Art and Philosophy in the 22nd Century: After Arakawa and Madeline Gins

“Who are we and where are we going?— ‘puzzle creatures to ourselves, we are visitations of inexplicability.’ Arakawa and Gins posed these questions via multiple modes in the most profound manner, proposing concrete (albeit tentative) visions for the coming century. Recall that Arakawa always urged us: ‘do it, now!’ Need we be reminded that the 22nd century is coming soon, now! Embracing this spirit, AGxKANSAI 2022: Art and Philosophy in the 22nd Century After ARAKAWA+GINS [...] will explore the shape of art and philosophy toward/in the 22nd century through lectures, dialogues, presentations, exhibitions, and performances. ‘After ARAKAWA+GINS’ at once signifies our desire to follow after their future-forward vision even after their untimely demise.”—from the Call for Papers for AGxKANSAI 2022 This book comes out of the international conference AGxKANSAI 2022 (at Kyoto University of the Arts, March 11–15, 2022) organized by the Studies of the Architectural Body Research Group, Kansai University. Building upon select lectures and papers of AGxKANSAI 2022, it seeks to look back sincerely at Arakawa and Gins’s legacy as well as look ahead to see how we can continue what they have left in the context of the situations we are facing now, and beyond, toward the 22nd century.