Morag Keil “Postcards from Edinburgh” at galerie tenko presents (Apr 13-May 17), Theaster Gates: Afro-Mingei at Mori Museum of Art (Apr 24–Sept 1) Ho Tzu Nyen: A for Agents at MOT Museum of Contemporary Art (Apr 6–Jul 7) as well as short story collection Where Europe Ends by Yoko Tawada and the films All of Us Strangers (dir. Andrew Haigh, 2023) and The Discarnates (dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1988) both adapted from the novel Ijintachi to no natsu (Strangers) by Taichi Yamada. This episode features samples from the BBC Sound Effects library.

Sound-Sound is a podcast about art, involves conversations and filled with noise. It’s the noise made by a string of loose thoughts and ideas yet to become a longer piece of writing. I also hope it shines a light on where people work, live, parade, play, and argue, even. For now thought, I will keep things short and sweet with three exhibitions and some soul music. Thanks

Takedo Fumitsugu “100 no me ha kōtai de nemuru (100 eyes take turns sleeping)” at Room_412. An intense exhibition squeezed into the former (windowless) apartment cum gallery. A year’s worth of imagery, two looped films and a zine titled “Compression Sustainer” describe the world as hard to forget even when you would like to. Instead, images linger like a nightmare or persist like a bad dream. They stay with you and the exhibition’s strength comes from the slow decay of old Shibuya and a venue haunted to the edge of existence.

Takedo Fumitsugu “100 no me ha kōtai de nemuru (100 eyes take turns sleeping)”April 17~28th11:00 to 18:00 (Wednesday–Sunday)http://room412.jp

As part of Onsen Confidential, a gallery co-share programme based in Tokyo hosting galleries from overseas, SVIT Gallery from Prague presents Habima Fuchs “ASAHI (Rising Sun)” at AOYAMA|MEGURO featuring Jiří Kovanda, Lukas Jasanský, Martin Polák, and Tomas Absolon. The last day is tomorrow but there is every chance works will stay up a little longer. Maybe.

April 6~21st12:00 to 19:00 (Thursday and Friday)12:00 to 18:00 (Saturdays and Sundays)http://aoyamameguro.com/en/

Naomori Oshima “Playlist” at photographers’ Gallery, Shinjuku Ni-chome. A screening of his short films alongside an installation that takes place in one of Tokyo’s most well-established photo galleries. A show which is unconventional, self-critical, humorous and playful all at the same time.

Naomori Oshima “Playlist”April 9~28th12:00 to 20:00 (Tuesday–Sunday)https://pg-web.net/

Sounds: Daichi Wago & junchai, ‘Koko Doko?’ (Self-released) For some reason Apple Music lists almost every tracks bar one in English: 半眼ノ解説 (Eyes high), メウェ市水門 (Watergate), 魔都公共放送 (249309), 大聖堂地下三十三階 (Daiseido Chika Sanjusankai), Gestaltzerfall, 光ガ丘 (Departure). Music from a good-natured Street Svelgali.

“Seeing things invisible to the eye” (Daichi Wago)

Gabriel Hartley’s recent painting show "Mosslight" at Hagiwara Projects (August 26–September 23) ended with Gabriel, painter Reina Sugihara, and I asking the question: what does it mean to paint. We’ve all called London home at some point. While Gabriel and Reina now have studios in different parts of Tokyo, thoughts of British weather and London sky remain vivid albeit different; doom-laden, hopeful, transformed. Gabriel’s paintings offer a different way of looking at or peeking through the iconography of each city at the end of a summer best described as impossibly hot. The following is an edited version of that conversation looking back at Gabriel’s work including his painted polaroids offering a glimpse of his studio, as seen above behind pigment, and the paintings it produced.