own pace

aaploit presents own pace, a solo exhibition by Michimata Aoi, on view from September 1 through September 24, 2023. Michimata is conducting research on printmaking at Musashino Art University's graduate program.

"Kafka's Staircase," which Michimata produced during her undergraduate years, references a concept proposed by the social activist and writer Ikuta Takeshi, drawing on Franz Kafka's Letter to His Father.¹

Losing a job. Losing an address. These things happen as if descending a staircase one step at a time. But once someone is living on the street, the steps back to their former life become impossibly high. In Letter to His Father, Kafka wrote that under his father's excessive pressure, he had to climb stairs with five times the height of everyone else's—stairs that could not be climbed even with his fullest effort. For people experiencing homelessness, obtaining an address, finding work, securing money until the next payday—each of these stands before them like a wall-like staircase.

Referencing this concept, Michimata's Kafka's Staircase gives expression to the sense of life's unfairness felt by her generation.

A society that assumes everyone will climb the staircase—yet surely each person's staircase is different. Those unaware they are descending. Those who have abandoned the climb. Must everyone climb at the same pace? Through her work, Michimata poses these questions. While addressing contemporary themes—such as those visible among the Tō-yoko kids—her work carries an appearance reminiscent of picture books, and the gap between this aesthetic and the depth of the subject evokes the very difference in step height she describes.

The staircase, presented through various situations, carries the message that it cannot be applied uniformly to everyone.

This exhibition presents works from the Kafka's Staircase series alongside a new series.

¹ https://www.pref.osaka.lg.jp/documents/20477/2-6_15-16.pdf

For inquiries regarding the exhibition and works, please contact info@aaploit.com.