carried about by email to save on transcription time. Some slight corrections have been made in Visigelli's English as it is not his first language apparently.

Liddell: When did BICE start exhibiting art and why?

Visigalli: Art it is always being a passion of mine, therefore when we were planning the restaurant layout, I made sure that it would be equipped for exposition. We did the first art exposition a week after the opening. Usually we do a different exposition every 2-3 month.

Liddell: What attracted you to Aeravi’s art? [The artist currently on display] How do you normally choose your artists?

Visigalli: I liked the graphics of her design that I find very metaphysical but very expressive at the same time.

Liddell: Do you have any restrictions on the kind of art that can be shown? If so, what are they? What are the reasons for these limits?

Visigalli: Usually I do not have any limitation whatsoever, because art as food, is a matter of taste, you can love it, or dislike it. At the same time, I expose art in my restaurant to entertain, and therefore, in order to respect the first and most important core of my business, serve food with good service in a cozy environment, sometimes I find myself turning down offers from artists that are too explicit. This is to avoid an 80-year-old lady, finding herself in front of a man's nude, which can be acceptable in a museum.

Liddell: How can artists approach you?

Visigalli: 90% of the time I go searching for artists in expositions, internet, or during visits to gallery, but as we have been doing this for many years now, we receive lots of portfolios, and than we take it from there.

Liddell: How are the paintings marketed to the customers? For example, how do they know that they are not just decoration but are also for sale?

Visigalli: Usually our staff informs the costumers regarding the exposition, and if the costumer asks for more details, we always inform them that unlike the art galleries, we do not take part in the sales, therefore we suggest to contact the artist/gallery that represent it directly.

Liddell: What do you think of the traditional gallery system – rental galleries, dealer galleries, etc.? What are the drawbacks? What are the advantages? Do you think this system can survive?

Visigalli: I believe that the systems works fine. Unfortunately, for the artists, some galleries are very greedy, and therefore leave the artist too little to live on. At the same time, it is a necessary process to eliminate unnecessary art, or inconstant artists. The market is very much saturated with so many different kinds of artists and art, and this highly competitive system, will ensure the survival of the very true, artist with a message, not the one that only have a fantastic concept that needs the instruction book as an appliance to be understood.

Liddell: What are the advantages for the artists of exhibiting in a restaurant setting as opposed to a traditional gallery? What are the disadvantages, if any?

Visigalli: The advantage is that usually there is a lot of people going through this kind of activity than an average gallery. Disadvantage can be that we are not a gallery first of all, therefore the people that visit us do not come to see art, even if I would like to underline that, after 8 years, lots of our guests are always looking forward to the next exhibition.

Liddell: What are the advantages for the restaurants? Are there any problems?

Visigalli: The basic advantage is to ensure a different atmosphere according to the artist's message. Problems none, except the set up. That is time consuming, in an already busy environment with daily operations, but I would not call this a problem.

Liddell: Tell me about some of the artists who have exhibited with you and how it has impacted on their career?

Visigalli: Well, we did lots of solo artist exhibitions, from top Italians, like Mario Arlati a living artist that is considered one of the top 5 (all after Clemente of course), or Massimo Catalani  (www.massimocatalani.com) another already famous painter from Italy, Tetsuro Shimizu, a teacher at Brera art school in Milano for over 20 years, Kentaro Baba, Saito Kaoru, Mr. Dang, and many many more. Of course, the famous did not have any gain from exposing in BiCE except for the revenue on their sales, the younger ones, have a chance to showcase their art to a window on the city of Tokyo, and you never know, one thing can led to another.

Liddell: BICE is on the 47th floor and has incredible views. Other restaurants I have visited are in basements with no windows. Restaurants with no windows obviously need the kind of visual charm that art provides, but why does BICE need art when you have such great views already?

Visigalli: As mentioned before, art is a passion of mine, and I'm always hoping to expose some of the artists that I like, not for commercial gain, nor to fill my pockets with the sales, as I am not a professional in the field, but just an amateur, by exposing new and young artists I hope to make more people interested in art, as much as entertain them.