The works presented in this exhibition demonstrate the unique ability of artists and artisans to negotiate with contingencies (Guzenzei). They express a pleasure in the encounter (Meguriai) with the personality of materials. They invite us to pay close attention to the soul (Tamashii) of objects and their aging, to accidents, to the transformation of contexts, and to the unpredictability of living beings. These works were conceived as processes, situations, and experiences whose trajectories are deliberately uncertain. 

This approach allows for a reinterpretation of the processual works that punctuated the 20th century; some, produced on-site in real-time, involve principles of delegation. Certain artists entrusted the realization of their works to third parties, aided by the expertise of Japanese artisans. These artists of contingency attach as much, if not more, importance to what happens by chance, to what is unpredictable and unexpected, as to their initial intentions. 

The term “Contingency” comes from the Latin contingere, derived from contingo, tactum, meaning “to touch, to reach with the hand” but also “to happen,” “to befall,” “to occur”1. Sensitivity to contingencies is thus a way of maintaining sensitive relationships with what the present brings. 

The multiple ecological, social, and attentional crises have their roots in a crisis of sensitivity to objects, to the environment, and to living beings. As a remedy to this indifference, we aim to highlight this aesthetic of contingency, which involves paying attention to objects, the way they are made, repaired, accompanied in their aging, and accepting their wear and impermanence as essential qualities of their history. 

Presented for the first time at the Kyoto Art Center during the Nuit Blanche in 2024, this exhibition, conceived by Sébastien Pluot at Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, features new works and a program of conversations, performances, activations, tea ceremonies, and a banquet offering a return journey from Paris to Kyoto by savouring dumplings.

[1] Le Gaffiot Latin Dictionary. In Greek, endechomeno: “what may or may not happen, what can be received.” To touch with the hand what happens, what befalls. 

Mel Bochner, a major American artist since the 1960s, recently passed away. Transduction, one of his key works, is highlighted in this exhibition dedicated to him.

Banquet Matsutake, ya shiranu, ki no ha no, hebari tsuku

The ravioli is a small travel bag filled with ingredients encountered by chance in every context along the Silk Road.

As well as the tasting, you’ll have the opportunity to take home ceramics created by So Andrew Saito and Sébastien Pluot, made with the help of Mai Miura. 

You’ll also receive a menu made of Washi paper and Tenugui, designed by Sébastien Pluot in collaboration with Tony Jouanneau.

This seated journey is freely inspired by the olfactory show imagined in 1902 by the artist, poet, writer, dancer and storyteller Sadakichi Hartmann. A first version took place on 4 October 2024 at the Institut Français du Kansai, Kyoto, Japan.

* Matsutake ya shiranu ki no ha no hebari tsuku, by Basho. Literal translation: Pine mushroom, ignorance, Leaf of tree, Adhesiveness / Usual translation: The leaf of some unknown tree, Sticking on a mushroom / Translation by Ishiyanagi Toshi: Mushroom does not know, That leaf is Sticking on it / Translation by John Cage: That that’s unknown, Brings mushroom and leaf together / Second version by John Cage: What Leaf? What Mushroom?

This banquet will take place on Thursday May 15th, 2025, 8pm at the Galerie Jocelyn Wolff. 

Participation: 50 euros

To attend this banquet, please reserve your place by e-mail at c.bondis@galeriewolff.com