The Belly Stealing the Back: Reprise

This was TARKY Toshima's first one-person play. Toshima had performed an earlier version at the same venue the previous year, but was somewhat dissatisfied with its plot, and so presented a revised version titled Reprise. Because it was a solo performance, and because it took place at blanClass, on the former premises of B-semi, the school the artist had once attended, it became a sketch comedy about the artist's own memories and identity.

On the blanClass website, the work was classified not only as sketch comedy and performance, but also under the somewhat enigmatic category “Gender Chasing.” This reflected the shared intention of the artist and the organizer, Haruka Kawaguchi, to address gender directly as a theme. The term is a neologism suggesting the pursuit or “chasing” of gender. Toshima felt that the idea offered something like a clue for developing the work, and decided to use it. What matters here is that, while chasing, you might pull ahead, and after going once around the Earth, overtake yourself as you run. While chasing, it turned out I had overtaken—myself.

As the work took shape, however, it moved beyond gender as a problematique in itself, leaping away from it and veering into other problematics, including “Name–Identity,” “Tool–Object,” and “Memory–Narration.” It also examines relationships between the possessor and the possessed.

This work was also taken up in the roundtable discussion “Casual Encounter and an Escape,” where Toshima and Nike Tobita talk about it. The discussion delves into the difference between “chasing” and drag, and into running past identity and overtaking it, so please do read it, Toshima says.

Cultural and Historical Notes for English Readers

1. B-semi: An Experimental System for Learning Contemporary Art

B-semi was an independent art education program founded in Yokohama in October 1967 by the artist Akio Kobayashi (1929–2000). Its original name was Gendai Bijutsu Basic Seminar (現代美術ベイシックゼミナール), or Contemporary Art Basic Seminar.

Rather than functioning simply as a place to learn established techniques, B-semi sought new ways of learning and making art. Artists and critics working in different fields were invited to teach, discuss problems of artistic practice, and engage with participants' work. The emphasis was on exploring new forms of expression together, rather than transmitting a fixed set of rules about what art should be.

The range of people involved gives some indication of its character. In its early years, teachers included Yoshishige Saito, Jiro Takamatsu, Lee Ufan, Nobuo Sekine, Susumu Koshimizu, Yusuke Nakahara, and Koji Taki. Later generations of artists and critics also participated as instructors.

Its educational activities extended beyond classes. From 1968 through 2003, B-semi students presented work at annual exhibitions at the Yokohama Citizens Gallery, alongside events and symposia. The program also responded to changes in artistic practice by incorporating media such as photography, video, and computers, which did not always fit within narrower definitions of fine art.

The institution's name changed over time: it became B-semi Schooling System in 1986 and B-semi Learning System in 1999. It ceased operations in 2004, after 37 years. Its history is documented in B-semi: A History of “Learning New Expression,” 1967–2004, published by BankART1929 in 2005.

References:
- Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, “Akio Kobayashi,” Yearbook of Japanese Art
- Yokohama Citizens Gallery, “The History of B-semi Exhibitions”
- B-semi Learning System, A History of “Learning New Expression,” 1967–2004

2. From B-semi to blanClass

Toshima completed the B-semi Learning System in 2004. In April 2009, blanClass was established on the former premises of B-semi in Yokohama's Minami Ward.

The name blanClass combines the French word blanc (“white” or “blank”) with class, referring to the idea of an “empty classroom.” This name recalls the site's former function as a place for learning contemporary art while also suggesting the possibility of beginning again without a predetermined program.

blanClass developed as a space for presenting art and fostering dialogue among artists, specialists, students, and researchers. Its activities included one-night events and public interviews, bringing together different generations and fields of artistic practice. Rather than emphasizing finished works alone, it also documented and circulated the discussions that emerged through these encounters.

Sources:
- blanClass, Introduction
- blanClass, History
- blanClass, TARKY Toshima, The Belly Stealing the Back (2016)