The performance “Vitality” is a way to examine “vitality” on a human and domestic scale. It was first developed in a collaborative process with seventeen students from Tama Art University in Tokyo. The performance was conducted with seventeen performers within the exhibition Hi-Blood Pressure in Koganei Art Spot. It lasted two hours.

The concept of vitality was borrowed from the manifesto of the Metabolists (a Japanese modernist group).

“We regard human society as a vital process …. The reason why we use such a biological word, metabolism, is that we believe design and technology should be a denotation of human vitality.”

The ephemeral action was blended into the environment in which it took place. The performers were located in gallery spaces and surrounding areas and nibbled sunflower seeds. Their poses were nonchalant. They did not appear very different from passers-by. The main difference was that the performers were observing the passers-by from the moment they appeared to the moment they disappeared from the performer’s vision. The performers created an invisible but strong line through their gaze which connected them with the passers-by. The feeling of being watched caused consternation or even loss of self-confidence in those who became objects of observation.

The act of nibbling sunflower seeds wasn’t accidental. It was related to the period that I recognized as the most vital, late childhood, and was related to my personal experience. The group of performers were invited to create the repetition of a nibbling gesture and at the same time incorporate their own gestures (ensuing from different cultural and social contexts). The wide range of abstract gestures initiated by performers, e.g. highlighting a hand, killing ants, holding pee, or licking textbooks were acted with a serious approach and strong emotional involvement. They were incorporating them in their own time. They could perform these actions however often they wanted. Some of them intentionally chose the moments when there was nobody around to act. Soft and ephemeral, personal gestures interrupted and changed the character of routine.

Only very patient and focused viewers could become witnesses to these moments. Although the performance strongly affected people who became a part of it just by being present in the same space, the performers had to find their own way to handle the situation.