When I held a solo exhibition in Tokyo last November, the world was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and people's actions were restricted by the declaration of a state of emergency in Japan. It was said that “Don't get close to people. It's better to stay home alone as much as possible”. Such rules have greatly changed people's lives and even changed their values. The Tokyo exhibition “DISTANCE” depicted people who have been forced to change their lives due to the pandemic.
About a year has passed since the "DISTANCE" exhibition, and I have decided to call this exhibition "DISTANCE in HK". I believe that we have overcome the toughest situation in Japan, and the circumstances have improved worldwide too. However, it is true that the impact we received from the pandemic made us realize the importance of a real-life community while the socialization on the Internet has developed, and the influence on our meaning of life will not disappear for the time being. Because of a new set of values that the pandemic left, we may not feel the same way as before, but we want to move on to the next step anyway.
私が去年の11月に東京で個展をした時、世界はパンデミックの真っ只中で日本でも緊急事態宣言が発令されて人々の行動は制限されていた。「人に近づいてはいけない。できるだけひとりで家にいるのがよい」とされ、そのルールは人々の生活を大きく変えてしまった。そんなパンデミックによって強制的に生活を変えられてしまった人々の様子を東京の個展「DISTANCE」では表現した。
「DISTANCE」展から約一年が経ち、今回の展示は「DISTANCE in HK」としました。日本では少し前までの深刻な状況を超えた(気がする、今は)。世界的に見ても状況は改善傾向にある(と思うがまだわからない)。ただ、、パンデミックで我々が受けたインパクトは、ネット社会化が進み実生活での交流が希薄になりかけていたのを後押ししたし、我々の生きる意味に与えた影響は当分消えないだろう。新しい価値観を植え付けられた我々は以前と全く同じ気持ちにはならないかもしれないが、とにかく次に行きたい。
