MADRID ABIERTO is an international artistic initiatives programme which is held throughout the month of February in the junction Paseo de la Castellana-Recoletos-Prado since 2004. It is an avenue for approaching the interpretation and comprehension of how the public space is constructed from the sphere of art. Since its first open invitation announcement it has received more than 1.200 proposals. Out of all the projects presented, 29 were exhibited in the previous three editions and 13 will be exhibited this year, selected by different juries comprised by international experts.

Organised by the Cultural Association MADRID ABIERTO, the 2007 edition of the programme is promoted by the Altadis Foundation, the Department of Culture and Sport of the Autonomous Community of Madrid and the Governing Department for the Arts of the City Council of Madrid, with the collaboration of the Telefónica Foundation, La Casa Encendida of Obra Social Caja Madrid, the Ministry of Culture, ARCO, Radio 3 of RNE, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Canal Metro, Cemusa, Centro Cultural de la Villa of Madrid, Remo, Mediazero and Metro.

For this fourth edition, which will be held from the 1st to the 28th of February, a total of 658 projects were presented; 471 for the general invitation, 61 for the façade of La Casa de América, 28 for the façade of Círculo de Bellas Artes, 74 works for Canal Metro and 24 sonorous initiatives for Radio 3. The breakdown by countries of the projects presented is as follows: Spain (174), Italy (46), USA (46), Mexico (40), Argentina (33), Germany (28), Colombia (28), France (25), Brazil (18), Canada (16), Cuba (16), Ecuador (14), Chile (13), The Netherlands (13), Portugal (12), Ireland (9), Sweden (9), United Kingdom (9), Venezuela (9), Japan (7), Austria (6), Yugoslavia (6), Australia (5), Peru (5), Belgium (4), Costa Rica (4), Finland (4), Norway (4), Poland (4), Turkey (4), China (3), Croatia (3), Slovenia (3), Russia (3), Switzerland (3), Uruguay (3), Bulgaria (2), El Salvador (2), Georgia (2), Guatemala (2), India (2), Iceland (2), Israel (2), New Zealand (2), Czech Republic (2), Cyprus (1), Denmark (1), Estonia (1), The Philippines (1), Greece (1), Hungary (1), Latvia (1), Lithuania (1), The Dominican Republic (1), Serbia (1) and Singapore (1).

The selection committee was comprised by Juan Antonio Álvarez-Reyes (curator of Madrid Abierto 2007), Ramon Parramon (director of Idensitat), Cecilia Andersson (director of Werk) and Guillaume Désanges (co-ordinator of art projects in Les Laboratoires D’Aubervilliers, Ille de France). We declared the project for the façade of Círculo de Bellas Artes unfulfilled and pre-selected thirty projects, from which the curator finally selected Fernando(We were young. Full of life. None of us prepared to die) by the collective Discoteca Flaming Star; proyecto_nexus* by the collective [nexus*] art group; I Lay My Ear To Furious Latin by Ben Frost; Rezos/Prayers by Dora García;Pictures by Mandla Reuter; Guantanamera by Alonso Gil and Francis Gomila and Short Circuit/Cortocircuito by Dirk Vollenbroich. In addition to these seven selected projects, the current edition is complemented by other projects from artists invited by the curator: Dan Perjovschi, Susan Philipsz, Johanna Billing, Leopold Kessler, Oswaldo Maciá and Annika Ström. Through this mixed selection model our intention is to continue to make progress in our objective of broadening each annual proposal of MADRID ABIERTO.

In this year’s edition, for the first time, two specific invitations for audiovisual and sonorous works were announced, which were selected by the curator, myself, Arturo Rodríguez and José Iges. The following 11 works were selected for projecting on Canal Metro: Rothkovisión 3.0 by Daniel Silvo; Mierda de caballos y príncipes by Fernando Baena; Rest by Carolina Jonsson; Every Word is becoming by Alexander Vaindorf; Alpenflug (Alpine Flight) by Juan Carlos Robles; Himno by Cristian Villavicencio; PlasmaLux06-7 by Tanja Vujinovic-Zvonka Simcic; Mis Quince by Alfredo Pérez; Lucía by Pere Ginard and Laura Ginés; Candy by Mai Yamashita and Naoto Kobayashi and The Toro’s Revenge by María Cañas. For broadcasting on Radio 3, the following 8 works were selected: Am I walking by Jouni Tauriainen; Bendicho juez de la verdad by Eldad Tsabary; Reiterations (Elizabeth Street) by Sonia Leber and David Chesworth; Postal Densa. Postal Sonora. Madrid-Bogotá by Mauricio Bejarano; Alkaline by Paul Devens; Funkenspiel by David Halsell; Poema Jazz (a Clara Gari) by Luis Eligio Pérez and BihotzBi by Zuriñe Gerenabarrena.

Likewise, following on with the work of the previous editions, E451 continues to develop the graphic image and web page and, for the second year running, together with various debate tables on public art, the selected artists will present their work in La Casa Encendida on the 1st and 2nd of February.

We are continuing the process of creating an initiative of a scale manageable by a small team without a permanent or continuous structure, based on an open invitation announcement geared towards the production of ephemeral or temporary projects for the public space of the city of Madrid.

Jorge Díez

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MAI YAMASHITA CHIBA / JAPAN, 1976NAOTO KOBAYASHI CHIBA / JAPAN, 1974LIVES AND WORKS IN CHIBA, JAPAN WWW.YAMASHITA-KOBAYASHI.COMABIERTO WORK EXPOSED IN MADRID ABIERTO: CANDY

EDUCATION·    MAI YAMASHITA2004·    M.A.Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Oil painting2001·    B.A. Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Oil Painting·    NAOTO KOBAYASHI2002·    M.A. Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Oil painting1999·    B.A. The University of Tsukuba, School of Art and Design, Oil painting

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS2007·    Vor Ort, Villa am Aabach, Uster, Switzerland

2006·    LichtRouten Lüdenscheid, Lüdenscheid, Germany·    ARS 06, Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Helsinki, Finland·    ArtSway Open 06, ArtSway, Hampshire, UK·    O.V. L by REC, MIACA, ZAIM, Yokohama, Japan·    Small mischiefs, Pump House Gallery, London, UK·    Shrewsbury Open 2006 – Unnatural Selection, Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery, UK·    badmeister kunst und sport teil 2, Hallenbad Wald (swimming-pool), Wald, Switzerland·    tank.tv, on-line video exhibition, UK·    transmediale.06, Akademie der Künste, Gallery ZERO (solo), Berlin, Germany·    EMAF:European Media Art Festival Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany

2005·    EMERGENCY 2, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK·    Rosa!:the Exposed Colour Pink, Chinretsukan Gallery of The University Art Museum,Tokyo·    Der Wettbewerb / The competition, Erfurt Station, Germany

2004·    The World is Mine, Hiromi Yoshii Five, Tokyo, Japan·    Voice of Site-Tokyo-Chicago-New York-, Former Sakamoto Elementary School, Tokyo

2003·    Green Space 2_licht/schatten, Haus am Horn, Weimar, Germany

2002·    Green Space, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Ibaraki, Japan·    >, Chiba, Japan·    Philip Morris K.K. Art Award 2002 -The First Move, Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo

2001·    dam has broken, Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo, Japan·    Selected screenings

2007·    tank.tv: I Am Future Melancholic, Tate Modern, London·    Madrid Abierto 2007, Canal Metro, Madrid, Spain

2006·    Staring into Space, The Temps d'Images Festival, Trafó-House of Contemporary Arts, Budapest·    Fair Play 2006, play - gallery for still and motion pictures, Berlin·    Trans_vision, V&A Friday Late, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK·    PHOTOESPAÑA 2006, Madrid, Spain, as a part of video program “Pixapins”·    Indblik, Herning Kunstmuseum, Denmark / Heine Onstad Kunstcenter, Norway·    Theory of Everything, LocationOne, NY, USA / Workstation Arts Center, Beijing, China·    /www.tank.tv/Einstain Auditorium,New York University,NY·    The Peninsula, Singapore History Museum, Singapore·    isfilmu Nakts #1, kSuns, Latvia·    12˚canariasmediafest 2006, Gran Canaria, Spain·    VAD International Video and Digital Arts Festival, Girona, Spain·    shnit Kurzfilm Festival, Bern, Switzerland·    Media Art Friesland, Friesland, the Netherlands·    CYNETart_06 humane, Kunsthaus Dresden, Germany·    Ars Electronica Animation Festival, Linz, Austria·    Gstaad Film Festival 2006, Gstaad, Switzerland·    7th Media Forum of MIFF, Moscow, Russia·    International Portfolio Review, Kaufleuten, Zürich, as a part of tank.tv's Showreel·    transmediale.06–video selection, touring events, tesla, Berlin, Gemany / transit_06.by,·    minsk, Russia / [plug-in] Basel, Switzerland / Athens Video Art Festival, Athens, Greece etc.·    2005Kasseler Dokumentarfilm und Videofest, Kassel, Germany·    LOOP :THE PLACE FOR VIDEO ART LOVERS, Barcelona, Spain

PRIZES AND GRANTS2007·    Schleswig-Holsteinisches Künstlerhaus, Stipendium, Germany

2006·    The Asahi Shimbun Foundation, Stipend, Japan·    The Nomura Cultural Foundation, Stipend, Japan·    Special Prize of VAD International Video and Digital Arts Festival, Girona, Spain·    2nd Prize of Gstaad Film Festival 2006, Gstaad, Switzerland·    Künstler Atelier AKKU Uster, Atelierstipendium, Uster, Switzerland·    Honorable Mention of transmediale.06, Berlin, Germany

RESIDENCY AND WORKSHOP2007·    Schleswig-Holsteinisches Künstlerhaus, Eckernförde, Germany

2006·    Residency in Künstler Atelier AKKU Uster, Uster, Switzerland·    Workshop “Shooting Star Party”, Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Helsinki, Finland

2005·    Workshop, Academy of Fine Art, Poznan, Poland

PUBLICATIONS2006·    ARS 06, catalogue, Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Finland·    KIASMA MAGAZINE 30-06, magazine, Museum of Contemporary Art KIASMA, Finland·    LichtRouten Lüdenscheid, catalogue, Lüdenscheid, Germany·    Lüdenscheider Rundschau, newspaper, 23 Sep. 2006·    Elisabeth Davies “When I wish”, area revues, special issue [art et nuits], P.166·    VAD International Video and Digital Arts Festival, catalogue, Girona, Spain, P.42·    CYNETart_humane, catalogue, Kunsthaus Dresden, Dresden, Germany, P.44·    EMAF:European Media Art Festival Osnabrück, catalogue, Germany·    transmediale.06, catalogue, Germany·    Shrewsbury Open 2006 – Unnatural Selection, catalogue, UK·    Pink The Exposed Color in Contemporary Art and Culture, Edited by Barbara Nemitz,·    Published by Hatje Cantz, P.310-311

2005·    Helsingun Sanomat, newspaper Finland·    Kasseler Dokumentarfilm und Videofest, catalogue, Germany, P.40

2004·    The World is Mine, catalogue, Japan, P.4-7

2002·    PHILLIP

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FORMAT: NTSC/DV/COLOR/SILENTLENGTH: 3:22MIN.YEAR: 2005

This work began on the day when Yamashita and Kobayashi had made an extra big candy like a bowling ball by themselves (dia. 180mm).Since that day, they kept licking the candy day after day for about six months. While they were licking, a lot of episodes happened (the change of the seasons, even change of the house...).We continued to lick with the aim of only creating an ordinary candy, which seems just a candy on the market.

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