Aoi Yamaguchi x Corey Fuller Live Calligraphy Performance Corss Hotel Sapporo 2016, Photo by Akko Terasawa

The 2nd live performance was held at the opening reception of the solo exhibition in the eve. 2 women with black clothes appeared at the venue: meet lounge. They set a piece of thin cloth in front and white paper backward. Yamaguchi entered the space between those through the thin cloth. She repeated stroking the brush from right to left.

Aoi Yamaguchi ×Corey Fuller Live Calligraphy Performance Cross Hotel Sapporo, 2016, Photo by Akko Terasawa

Corey Fuller followed her movement and played improvisation music with synthesizer and sampler. When he snapped the string of the piano, the brush started drawing arc for responding with the sound. It was avant-garde calligraphy lead by music or it led the music.

Aoi Yamaguchi ×Corey Fuller Live Calligraphy Performance Cross Hotel Sapporo, 2016, Photo by Akko Terasawa

With the aftertaste of the first calligraphy, she moved to the thin cloth. One stroke and one stroke, move and stop. The movement of the brush attracted the audience. Two letters “Mukyu (eternal)” were written in front of them.

“Mukyu (eternal)” Aoi Yamaguchi x Corey Fuller Live Calligraphy Performance Cross Hotel Sapporo, 2016, Photo by Akko Terasawa

In the end, she wrote a letter “Matataki (blink)” on the blank paper on the whole of the floor with a big brush that was almost same tall as her. It brought down the house. The recorded video was screened in the meet lounge only during the exhibition.

Aoi Yamaguchi x Corey Fuller Live Calligraphy Performance Cross Hotel Sapporo 2016 Photo by Akko Terasawa

The purpose why Yamaguchi started the performance is because she wanted people not only to “see” the calligraphy as flat surface art but also “experience” it. Calligraphy is “Dance of mind and body which starts from meditation” for her. It’s “tracks” of movement with brush and ink. She thinks the process of production is the art and wants to share it with people.

“Matataki (blink)” Aoi Yamaguchix Corey Fuller Live Calligraphy Performance Cross Hotel Sapporo, 2016, Photo by Akko Terasawa

She has been inspired by music and nature scenery, writing poem, and making works with those concepts since she was little age. Her all works have stories and images of “movement” like movie. It is natural that she collaborates with something and shows performance for expressing such her world.