Youkobo Art Space, Zempukuji 3-2-10, Suginami-ku, Tokyo, 167-0041 Japan.

​

06- 10.06.2018

​

Words are not needed when movement is used to talk. Communication in most contexts is about expressing signifiers, for instance Tatsumi Hijkata's method is to ‘express without expressing.’ *

This saying defines how we use symbols: humans share associations regardless of language.

Bodily movements act as triggers for communication instead of words when language is no longer the form of communication. Jacobs uses performance gestures to activate a relatable dialogue between audience and action.

​

*Morishita Takashi, Hijikata Tatsumi's Notational Butoh - An Innovational Method for Butoh Creation, pg. 7 (Keio University Art Center, Tokyo 2015)

​

This work is the product of a six month residency at Youkobo Art Space. Jacobs was researching the methods of Butoh dancing though the study of Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijkata. During this time in Japan other influences such as; the feminist lecture programme run by Yoshiko Shimada, detailing the post Second World War economic boom initiated by 'Japanese Comfort Women'.

​

http://www.youkobo.co.jp/en/exhibition_events/2018/05/no-words-to-go-around-by-alice-jacobs.html