History: Ryu Toru Oyama, NGM Interview

Ryu Toru Oyama, NGM interview
Interview host: Shih Wei Chieh
2022.12.03
Okinawa, online

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? About your role, profession or current interests?
I'm a freelance artist, art director, cinematographer, bio artist, chef...etc. I am currently based in Okinawa, Japan, but before that I have been in activities in Germany. Furthermore, I focus on the underlying potential of Okinawa, its relationship with Asia across near the sea, and geographic and cultural backgrounds, as well as nature-worship connected to the mainland, especially Tohoku and Hokkaido.

Can you tell us about the Oki Wonder Lab 2020? What was the origins, mindset, motivation, how was it formed? For example, what is the role of Hackteria and Feral labs in Oki Wonder Lab?
Okiwonderlab was held a few years after one of Hackteria projects in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2014. Okinawonderlab was planned as part of Hackteria's project in Taiwan. As a co-organizer I (Oyama) and Marc Dusseiller (Hackteria) who was as a host at Finland-based SOLU Bio art society Field-Note -EOS 2018 met in Finland. As a result, the Hackteria project in Taiwan could not be realized, and the camp in Okinawa was held alone.It was not originally a large-scale event, but a small number of creators and participants were joined for a long term of 1 to 3 months, not a short period. we expected more free and active comings and goings of people who can choose their available term. Based on the geographical meaning of Okinawa, which is a remote island, the theme of "isolation" is sought to emphasize distributed activity which contained geographical and environmental uniqueness. Also by not forcing so-called “purpose” and generally required numbers and output, we would “move out of curiosity” like a child on summer vacation, we would support each specialty and ability as much as possible. Consideration was given to generate environments in which people can interact with each other. For that it planned the activities at the campus of OIST, a kitchen studio in a supermarket, an art space in the southern area, a desert Island, and a cottage in a deep forest Yanbaru in the northern area in Okinawa.

Can you address the situation while the Oki Wonder Lab started just after the COVID started?
Since we started the event at the end of March, Covid 19 began to affect us. We were forced to make major changes in the above plan in restrictions on overseas travels. For example, as a college OIST, closed to entry from outside, rejected to accept people to the island villages, cancellation of chartered vessels, exhibitions at art spaces, etc. However, by not emphasizing the purpose or output of the camp, we were able to change the plan flexibly or accidentally and move forward without any hesitation in changing to a completely different form.

Can you share the financial states of Oki Wonder Lab including funding, donation, self-prepared budget, income? Also can you tell us how you organize it as an artist instead of a full-time event organizer?
Basically, Hackteria Marc planned the budget based on Swiss grants. But I always wonder if the attractive project and the budget are proportional? Okinawa was originally famous as a resort area in Japan, and most of the domestic participants wanted to come, even if it was at their own expense. In addition, for the places we planned, we negotiated with the sponsors to reduce the budget as much as possible, and the accommodations supplemented by the university and the other local supporters. Marc and I were the only hosts this time… Actually expected during the period, leading hosts and many workshops were planned to change their original activities each time the people were replaced.

What is the future plan for the Oki Wonder Labs? If you don’t have it, what is your next personal move?
I talked a little about it in the first question, about the seas connected to Okinawa, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Japan's Tohoku region. I'm planning a camp and field works and researching food, science, technology, art, religion including nature worship, and cultural anthropology.

Links in the interview

1. Oki Wonder Lab
2. Field_Notes - Cultivating Grounds
3. OIST
4. Rewilding Culture - Feral Labs Node Book #1