PS.ARCHIVE | Seminars on the Imagination of Sekaikei and its Visual Representation 2/2 скачать в хорошем качестве

PS.ARCHIVE | Seminars on the Imagination of Sekaikei and its Visual Representation 2/2

Para Site presents a weekend event that consists of a long-night marathon of anime screenings, a panel discussion on the imagination of Sekaikei and its visual representation, as well as a special Hong Kong premiere of Fuyuki Yamakawa’s performance. Sekaikei is a Japanese term that spread primarily through the Internet and entered into academic parlance as a result of its association with Japanese subcultural narratives, especially those found in animations, light novels, manga, and films. Sekaikei entered wider popular culture in the 2000s following the success of the animated series Shin Seiki Evangelion. Sekaikei stories (sekai meaning “world”, and kei meaning “type”) often feature a relationship between the protagonist and their partner, which becomes the sole driving force of all of the other happenings in the world. The term Sekaikei is used to describe the character-centric approach to the world that is created in these stories. One of the main characteristics in the Sekaikei genre, according to Hiroki Azuma, is the withdrawal from realities found in the contemporary social sphere. Sekaikei’s tendency to neglect economic, political, and historical issues has been greatly criticised. Coinciding with a period of prolonged crisis in Japan, affecting both its economy and political discourse, Sekaikei works have often been seen as portraying an ”excessively self-conscious leading character [who] subjectively and speculatively links himself to the end of the world.” This two-day event at Para Site gathering a group of artists, curators, academics, and film theorists, will look at the problems that arise from the Sekaikei narrative, its implications to contemporary politics and society, in Japan and the entire region where it is hugely popular. This project is co-conceived by Freya Chou and Hitomi Hasegawa, with research assistance by Catherine Lau. This event is conducted in English. Para Site 推出「世界系」特別活動，包括馬拉松動漫長夜放映、關於世界系想像及視覺再現的研討會，以及日本藝術家山川冬樹的首次香港演出。 「世界系」最早為一網路盛傳的流行用詞，後在學術界被廣為用來作為日本次文化尤其是在動漫、輕小說、漫畫及電影等範疇的分析。2000年由於動漫電影《新世紀福音戰士》的成功，世界系一詞正式受到主流文化的關注。世界系的命名及其類型的作品多半在描述主角與其另一半的情愛關係強烈到足以成為影響世界危機的主要力量。 日本知名文化學者東浩紀認為「世界系」的一個重要特質在主人公對社會現實的逃避，他們對世界的危機感與政治、經濟、歷史等社會國家結構沒有直接關係；而日本經年累月的政治經濟危機，影響了其論述在歷史上的書寫，「世界系」主角的自我意識過剩則因此成了其與世界末日形成主觀連結的重要因素。 「世界系」不僅在日本，甚至其他亞洲地區都受到廣大的歡迎。在此次活動中，我們邀請了藝術家、策展人、電影及文化學者齊聚一堂，就「世界系」所面對的批評及其之於當代政治與社會的意含進行談論。 本計劃由周安曼及長谷川仁美共同策劃，柳家媛研究協助。活動全程以英語進行。