artist
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english / japanese
writer / translator
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agent
Insta
fter traversing some quiet pockets of nocturnal inner Tokyo, I arrive at an unassuming location designated by MIRA新伝統 (‘MIRA Shindento’). Below some stairs, I am led to a bioluminescent hidden two-story space, swirling and pummelling to trance music, with an unconventional layout resembling a church or a gothic mansion’s foyer – through a former sushi restaurant – hosting in its expanse an underground realm of Tokyo’s nocturnal people. I’m far away from above-ground common sense, and my thoughts begin to untangle as I prepare myself for what is to come.
Comprised of the duo of Honami Higuchi and Raphael Leray, MIRA 新伝統 is an unlikely project to witness in Tokyo’s standard club settings, even though its sounds and visuals resonate with its dystopian surroundings. Their ongoing practice assembles electronic music, science fiction, digital media, performance, and several artistic disciplines into a unique post-apocalyptic vision. “Shindento” means new tradition.
Their project exudes post-human themes and spiritual airs in physical and virtual spaces. Alongside 3D rendered landscapes and other software-based hallucinations, the alien-gothic sounds of Raphael Leray summons unfamiliar entities and places outlandish, though seemingly still dimensionally linked to our neon alleys. The two spontaneously intervene in hidden spots across Tokyo’s underground scene, with the contortionist choreography of performance artist Honami Higuchi leading as pur-of-the-moment ritual theatre. As Leray’s operatic digital sound designs unfold from club speakers, Higuchi wields unique artefacts – weapons, metallic plates, accessories and other hand-crafted mystical items – to physically summon the unknown.
Here, a fanfare of swirling synths halts the standard mechanics of the night. The crowd parts to reveal Honami standing in the building’s atrium, holding in one hand a light source casting stark shadows across the room and a wooden cane in the other. A large metal plate is suspended from high ceilings, glinting mysterious symbols. Leary begins to churn rich synth layers from behind the decks, his esoteric compositions setting the scene for uncharted exploration.
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