My name is Haruko Tanaka and I am an artist living and working in Los Angeles, as well as being an instructor at the Art Institute of California - Hollywood where I teach photography, digital publishing, and a course on magic & ritual. I am also one half of an artist intuitive duo named Krystal Krunch. I was born in New York and raised in England and Japan and have been living in Los Angeles since arriving here in the early 90's to go to college.
How this project came about
This project came about as my contribution to the group exhibition Home Away curated by independent LA curator Kris Kuramitsu for the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena. The exhibition features the work of artists who, along with having Los Angeles based practices, also inhabit other locations by way of personal history, heritage, and/or physical location. Within these transnational, transcultural existences, these artists are constantly and comfortably home and away.
UPDATE: We have also been asked by our friends from Machine Project to bring Group Movement to the sidewalks of Santa Monica as part of a day of sidewalk performances.
UPDATE: We have also been asked by our friends from Machine Project to bring Group Movement to the sidewalks of Santa Monica as part of a day of sidewalk performances.
What is "group movement"?
Group movement aka shudan koudou is born out of compulsory drill exercises taught in Physical Education classes in Japanese elementary, middle, and high schools. These exercises however were taken to a whole new level beginning 40 years ago, when students of the Nippon Sport Science University turned the drills into a walking art. Today, schools throughout Japan have taken on the challenge of elevating their group movement skills.
What do you need?
We are looking for 40 people to come together to learn the basics (and a few classics) of group movement. Ideally everyone can make all 3 sessions! We will be learning everything in Part 1 (Nov 9) and Part 2 (Nov 16) and bringing what we learned in both sessions together for a final filming of our efforts in the Finale (Nov 23).
