I went to "Artist File 2013," which runs until April 1st at the National Art Center, Tokyo (Nibi) in Roppongi, Tokyo.

Artist File is an exhibition without a set theme. Nibi curators select artists who reflect the "contemporary" era, providing each artist with a large space and presenting the exhibits like solo exhibitions, resulting in a selection of impressive works. I visit every year, and this year, many of the works throughout the exhibition made me think about "memory and record."

Perhaps "memory and record" are major themes pursued by "contemporary" art. If a project's purpose is not explicitly stated, but rather "emotional," then I think this year's Artist File was a great success.

I'd like to introduce an exhibition that evoked a sense of "memory" or "record."
Darren Almond's installation "If I Had You," which won the Turner Prize in 2005, is a deeply romantic piece in which a grandmother "reminisces" about her late partner. This work romantically expresses the passage of time and the wistfulness of memory. Photographer Rieko Shiga lives in a coastal village in Miyagi Prefecture and photographs the community there. Large prints of these photographs, propped up in a jumble, are on display. This work became a hot topic after the earthquake. Photography exhibitions often prompt reflections on the concepts of memory and record, and Shiga's photographs deeply explore the meaning of the act of recording. Azumatei Jun's paintings use used sheets as canvases, painting the traces left by sleepers. They express the vivid memories of those who were there in a clean, nostalgic way. Jeong Yong-doo randomly interviews people and elicits their past memories, then recreates them as video works. Events in memory cannot be perfectly recreated. This work evokes the romance of memory precisely because it cannot be recreated or reverted.

Kagabu Shiho's work is an installation that arranges small, mysterious objects in a large space. By walking among the objects scattered throughout the space and turning around to examine them repeatedly, each object begins to take on various shapes. It makes you conscious of "looking back on memories" and wondering whether our visual memories are accurate.

It is precisely because "memories" are ambiguous and cannot be reproduced that they are both romantic and dramatic. How do we "record" these "memories"? Contemporary art is experimenting with this in various ways.