Yoshida Dormitory and (un)occupied

Yoshida Dormitory, located within Kyoto University, is one of Japan’s oldest self-governed student residences. Known for its spirit of autonomy, resistance, and openness, it has long served as a gathering ground for artists, activists, and wanderers alike.

In other words, Yoshida Dormitory exists in a superposition of occupied and free access —a space that is continuously redefined through ongoing use.
There are long-term residents, but the boundaries are fluid: artists, visitors, and neighbors come and go freely.

Residents share parts of their living space. Some place personal belongings in shared areas, and others may move them without hesitation. These scattered, point-like moments of occupation collectively form the dormitory’s macro-level free access.

This space raises a fundamental question:


 What do you really own? 
 And for how long?


You are “present” here simply because you came and chose to stay.

This unstable tension between belonging and access is precisely what makes Yoshida the ideal ground for (un)occupied.

Both Yoshida Dormitory and (un)occupied ask:
 
What does it mean to share space?
 
What is our individual volume in this space?
 
With whom do we form a unit  — and what is the volume of that unit?


Two people sit side by side. Maybe they are close friends. Maybe they have never met. Maybe they do not even share a common language, but tonight, they share a 40×80cm surface — as a small unit, or as two individuals.

Just like that night, we shared Yoshida Dormitory —as a collective artistic event, and also as individuals.


Yajiuma Ginkō 


As a one-night art program held in Yoshida Dormitory, Yajiuma Ginkō embodied the same spirit of openness, improvisation, and quiet resistance.
Without a fixed format or defined roles, artists from various backgrounds gathered not to present, but to be present — together.

Instead of occupying the space through performance, the event unfolded as a shared pause:
people arrived with no agenda, exchanged few words, and engaged in parallel acts of making, moving, watching, or resting.

Objects were borrowed, surfaces re-used, traces left behind. A projection cloth, found inside the dormitory, was pinned to a beam.
In the same room, performance art, music, dance, ikebana, and improvised painting happened side by side. Tatami mats became a stage.







In the very space where my piece was taking shape, another artist was arranging ikebana. Meanwhile, music from a nearby performance echoed through the room, quietly shaping our actions.
The red lighting in the space altered the visual tone of (un)occupied, originally themed in green — turning it into red.
A painting created collectively by the audience.
During the performance, the kitchen remained in regular use. Residents were cooking while watching the performance unfold.
The concept statement of (un)occupied was pasted onto a communal wooden board inside Yoshida Dormitory.



Which spaces feel (un)occupied to you?

You can move each pair — place them wherever feels right.





Contact

Instagram
Project Summary

(un)occupied is an ongoing participatory archive of invisible closeness.  
Each heat trace captures a moment shared between two people — strangers, friends, lovers — without words, only presence.
 
Project Intention

Through body warmth and silent proximity, this work explores how we negotiate space, absence, and emotional distance.  
No names are recorded. Just traces — ephemeral, intimate, and quietly archived.