Mikhail Karikis » The Chalk Factory

The Chalk Factory Video Documentation

wp_mikhail — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 17:34:09 +0000

This video provides some video documentation of the installation of the art project ‘The Chalk Factory’ by Mikhail Karikis as it was premiered in Aarhus (Denmark) as a new commission for the European Capital of Culture 2017. ‘The Chalk Factory’ creates an immersive environment with 10 projections, 12 sound channels and a single-channel video on a LCD monitor, and this video presents only an approximate impression of the work limited to a single-screen and stereo sound.

The Chalk Factory: Audiovisual Installation (2017)

wp_mikhail — Wed, 27 Sep 2017 16:55:52 +0000

‘The Chalk Factory’ (2017) is an audiovisual installation by Mikhail Karikis comprising 10 video channels and 10 audio channels. The installation creates an environment which superimposes onto the exhibition space the layout of Rikagaku Chalk Industries, which is a chalk manufacturing plant that employs almost exclusively workers with learning disabilities.

Built in the dense industrial outskirts of Tokyo, Rikagaku Chalk Industries offered temporary employment to two teenagers with mental disabilities in 1960. The last day of the youths’ employment was marked by a little-known but extraordinary event that changed the factory’s identity and Japan’s labour history. Workers reacted against the dismissal of their disabled colleagues, requesting the extension of their contracts and emphasising the benefits of including them in their team. Inspired by the workers’ historical protest, which addressed labour rights for workers with disabilities, Karikis developed a relationship with the factory, gaining access to its unique production processes.

‘The Chalk Factory’ observes the rhythms of a day at work, the transformations of materials and the vivid colour changes of the workspace. In this environment, we see the employees starting their day with balletic exercises, followed by the coordinated production choreography of workers and machines, and their mesmerising performance of repetitive and highly specialised tasks on specially modified equipment. The soundscape ranges from factory chimes which conduct the day’s activities to industrial beats accompanying the workers’ murmurs, their involuntary vocalisations and repeated soliloquies. These are interrupted by the cheerful dissonances of the workers’ karaoke and communal leisure time.

The overall project foregrounds disability’s own cultural history. It observes productivity, the body and social function and raises ethical questions about disability and labour, and the dignity of work. Created in collaboration with workers with disabilities and featuring their empowering work environment, the immersive installation proposes a model of inclusion and difference.

Commissioned by European Capital of Culture 2017 Aarhus, Denmark. Supported by Arts Council England.

Hyottoko the God of Fire (2017)

wp_mikhail — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 11:26:28 +0000

There are two versions of the single-channel work Hyottoko the God of Fire (2017): an installation version and a screening version. The above promo video features an extract of the screening version. Hyottoko the God of Fire is a nod to the cultural history of disability. It is a single screen video and has been created in conjunction with Mikhail Karikis’s larger project entitled The Chalk Factory which investigates the theme of disability and labour. Hyottoko the God of Fire functions as a prologue to this theme by featuring a performance of the ancient Japanese legend of Hyottoko by the bamboo flute player Kiku Day. Recently rediscovered by Dr Nicola Grove and analysed through the emergent field of the cultural history of disability (which explores narrative, visual and other representations of people with disabilities), the Hyottoko legend centers on an ‘odd-looking’ character who fails at every job he tries until he is asked to blow the village fire through a bamboo stick. His community soon discover that despite the fact that Hyottoko performs what they first thought was a simple task of little value, he is in fact the centre of their lives providing light, warmth and heat for cooking. Today, the death-mask of Hyottoko’s deformed face is a popular feature in Japanese culture celebrating the god of fire and luck.

This work is commissioned by Film London for Channel 4 (Random Acts) in association with Arts Council England. The installation version of this video was part-funded by the European Capital of Culture 2017, Aarhus, Denmark.

Heroes with a Difference: Selected Stories (N.C. Grove & M. Karikis)

wp_mikhail — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 11:25:09 +0000

This publication was created in the context of Mikhail Karikis’s solo exhibition ‘The Chalk Factory’ (2017) exploring the relationship between disability and labour. The book foregrounds research done by Dr Nicola C. Grove into the representation of people with disabilities in legends and fairy tales in different cultures, features a selection of ancient stories and a contextualising foreword by N.C. Grove and Mikhail Karikis. Funded by the European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017 (Denmark) and Arts Council England.

European Capital of Culture 2017: Commissions

wp_mikhail — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 22:24:19 +0000

A beautifully printed and fully illustrated 320 page book which includes reflections on the European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017 programme and insights on 16 special art commissions that have contributed to a year of contemplating Europe and the Danish DNA. Featuring projects by international artists: Anohni, Eglė Budvytytė, Chunky Move, Jasmina Cibic, Nathan Coley, Berlinde De Bruyckere, Maria Hassabi, Jenny Holzer, Mikhail Karikis, Barbara Kruger, LIST, Wayne McGregor, Angelica Mesiti, Callum Morton, Public Movement, and Ulla von Brandenburg. With essays by: Anohni, Erika Balsom, Kay Campbell, Juliana Engberg, Amelia Groom, Rikke Hansen, Neil Lebeter, Talia Linz, Raimundus Malašauskas, Hannah Mathews, Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek, Luke Morgan, Nick Morgan, Cherry Smyth, Anne-Mette Villumsen, and Stephen Willacy.

DOWNLOAD: A Dot in a Field by Cherry Smyth – an essay on Mikhail Karikis’s project ‘The Chalk Factory’.

Commissioning Editor: Juliana Engberg; Designer: Kim Lange; Editor: The Comma Institute. Printed by master printers, Narayana Press.

This free publication, in English, can be ordered through the Aarhus 2017 website. A postage and handling charge will be applied. Limit of one copy per order. Limited edition.