EN

Contemporary art fundamentally opposes war.
Thus, I oppose Japan’s new security legislation.

War creates separation between “we” and “enemies”.

Who are the “enemies” considered as a danger?
What are the profiles of these “enemies,” made into targets for unmanned aerial combat vehicles?
Where do the “enemies” in a state of war come from?
Who really are the “enemies,” positioned as evil to outside of the society?
The imagination of art goes to these “enemies”.

Time and time again, the history of art has praised war.
Not just as a result of unconditional obedience to orders.
A desire for war always lies in humans, which makes mankind’s extinction a superior aesthetic pleasure — “war is beautiful.”
An imperfect animal that senses “élan vital” in battles and killings, humans make war a spectacle.
On the monitor is a war taking place in a “far country”, giving no actual sense of violence and death.
Once distant from it, everyday life continues to go on, as if “the war did not take place”.

On the other hand, art has portrayed each person’s singular death that occurs in war.
It has conveyed how murderous actions thoroughly destroy the human mind.
It has expressed painful memories that afflict the future over many generations.
It has converted the emotion of violence and revenge, which would lead to war, into “lyrical terrorism”.

War creates separation between “we” and “enemies”.

In the midst of dichotomization between justice and evil, “barbarians”, who threaten the nation’s existence, are created.
Divisions, discrimination and dichotomies between different nationals, civilizations, cultures, races, economies and religions.
That is where a collective called “we” arises, automatizing the system of censorship and self-censorship.
The imagination of art goes to “we”.

Japan bears a future to be a neutral country that realizes high-level peace negotiations by thrusting into the thick of grudges, hatred and antagonism.
Proactive contribution to peace can be achieved by strategically taking advantage of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution.
This must be a historical necessity based on remorse over World War II.

There are unbreakable contracts with the past.
Contemporary art thus fundamentally opposes war.

Signed

Hitoshi Mori
Satoshi Uchiumi
Fumio Inoue
NAKAJIMA Yuta
Hiromi Takai
Satoshi Hashimoto
Koki Tanaka
Atsuko Nozaki
Kazuhito Tanaka
Tamaki Kawaguchi
Sachiyo Honda
ON megumi Akiyoshi
Migiwa Orimo
Kaz. Sakurada
Yohei Tomooka
Hanae Utamura
Kokatsu Reiko
meosai
Yayoi Yoshizawa
Masami Kondo
Satoshi Koganezawa
Kaori Homma
Hajime Nariai
Yaegashi Yoshihi
Yasuto Masumoto
Masaki Nakayama
Ryo Fujii
Yuki Okumura
Jun Yang
Yusuke Mitsufuji
Rumiko Hagiwara
Yukiko Nagakura
Satoshi Otsuka
Rika Aki
Yuki Harada
Shigeo Arikawa
Koichi Tanibe
Shiro Masuyama
Kosuke Hatano
Emi Endo
Michiko Tsuda
Yuri Shirasaka
Jun Kawada
Keiko Goto
Manabu Takano
Toichiro Tanaka
Hiroshi Sugawara
Ken Sasaki
Satoshi Nakashima
Toru Koyamada
Katsuhiro Saiki
Keiji Saito
Ayako Osanai
Hiroshi Sunairi
Yuka Tokuyama
Kazuhiko Yoshizaki
Naoya Fujita
Megumi Shimizu
Hiroki Yamamoto
Jun Miyagi
Shiigi Shizune
Yoshio Shirakawa
Aisuke Kondo
Meiro Koizumi
Natsuko Kurashige
Hikaru Fujii
Jun Fukae
Vincent Vandaele
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