Ujino Muneteru

Ujino Muneteru turns mechanical sounds into complex rhythms. For Art Forum 2010, Ujino Muneteru has reconstructed his sound sculpture Plywood City, which he first created in 2008 for his solo exhibition Crossband at PSM, Berlin.

On the opening day of Art Forum Berlin, VernissageTV met with Sabine Schmidt (Director, PSM Berlin) who provides us with an introduction to the work of Ujino Muneteru.

"Bored by the technical limits of conventional instruments, Ujino, a guitarist and bassist himself, experiments with new sounds. Different resonant bodies widen the spectrum of timbre; the sound of simple mechanical motors is used to produce new tones. In particular domestic appliances, tools, and large machinery from the fifties to the seventies are employed for their mechanical simplicity and physicality. Japanese Noise Music, a sound movement from the eighties, influenced by John Cage and the Fluxus movement, is referenced in Ujino's productions.

The title of the sound sculpture now presented at the Art Forum Berlin refers to a part of Tokyo, which is built form wood and is colloquially known as Plywood City. Ujino has constructed a wooden model ciy, which is animated by kinetic objects and sound. The basis of Plywood City is formed with art transport crates.

Ujino Muneteru 宇治野宗輝 (born in 1964) lives and works in Tokyo. He earned his B.A. in craft from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 1988. He has exhibited internationally in institutions such as the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; House of World Cultures, Berlin; ZKM, Karlsruhe; 15th Biennale of Sydney; Barbican Gallery, London; and many others. Ujino Muneteru's solo exhibitions include Yamamoto Gendai, Tokyo (2011); Ujino and the Rotators, Hayward Project Space, London (2009); and Crossband, PSM, Berlin (2008).

Ujino Muneteru: Plywood City / PSM Berlin / Art Forum Berlin. Interview with PSM Director Sabine Schmidt, October 6, 2010.