Biography
Thomas Vauthier is an artist, researcher and curator.
After dropping out of architecture school, he enrolled at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, in the Photo/Video department (2013-2018). During this time, on a university exchange to Kyoto, he discovered Japan - a culture that would fascinate him to the point of making it the subject of a research-creation doctorate (2019-2024).
Thomas is interested in the limits that circumscribe the notion of art - privileging the potentials of artistic practice rather than the production of work - which he explores through the concept of de-work (dés-œuvrement). To this de-work, he adds another central notion: that of being-in-common, or being-with. In this way, his resolutely collaborative practice can be defined as “in the middle”. At once of respective sensibilities (his own, and those of his playmates), cultures (French and Japanese), mediums (from installation to image, via performance). From 2016 onwards, a number of projects are co-created with artist Fanny Terno, with whom he founds the duo Disconoma.
Always accompanied, Thomas explores the potential of art as a tool for social and environmental revitalization. To this end, he creates collaborative events, constructs spatial devices, animates alternative art spaces and produces documentaries (photographic and sculptural). This has taken forms as diverse as :
︎ the temporary reanimation of an izakaya bar in a former working-class district of Tokyo (Living Yokocho),
︎ the creation of a new, para-curatorial ritual inspired by the tea ceremony (Monomi),
︎ the construction of a tea hut - as a social and documentary interface - in a rural village in the process of depopulation (Shashin-an),
︎ the participation, as curator, in third-place projects, in France (Lizières) and Japan (Bridge Studio) at the intersection of artist residency programs and societal engagement (mental health, ecology),
︎ collective experimentation with a scientific protocol for falling in love (Protocole),
︎ the design of digital paintings, generated with the help of an AI buried beneath the soil of Fukushima (Metapets) ,
︎ the documentation of plant life forms in certain urban contexts (Kyojima, l’île d’aujourd’hui ; Transfiguration ; Kyoto Survey),
︎ the impetus of a temporary artistic mini-community (Dés-œuvres de jeunesse),
︎ etc.
Thomas is also developing a discursive practice as part of a PhD in research through art, conducted between France (Aix-Marseille University, École Nationale de la Photographie d'Arles) and Japan (Tokyo University of the Arts, Kyoto University of the Arts, with support from the Japanese government). In parallel with his artistic projects, he has conducted research into the socially committed art forms that have developed in Japan. As he sketched out a history of art compared with that of disasters (both natural and civilizational), one figure emerged as a recurring theme: the house. From post-disaster reconstructions and rehabilitations in depopulated regions, to the establishment of independent, committed spaces in the heart of cities, Japanese artists manifest a heteronomous art, concerned with the common. Between 2019 and 2024, Thomas studied these practices, borrowing from the fields of art history, aesthetics and social geography - while conducting multiple field studies, on the edge between activism and artistic practice.
His projects have been exhibited in Kyoto (Galerie Yokai Soho, Institut Français du Kansai/Kyoto, Galerie Tomo, Villa Kujoyama, Bridge Studio), Tokyo (Centre d'art Spiral, ONA Project Room, Festival Mukojima EXPO, Galerie Watowa, BankArt, Mikke Gallery), and France (Grand Palais, Galerie Le Huit, La Capela, La Générale, École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie d'Arles, Fondation d'entreprise Ricard) and discussed in numerous institutions (Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Kyocera Museum (Kyoto), Aix-Marseille Université, École Nationale Supérieure du Mans, Cité Internationale des Arts).
Contact
︎ Mail︎
︎ Instagram︎
Training
2023-2026
Doctorate in research-creation at Kyoto City University of the Arts - 京都市立芸術大学 with support from the Japanese government monbukagakusho - MEXT.
2022-2023
Research stay at Tokyo University of the Arts - 東京藝術大学, within the Global Arts program. Awarded the monbukagakusho - MEXT scholarship from the Japanese government.
2019-2024
PhD in research-creation “ Practice and theory of artistic and literary creation ” at the Université d'Aix-Marseille, Laboratory of Studies in the Sciences of the Arts (EA 3274), under the direction of Frédéric Pouillaude and Clélia Zernik .
Title: The home as medium: exploring post-disaster artistic practices in
Japan. Aesthetics of revitalization and poetics of de-work.
2018-2019
Inter-university diploma at EUR-ArTeC ( University Research School - Arts, Technologies, Digital, Human Mediations and Creation) under the direction of Yves Citton.
2013-2018
Master 2 diploma from the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, in the photo/video sector, with congratulations from the jury.
2017
Master's thesis under the direction of Benjamin Delmotte mention félicitations du jury : La croyance troublée.
2016-2017
Exchange semester in Japan, at Kyoto Art and Design University - 京都芸術大学, photography and contemporary art section, under the direction of Tadashi Ono.
2011-2012
License at the National Superior School of Architecture of Paris Belleville.
Prize
2023
Watowa Art Award winner, Watowa Gallery, Tokyo.
2018
Olympus Prize winner - ENSP, Rencontres d'Arles.
Academic activities & publications
2024
“The home as medium: exploring post-disaster artistic practices in
Japan. Aesthetics of revitalization and poetics of de-work.” - PhD in creative research, defended December 17, École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie, Arles.
“A shack and a bar” - paper given as part of the masterclass “Creating through the environment” organized by Thierry Fournier, February 29, Aix-Marseille University.
2023
“Kyojima, art festival and urban revitalization” - lecture at Tokyo University of the Arts, October 10, and conference, October 21.
“Portrait of a Shitamachi Neighborhood in Mutation: the Preservation and Revitalisation of Kyojima through Sumida Mukojima EXPO and Grassroots Creative Initiatives” - publication, journal Relations, Tokyo Biennale, Volume 15, October 12.
2022
“Continuities and Ruptures in the Artistic Processing of the COVID-19 Catastrophe in Japan” - paper and publication as part of the Asia Pacific Network for Cultural Education and Research (ANCER) symposium, December 2, LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore.
“On making relational places, engawa as a metaphor of artistic practice” - paper presented as part of artist Tadashi Kawamata's project, September 29, Kyocera Museum, Kyoto.
“Japan as an anthropocenic laboratory” - paper presented as part of the study day Decolonizing the ecological gaze? The arts and representations of the living, April 14, 2022, Aix-Marseille University.
“Art project, creative and smart cities” - paper presented at the 15th annual congress of the Japanese Association for Cultural Policy Research, March 20-21, Seikei University.
2021-2023
Hyper-local Rooms, participatory research-creation project organized as part of the Saison de la France au Japon, for the Nuits Blanches - Kyoto 2021 and 2022. In partnership with Ecole Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (Arles), Kyoto University of the Arts and Institut Français au Japon (French Institute).
2021
“De-takes of views” - paper presented as part of the colloquium on the Conditions of the image - The image as awareness of the remaining state of the world. École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie and Centre de recherche art et image. March 26, online.
“The motifs and potentials of informality in the transformation and revitalization of vacant houses (空き家 akiya) by artists in Japan” - paper as part of the 2020-2021 seminar of the Japarchi scientific network.
2020-2022
Organization of a series of workshops and lectures at the École Supérieure d'Art et de Design du Mans - computational construction of traditional Japanese ceramics as part of the ANR-supported digital soba choko project. In 2021, a trip and a study day will take place at Kyoto University, as well as an exhibition at the Centre Céramique contemporaine La Borne.
2020
“Approaching urban vegetation through research-creation: presentation of the Àtravers ma Veduta project, 2016 - in progress” - paper given as part of the international study day Arboring the living archive in museums through artistic gesture: ecological issues. November 25, MSH Paris Nord.
“De-work” and “ Revitalization of the arts in Japan” - publication of two entries in the ABC of bifurcations, special edition of Multitudes magazine, 2020/3, autumn 2020.
In-vivo, base camp #1 - elaboration of a collaborative kitchen, and co-organization of a collective exhibition. February 27, École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie, Arles.
2019
Tribute to Ohno Kazuo, a ghost story - performance at the Rotonde des arts du spectacle, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, site Richelieu, November 13, 2019, lecture in the salon d'honneur of the BnF on November 27, 2019, publication by Geuthner Editions in October 2020.
Inhabiting the exhibition", research experiment with the Displays group (PSL Research University, EnsadLab) in Barbara Breitenfellner's exhibition at the Centre Photographie d'Ile- De-France. May 16.
“Japanese artistic practices of revitalization since 1990: mediating and remedying disasters”, paper at the EuR Artec annual colloquium, with L'agence de notation, Salle des thèses Gilles Deleuze, Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, April 15.
2018
Presentation of thesis project as part of a conference with Brian Massumi and Erin Manning (SenseLab) with Yves Citton and EuR Artec, Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art, October 20.
Exposing life and writing, Dés-oeuvres de Jeunesse project", paper presented at the Écrire l'exposition conference, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, co-organized by Displays (EnsadLab), the Médiation de l'Art Contemporain master's program at Paris 8 and Commissaires d'Exposition Associés (C.E.A.), December 17.
Exhibitions & performances
2025
Kyojima no hanafuda (collective exhibition).
22 - 23 March, Bankart Station, Tokyo.
Ukicha (collective exhibition).
10 January - 2 February, Mikke Gallery, Tokyo.
2024
Ittekimasu/tadaima (solo exhibition).
30 September - 20 December, École nationale Supérieure de la photographie, Arles.
Sélection de Pépito (collective exhibition).
1 - 4 November, sento Kujoyu, Artaota.
Monomi #3, avec JN. Mellor Club (solo exhibition/performance).
28 September - 6 October, Bridge studio, Kyoto. During Nuit Blanche Kyoto 2024, winner of the NBK selection.
Art perfumery (collective exhibition).
11 March - ?, Museum of Contemporary Art Fukushima. Curated by Midorikawa Yutaro.
Monomi #2, avec Fukusanbussanten (Solo performance).
7 - 11 February, Kyoto City University of the Arts, Kyoto.
Les Célibataires, cent ans plus tard (prize, collective exhibition).
16 December - 28 January. Watowa Gallery, Tokyo.
Scents of Community (collective exhibition).
23 décembre - 28 janvier, Osaka Kansai International Art Festival, Osaka.
2023
Monomi #1, avec JN. Mellor Club (installation performative).
7 décembre, Villa Kujoyama, Kyoto.
Living Yokocho (exposition solo).
1 - 30 octobre, Sumida Mukojima EXPO, Tokyo.
Kyojima, capital’s island, today’s island, friendly murmurs under the... (exposition solo).
21 - 23 avril, ONA project room, Tokyo.
Glitches in Love (co-curation).
25 mars - 4 avril, Musée de l’Université des Arts de Tokyo. Sous la supervision de Yukio Hasegawa.
Metapets (exposition solo).
11 mars - ? (exposition permanente). Museum of Contemporary Art Fukushima. Curaté par Yutaro Midorikawa.
2022-2024
Une niche en commun (organization).
Lizières Art Center, Épaux-Bézu, France.
Shashin-an (co-organization).
Izu, Japon.
2022
What grows, regardless of everything, regardless of us (collective exhibition).
3 - 25 December, Nakacho no ie, Tokyo.
Sorry, I have to live (performance).
27 - 28 August, Nakacho no ie, Tokyo.
2020-2023
Digital Soba Choko.
Organization of a series of workshops and lectures at the École Supérieure d'Art et de Design du Mans - computational construction of traditional Japanese ceramics as part of the ANR-supported digital soba choko project. In 2021, a trip and a study day will take place at Kyoto University (2021), as well as an exhibition at the Centre Céramique contemporaine La Borne (2022) and one at the Centre National du Graphisme (2023).
2021-2022
Hyper-local rooms (co-organization, collective exhibition).
Nuit Blanche, part of the Saison de la France au Japon.October 2, École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie, Arles, Kyoto University of the Arts, Kyoto.
2020
In-vivo, camp de base #1 (collective exhibition, co-organisation).
27 February - 3 March, École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie, Arles.
2019
Dés-œuvres de jeunesse - Version Ricard (collective exhibition).
14 November, Ricard Art Foundation, Paris.
Tribute to Ohno Kazuo, a ghost story (research-based performance).
13 November, Rotonde des arts du spectacle, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, site Richelieu.
1-minute performance (collective performance).
24 August, Centre d’art SPIRAL, Tokyo, Japon.
サリュ (solo exhibition).
10 July - 3 August, Sangenya appartment, Onomichi, Japon.
Tea ceremony.
Nuit de la roquette, 4 July, individual house, Arles.
Une nuit au musée (organisation performance collective).
16 May, Centre Photographique d’Île-de-France Pontault-Combault.
2018
De lait et de sueur (co-organization, co-exhibition).
5 July, La nuit de la roquette, Arles.
Dés-œuvres de jeunesse (organization, co-exbihition).
7 June, Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.
Kairos 001 (performance and video).
19 January, 4 elements, Paris.
2017
Chantiers (co-organization, co-exhibition).
14-15 December, ENSAD, Paris.
Artifices (co-organization, co-exhibition).
23 March, La Capela, Paris.
JO HA KYU (co-organization, co-curation et co-exhibition).
28-30 January, galerie Yokai Soho, Kyoto, Japon.
Kyoto Survey (co-exhibition).
23 February-5 February, Institut français du Kansai, Kyoto, Japon.
2016
Multi (collective exhibition).
29 November - 4 December, Galerie Tomo, Kyoto, Japon.
2015
Résistance (collective exhibition).
12-19 March, La Générale, Paris.
Collisions (collective exhibition).
14-18 March, Galerie Le Huit, Paris.
BYOB (collective exhibition).
13 February, Galerie Le Huit, Paris.
2014
Minimenta (co-exhibition).
10 May - 22 June, Grand Palais, Paris.