The PartyーNorio Imai×Keiji Uematsu

In 1975, the sound installation The Party was held in Kanagawa and Kyoto, featuring the recorded heartbeats of three artists—Imai Norio, Uematsu Keiji, and Muraoka Saburo—interwoven with the rhythmic ticking of Man Ray’s iconic metronome piece, Object to Be Destroyed. In 2026, roughly half a century later, the surviving members gathered once again (with the exception of the late Muraoka Saburo) to present The Party 1975/2026 at +1art in Osaka.

This limited-edition box set was produced on this occasion as part of the Soft hope series organized by +1art. It contains rare, exclusive items available nowhere else, including previously unreleased photographs, the exhibition instructions created specifically for this show, and a USB flash drive featuring audio recorded on-site by Fujimoto Yukio, who joined the project for acoustic and technical assistance.

Edition: 25

Contents:

❶ About this box set (Introduction sheet)

❷ Exhibition instructions for The Party (2026)

❸ Full-scale facsimile of "Archival Photograph: Electrocardiogram and Invitation Postcard" (1975)

❹ Exhibition photograph from The Party 1975 (1)

❺ Exhibition photograph from The Party 1975 (2)

❻ Contact print from The Party 1975 negative film

❼ Pamphlet sold at the venue of The Party 1975/2026

16 pages (Front/back covers + pp. I–XII)

Texts by: Ohtsuki Akimi (Curator, Ashiya City Museum of Art & History), Imai Norio, Uematsu Keiji, Fujimoto Yukio (Acoustic & technical collaboration)

Produced and published by: +1art

❽ Flyer for The Party 1975/2026 (+1art)

❾ Gallery floor plans: Galerie 16 (1975) & +1art (2026)

➓ USB flash drive containing sound recorded on-site during The Party 1975/2026

Recorded on April 7, 2026, at +1art (Duration: 31 min 30 sec)

Formats: WAV / MP3 (16-bit, 48 kHz sampling)

*About the Box Case:

The artwork is housed in the signature original case common to the Soft hope series.

Size: H 20.7 × W 19.9 × D 6.5 cm

Material: Wooden

Structure: Outer case (three-sided slipcase / drawer style) + inner box

Display options: The inner box can be displayed either on a tabletop or mounted on a wall.

In 1975, “The Party” by Norio Imai, Keiji Uematsu, and Saburo Muraoka was presented as a coexistence of multiple rhythms, composed of recorded heartbeats of the three artists and the ticking of metronomes based on a replica of Man Ray’s “Indestructible Object ”. At its origin lay a trust in a collective act without a predetermined destination. Without anticipating a finished form or conclusion, the act of first gathering and acting together itself opened up the space.
A heartbeat is unique to each individual, like a self-portrait that exists only once. At the same time, it is also a rhythm beyond one’s control—something external that nonetheless sustains one’s life. What “The Party” proposed was not a device for interpreting meaning or symbols, but rather an act of placing oneself within such uncontrollable rhythms and accepting the condition of “being together.”
In the 2026 restaging, Saburo Muraoka will participate as an “absent participant.” This absence is not a lack, but a way of remaining present within the work, making visible the passage of time and the transformation of relationships. Three speakers and a single metronome are placed at the four corners of the venue, directed toward the center of the space, while visitors move among them, listening to pulses in which multiple layers of time overlap.
What this work seeks is not the simple revival of the past. Rather, it is about creating a real situation as an attempt, placing oneself within it, and thinking through it—joining in this unfinished process of thought is what constitutes “The Party” in the present age.

Akimi Otsuki(Guest Curator, Ashiya City Museum of Art & History)