Imaginative “Inter-Traveller” as the Protagonist

To counter the sense of hopelessness associated with the present day, KONOIKE invites us to consider the power of art through “play” and its full use of imaginative engagement. KONOIKE here draws upon the Japanese ancient derivation of “play” (asobi) which refers to shamanistic retrieval of the soul of the recently departed. These “players” retrieved souls between dimensions, where the soul was like an “inter-traveller” between the living and the beyond. KONOIKE metaphorically employs this sense of “play” between dimensions to claim art’s ability to release the body’s soul and invoke its interior spirit. This exhibition posits the viewer as an imaginative Inter-Traveller.

*Inter-Traveller: coined terms by the artist. It indicates one who goes and comes to / from the different world, or a person free from the boundaries.