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\u00a0\u201cThinking, and feeling, with toxicity invites a recounting of the affectivity and relationality\u2014indeed the bonds\u2014of queerness as it is presently theorized.\u201d<\/small><\/p>\n
(Mel Y. Chen, \u201cToxic Animacies, Inanimate Affections,\u201d 2011) <\/small><\/p>\n
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Pipes and baby formula pervade the venue; artificial skin glows under artificial lighting; bouquets of flowers are arranged in yellow, chemically contaminated water. Large windows let in natural light, revealing trees in the courtyard beyond. The windows are open, allowing fresh air to circulate and natural light to pour in. This connection to the outside accentuates the pseudo-ecosystem constructed within the space. Its elements overlap with a wooden framework that crosses the center of the venue diagonally in a work titled \u201cPour Your Body Out.\u201d Together with two video works, this piece constitutes \u201cscopic measure #17 \u2013 Ecologies of Closeness,\u201d a solo exhibition by Maya Erin Masuda.<\/p>\n
The liquid formed by dissolving powdered milk distributed by machinery connects multiple elements within the exhibition space. Silently yet critically, it brings into focus the relationship between technology and the \u201cbiopolitics\u201d of the state, which regulates life and birth, foregrounding the theme of reproductive rights. Meanwhile, the video work \u201cPlastic Ocean,\u201d composed of countless shots capturing radiation and land, evokes the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant while reflecting on forms of control, management, and deviation within society in the wake of a nuclear disaster.<\/p>\n
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Maya Erin Masuda \u300aPlastic Ocean\u300b\u3000Courtesy of Artist<\/p>\n
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Nuclear disaster and queer ecology are indispensable perspectives when discussing Masuda\u2019s work. \u201cPour Your Body Out,\u201d which occupies the majority of this exhibition, was first presented at \u201cGround Zero,\u201d an exhibition curated by Masuda and held at the Kyoto Art Center in 2023. There, Masuda reframed \u201cground zero\u201d\u2014typically denoting the site of a nuclear blast or rocket detonation\u2014as \u201cgeotrauma\u201d inflicted by humans upon planet Earth, affecting not only people but also forests, land, and animals.<\/p>\n
The theory of queer ecology referenced here explores the impact anthropocentric society has had on nature, biology, and sexuality from the perspective of queer theory, which rejects the hegemonic assumptions constructed by heteronormativity and cisgender identity. This theory was applied to the issue of nuclear disasters in Japan by Tomoe Otsuki, who specializes in the study of postwar Japan, popular culture, and nuclear memory. Examining the issue of futurism in Japanese society after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which caused a severe nuclear accident, Otsuki further expands on the theoretical framework of \u201cReproductive Futurism,\u201d criticized by queer studies scholar Lee Edelman.<\/p>\n
The futurist ideology, premised on the idea of historical progress that views the past and present as perpetually backwards relative to the future, and taking for granted the utopian notion that the future will inevitably be \u201csafer\u201d due to new scientific and technological developments, reinforces and solidifies heteronormativity. It does so by linking the ideal future with the image of children, based on the politics of \u201ca better and safer future, for the children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Within this \u201creproductive futurism\u201d constructed on the premise of heteronormativity (reproduction and procreation), the same social structures are endlessly reproduced under the banner of \u201cthe future.\u201d By believing this repetition constitutes \u201cprogress,\u201d the possibility of counter-ideologies or queer futures existing outside these norms is stripped away. Otsuki argued for the need to liberate \u201cthe future\u201d from the repetition of past and present, raising the possibility of new narratives that encourage imagining queer futures distinct from futurism.<\/p>\n
As it was presented in the \u201cGround Zero\u201d exhibition, \u201cPour Your Body Out\u201d was supported by a metal framework, drawing attention to the nature of inhumane aspect of institutional systems. In \u201cEcologies of Closeness,\u201d however, the structure\u2019s material has been changed from metal to wood. The Covid-19 pandemic triggered a surge in lumber prices known as the \u201cwood shock,\u201d which for a time made it extremely difficult to obtain domestic lumber. This shift in material for the exhibition\u2014the construction of the framework from wood, a highly regulated form of life inextricably tied to its market value\u2014implies that control and regulation by means of biopower are not solely a human concern.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0<\/span>Maya Erin Masuda \u300aPour Your Body Out\u300b\uff082023, KYOTO ART SENTER\uff09\u3000Courtesy of Artist<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Following \u201cGround Zero,\u201d what Masuda practices in \u201cEcologies of Closeness\u201d can be described as a redefinition of toxicity. The issue of toxicity in the art establishment was examined by scholar and museum conservator Helene Tello in The Toxic Museum: Berlin and Beyond<\/em>(Routledge, 2024), in which the author historicizes the use of pesticides in German museum collections from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century.<\/p>\n Focusing particularly on the Ethnological Museum of Berlin, Tello reconstructs the study of toxicity in museum collections, including the use of insecticides, within the context of nation-state formation, colonialism, the development of the chemical industry, World War I, and the resulting hygiene movement. She reveals that many objects in these collections are highly contaminated, and concludes that the most dangerous and difficult situations arise when contaminated artifacts are returned to their countries of origin.<\/p>\n Issues of contamination and toxicity continue to pose an obstacle in the return of looted cultural properties to their countries of origin, a longstanding challenge facing major European museums. Moreover, a dual toxicity emerges here: \u201ctoxicity that is matetrial, or symbolic.\u201d In other words, within museums there exists a material toxicity\u2014the residual chemicals from past conservation treatments\u2014which complicates efforts toward decolonization and the return of stolen artifacts. Simultaneously, monuments and statues remaining in public spaces and museums continue to harbor a political and symbolic toxicity through their association with colonialism, dictatorship, and war. Through these considerations, The Toxic Museum<\/em>demonstrates that the institution of the museum is never neutral, but rather a political space that contains an inherent toxicity.<\/p>\n I interpreted \u201cEcologies of Closeness\u201d as an attempt to subvert the museum as a politically toxic space and instead display its problematic framework by way of visual art. Notably, the exhibition appears positioned as an opportunity to reconsider the affectivity and relationality of queerness as currently theorized\u2014and the bonds these elements foster\u2014by prompting reflection on and experience of toxicity. This orientation is evident in the citation of \u201cToxic Animacies, Inanimate Affections,\u201d a research paper by queer theory, animal studies, and critical race theory specialist Mel Y. Chen, in Masuda\u2019s video work \u201cAll Small Fragments of You,\u201d which is also part of the exhibition.<\/p>\n Chen\u2019s paper explores how queering and racializing non-human materials leads to animacy. It reexamines how the linguistic, cognitive, and sensory distinction of animacy (animate\/inanimate) is in fact fluid, political, and emotional. Particularly through the mediation of toxicity (in which poison equals a chemical\/harmful substance), the connections between life and non-life, objects and humans, and emotion and matter are reconfigured. Animacy goes beyond issues of personification, being built on the recognition that abstract concepts, inanimate objects, and things in between can be queered and racialized without human bodies present. Mel Y. Chen\u2019s position is that theorizing animacy offers an alternative or complement to existing biopolitical and recent queer-theoretical debates about life and death.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Maya Erin Masuda \u300aAll Small Fragments of You\u300b\u3000Courtesy of Artist<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The \u201ctoxic queer bonds\u201d theorized here form the underlying theme of \u201cAll Small Fragments of You.\u201d The work consists of narration by Maya Erin Masuda, scenes of communal living with an intimate other, sculptures in a museum, and multiple texts. \u201cPlastic Ocean\u201d and \u201cAll Small Fragments of You\u201d are two strikingly contrasting video works. While the former evokes continuity with the \u201cGround Zero\u201d exhibition, presenting fragments of post-nuclear disaster landscapes detached from human life, the latter powerfully conveys the spontaneous presence of life and matter\u2014intimacy, the dampness of sweat, sunlight dappling through leaves, the caress of wind, and scent.<\/p>\n The artist\u2019s voice overlaps here, speaking to the viewer. Pointing to three medicines\u2014a drug to to escape gender normativity, a drug to stop menstruation, and intestinal medication\u2014accepting them, and gazing upon \u201cher\u201d who with these medicines seeks to transform into a body neither female nor male and attain \u201cfreedom\u201d; this is where the work begins, and where it ends. \u201cWe are shaped by absorbing all molecular otherness,\u201d Masuda declares. The implication of \u201cwe\u201d here extends beyond bodies and politics. It encompasses land, abstract concepts, inanimate objects, and everything in between. The gaze directed at \u201call queers living amidst tenderness and suffering, all things queered and reclaimed\u201d\u2014as listed in the acknowledgments\u2014sustains the exhibition. It therefore stands as a testament to steadfast resistance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n References: <\/small><\/p>\n Tomoe Otsuki, \u201cKakusaigai go no \u2018mirai\u2019 no hyosho to kodomo kyuseishu: Fukushima ni arawareta \u2018Sun Child\u2019 zo wo saiko suru,\u201d Sculpture 2<\/em>, Shoshitsukumo, 2022.<\/small><\/p>\n Helene Tello, The Toxic Museum Berlin and Beyond<\/em>, Routledge, 2024.<\/small><\/p>\n Mel Y. Chen, \u201cToxic Animacies, Inanimate Affections,\u201d 2011.<\/small><\/p>\n Lee Edelman, No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive<\/em>, Duke University<\/small><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Translated by Ilmari Saarinen<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Maya Erin Masuda \u300aPour Your Body Out\u300b\uff082023-2025\u3001YCAM) \u3000Photo by Hayato Itakura\u3000Courtesy of Yamaguchi Center fo […]","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":9204,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[73],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9202"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9230,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9202\/revisions\/9230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/realtokyo.co.jp\/_sys2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3ff33782686a8ce30327f91f9ecbc17f-1024x576.png\")
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