All Living Things are Breathing Now is a solo exhibition by Japanese artist duo Kyunchome, Nabuchi (b. 1984, Mito) and Honma Eri (b. 1987, Yokohama). The focus of the exhibition is a new series of work by Kyunchome that highlights the seas and it’s coastal ecosystems as dynamic ecotones and contact zones where humans and multiple species interact with intertidal rhythms.
Where the stark realities of climate change, and the intricate balance between land and sea come to life.
Kyunchome’s work serves as a poignant meditation on resilience, memory, and our profound connections to the ocean. Kyunchome emerged in response to a landscape dramatically reshaped by the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, along with the subsequent tsunami and the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Their artistic practice consistently addresses themes at the intersection of politics, ecology, and social structures.
For millennia, the symbolic connection between humanity and the sea, and its diverse nautical and coastal influences have played a significant role in shaping human culture and identity. The ocean, a sublime cultural symbol, has both literal and metaphorical associations. Echoing human consciousness, and contemporaneously serving as an indicator of the impact of conquest, slavery, colonialism, and climate change. The ocean has played a crucial role in shaping the interrelationships between human and non-human ecosystems. Coastal communities along it’s shorelines forming the foundation of the local sociocultural characteristics. At the same time, communities that face significant challenges, such as resource depletion, and pollution, driven by various sociopolitical movements, and economic exploitation.
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The seas historical representation and importance in art, literature, and film has been transformative, one that continues to this century with contemporary artists bringing attention to the ocean as a place that reflects the pervasiveness of life, beliefs, fragility and tragedy. Complex coexistence’s and transformations that have inspired Kyunchome to engage with and explore such narratives, and language of the seas as a pathway for ideas, exchange, livelihood and survival.
The sea, as a poetic trope, shaping perceptions of humanity and civilisation, a natural aquatic environment, and a repository of collective and personal histories. Symbolising a longing and desire for the here and elsewhere, informing a sense of nationhood, national identity, and inward and outward movements. Kyunchome’s reflections thoughtfully explore and highlight the ocean’s connections to humanity across generations, cultures, and history, exploring complex relationships and entanglements of life and matter, and the historical and contemporary ties between humans, land and sea.
All Living Things are Breathing Now is curated by Keith Whittle and produced by Artlink, Inishowen, Donegal, Ireland. The accompanying brochure on Kyunchome has a newly commissioned essay by curator and writer Jason Waite.
The exhibition was organised in cooperation with rin art association, Gunma, Japan.
