Dyezu Jikken’s Art Experiment

Photos by Miyuki Pai Hirai

Tokyo. On a sleepy shopping street in Nakameguro, just far enough from the noise and bullshit of Harajuku, is Dyezu Jikken. The name means “big picture experiment” and it’s an apt title.

Dyezu Jikken was founded four years ago by Tokyo designers/artists Naomi Kazama (SOUTH) and Keisuke Yamamoto as a place for underground artists to show, sell, and work. In the years since, the place has defied even the founders’ intents, becoming more than just a gallery/shop/workspace; it’s a living art piece, a time-capsule of creativity with a depth not often seen in this obsessed-with-new cultural and pop-cultural landscape.

Every surface in the building is covered. The interior walls bear the plywood-turned-canvas of previous shows—the colorful paintings of Mike Ming next to the black-and-grey-on-white from Che Jen and Kiku Yamaguchi next to white-on-black scratchboards by Chris Mendoza (EDIC) next to colorful surfboards by MADSAKI and West ONE.

There are photos from Daisuke Tanaka (Diskah) and Miyuki Hirai (Pai); paste-ups from SOUTH, the Faile Collective, London Police and Shepard Fairey; and millions of tags from anyone and everyone who has visited or shown: Os Gemenos from Brazil, José Parla (EASE) of the Inkheads, and Barnstormers, Yuri Shimojo, Romon Yang (RoStarr) and David Ellis (SKWERM).

Elsewhere are canvases, designs, and apparel from Dyezu’s local crew: Diskah, WHO and Rok’n of OWN; WANTO, SECT, AWR, and MSK from TSL; DOPESAC; ZYSONE; ESOW from WOM; QP; EKYS, BNE, LPS; Barnstormers KAMI and Sasu; jewelry designer FUCHAN; graphic designer Hilli; and of course, works by the founder, SOUTH.

Dyezu is one of those places that either everybody or nobody knows about, depending on who you’re talking to. As for what Dyezu actually is, well, it depends on what day it is, if the weather’s nice, and who’s in town.When you’re in Tokyo, you just go. You meet some folks and make something. Painters. Designers. Photographers. Skaters. DJs. Writers. Jewelry and clothing designers. You talk. Someone brings some drinks. Maybe the pots and pans come out and somebody makes dinner. It is where you live, in a way.

Dyezu has soul, and too few places in Tokyo, the manic mecca of what’s new, have soul. It’s in the layers of paint, the years of flyers and paste-ups on those walls. It’s probably in the water.

Twice as bright; half as long. After years of holding off the manifest destiny of the Daikanyama boutiques, the landlord has finally given in. The building that holds Dyezu will be torn down this year, and quite possibly return as high-rent apartments on the very same sleepy shopping street, now touted as a “new, up-and-coming Tokyo hotspot.”

Can’t wait.

With luck, some part of Dyezu will remain and continue what in many ways feels like it’s only just beginning. The final show at Dyezu will begin on June 3rd in Tokyo.