Performances

January 30 at 9:00 PM, February 2 at 7:00 PM, & February 4 at 7:00 PM

Runtime: 45 minutes

Masks are required for all SUITE/Space performances. Please wear a mask that fits securely over your mouth and nose at all times in public spaces (hallways, bathroom, lobby, elevator). If you do not have one, we can provide one for you.

Mabou Mines
150 First Avenue (Second Floor), NYC 10009

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membrane | 虚実皮膜 is a multidisciplinary collaboration between movement artist Yoko Murakami and audiovisual artist Maria Takeuchi using motion-tracking technology. The work is inspired by the theory of “虚実皮膜 Kyojitsu Himaku,” in which the truth of the art lies in the fine line between artistic fiction and fact. This line or “membrane” will be represented by a translucent screen in the space, the line in which the duality will be explored.

The work is grounded by the elements – water, air, fire, and earth – as representation of birth, life, death, rebirth and the cyclical nature. The audience will be invited to float in between the dreamworlds without the need to define the experience.

The movement performance by Murakami will be captured by a motion tracking sensor and illuminated by bio-inspired generative visuals by Takeuchi. An original score by Takeuchi in collaboration with Alec Fellman, joined by percussionist Nava Dunkelman, accompanies the piece to create a transporting experience.

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Photo credit: Bernardo Gasparini

Yoko Murakami (she/her/hers) was born in Tokyo, Japan and is currently based in New York City. Yoko creates movement-based work in the forms of site-specific installations and experimental film. She enjoys creating works for spaces that are not traditionally designed for performance and is interested in finding new ways to activate and question the way we interact with our environments. She has presented her creations in spaces including Ace Hotel (New York, NY), Triskelion Arts (Brooklyn, NY), TheaterLab (New York, NY), Da Da Da Gallery (Seattle, WA), Eshk Salon and Room Salon (Brooklyn, NY), Aileyan Accessories (Brooklyn, NY). Her new venture into experimental film has led to her works being selected and screened in national and international film festivals in Seoul, Moscow, Naples, Belfort, Cyprus, Mexico City, and Lincoln Center in NYC, in 2022. Yoko is also a full-time jewelry designer/design director.

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Photo credit: Maria Takeuchi

Maria Takeuchi, aka ÉMU, (she/her/hers) is a composer and audiovisual artist who creates sonic and visual poems, merging organismic soundscapes with generative art and illuminating objects inspired by nature.
Takeuchi co-directed as·phyx·i·a (2015), an experimental film using Kinect sensors created with Frederico Phillips. The work was selected as a New Directors Shortlist by Saatchi & Saatchi, showcased at Cannes Lions and MoMA. It appeared on nearly 200 international mediums, including BBC Newsnight, Canadian Daily Planet, TIME, and Microsoft commercials.
In 2020, she curated the audiovisual compilation Solace with Testu Collective with international artists for fundraising for IRC during the early Covid-19 exposure. She remotely showcased the audiovisual trilogy “A Trilogy of Waves” at Sound Forms 2020 hosted by Contemporary Musiking Hong Kong.
She frequently collaborates with insomniac hotel since 2021 as MA to explore sound art, installations, and audiovisual performances. The duo has performed at Ars electronica x NKB, online festivals such as Festival Pleamar, Public Visuals, and exhibition openings.
Takeuchi created visual programming for Petal Mori, illuminating Yuri Shimojo’s art piece with 108 Petri-dishes for her exhibition Memento Mori at Praise Shadows Art Gallery in 2021.
Her latest installation, ENN (2023) is an interactive dome installation along with the spatialized audio composition at Satosphere through the artist residency program at Société des Arts Technologiques.
Takeuchi has been involved in larger-scale projection mappings such as Ambient Church and dome projections at Bubbletecture H. She is fascinated to recreate and express the beauty of patterns and sound discovered in nature using secret encoding computed in technology, with a theme of “COEXISTENCE x RESONANCE.”

 

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Ryuichi Sakamoto, Norika Sora, Mabou Mines SUITE/Space staff, Société des Arts Technologiques, Vincent Brault (SAT), Toshifumi Kakiuchi, Manaya Ueda, Testu Collective, Touchdesigner community.

membrane | 虚実皮膜 was developed, in part, through the artist residency program at  Société des Arts Technologiques.