Go Viral!
Ways to Resist the Social Immunity

SOUYA HANDA PROJECTS is organizing an online art project along with Tokyo Gendai, the first international art fair held in Tokyo in 30 years. This project aims to explore unconventional methods of challenging societal norms in public spaces. The artworks featured in this project involve actions such as adorning weeds with ribbons, using hostile architectural elements as BDSM torture tools for pleasure, and creating temporary graffiti on street walls using water.

Audiences can participate in this exhibition by accessing the website https://goviral.souyahandaprojects.com/ . However, they will only be able to view the images of the artworks when they are physically near the locations where the artworks were originally created.

"Go Viral!: Ways to Resist the Social Immunity," an online art project features the works of Japanese contemporary artists: (euglena), Ryota Kikuchi, Sota Kodera, and Souya Handa. The project will be hosted on the website https://goviral.souyahandaprojects.com/ 

The concept of "social immunity" – originally a word from biological term – metaphorically symbolizes the marginalization experienced by individuals who fall outside the boundaries of dominant societal values. The artworks showcased in this exhibition demonstrate ways to resist such exclusion, by intervening in public spaces and spreading throughout society like viruses.

Audiences can explore the streets around Tokyo to discover the physical locations where these artworks were created. By approaching specific points marked on a map, viewers can access images of the artworks and trace the artistic process. Some works are not only visible on the website but also placed on-site. Additionally, there will be a hidden method to view all of the artworks without physically visiting the locations like a easter egg.

In these years, humanity continues its battle against the virus and strives to achieve herd immunity, aiming to restore our health and daily lives. While immunity can be beneficial, it can also lead to allergic reactions. Artists go viral, like viruses, to resist the oppressive force of social majority immunity.

6th 1:00 p.m. - 15th 11:59 p.m., July 2023

Venue: https://goviral.souyahandaprojects.com/ 

Artists: (euglena), Ryota Kikuchi, Sota Kodera and Souya Handa

* Artists list can be changed

Curator: Souya Handa

Produced by Souya Handa Projects

(euglena) is an installation artist based in Tokyo. She is a daughter of Thai-Chinese-Thai father and Japanese-Peruvian mother. She received her BFA in Art and Media Course from the Department of Information Design at Tama Art University, and her MFA in Space Design from Tokyo University of the Arts.

Awards
2019 The 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival (by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs) - New
Face Award (Art)
A' Design Award and Competition - GOLD A' Design Award
2018 The 24th Campus Genius Contest - GOLD Prize of ART DIVISION, Silver Prize of
Entertainment Division
2017 SICF18, Semi-Grand Prize - Audience award

Solo Exhibitions
2023 When I find a fascia (moku²/Tokyo)
2021 Sleeping Seeds, Gazing. (Kominka inae／Chiba)
2019 Seek Foundations (COURTYARD HIROO／Tokyo)

Selected Group Exhibitions
2019 The 22nd Japan Media Arts Festival Exhibition of Award-winning Works (Miraikan - The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation/Tokyo)
The 24th Campus Genius Contest Winners Exhibition (Miraikan - The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation／Tokyo)
2018 SICF18 Winners Exhibition (SPIRAL／Tokyo)

Ryota Kikuchi is an artist born in Chiba in 1981 and living in the same city. Kikuchi graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts, Department of Intermedia Art, and further pursued his education at the Graduate School of the same university. With a background as a free climber, he skillfully translates his distinctive perspective into artistic expression, offering captivating works that vividly depict the diverse domains and boundaries found within cities and landscapes.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2022 icon contemporary photographyⅡ (AXIS Gallery/Tokyo)

2022 Side Core "A・Route・Map・II" (Gallery Trax/Yamanashi)

2021 NORTHERN ALPS ART FESTIVAL 2020-2021 (Nagano)
2018 PLAY OUTSIDE!—From Picnic to Skateboarding (Ichihara Lakeside Museum, Chiba) 

Sota Kodera is an artist from and based in Tokyo. Kodera graduated from the Department of Painting at Musashino Art University in 2021.

Solo Exhibition
2022 Training City (Token Art Center/Tokyo)

Selected Group Exhibition
2023 EASTEAST_TOKYO 2023 (Science Museum/Tokyo)
2022 Retrospective Exhibition (gallery 10[TOH]/Tokyo）
Interface Bodies (CON_/Tokyo)
Wild Mountain Rumblings (Room_412/Tokyo)

Souya Handa, born in 1994 in Hamamatsu and grew up in Hiroshima, is an artist and independent curator. His projects focus on exploring the relationship between technology and social ethics, as well as on issues surrounding Asian and Japanese identity. Additionally, he is an accomplished researcher in the field of 1980s Japanese video art. He received his MFA from the Tokyo University of the Arts in 2019, as well as a research master's degree from the University of Tokyo in 2023.

Solo Exhibition
2018 public void() (Daigaku Kaikan Gallery of Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo)

Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Take it Home, for (__) Shall Not Repeat the Error. (Sogo Hiroshima/Hiroshima)
2022 Noodle Party (ANB Tokyo/Tokyo)
2020 New New New Normal（Gallery MoMo Projects/Tokyo）