Laughter in Japanese sound performances as a shared conceptual point

Some remarkable Japanese sound artists of the 21st century share conceptual links with earlier artistst like Group Ongaku, Taj Mahal Travelers, and Akio Suzuki who began their activities in the 1960s. Presenting Methodicism (Hoho-shugi), a group of Japanese media artists including Masahiro Miwa, this paper will discuss a sense of laughter as a key concept.Miwa defines Reverse-simulation music in terms of three aspects: rule-based generation, interpretation, and naming. For Miwa, Reverse-simulation music is the only feasible and practical way to restore “discipline” in contemporary music. Restoring “discipline” is a serious artistic topic as well as an absurd rule which regulates human bodies. The performance based on unhuman rules leads to sense of laughter. Motoharu Kawashima asserts that laughter is the foundation of human culture, citing Aristotle’s words. This concept forms the basis of Kawashima’s action music, which means focusing on consideration of what actions are involved in producing that sound rather than focusing on what kind of sound will ultimately be produced.Both the reversed situation in Miwa and the deviation of meaning in Kawashima led to laughter from the audience, and the composers searched for laughter as backbone of their art. A sense of laughter has been accepted by the next generation of Japanese sound artists. Taro Yasuno developed three series of works: Search Engine, MISUCINEMA, and Zombie Music. All three evoke laughter due to the simplicity and absurdity of the performers' actions. Yasuno’s Zombie system is a conceptual instrument that critiques the relationship between technology and the human body in the present day. Zombie Music is highly developed and effective system for visualizing the physical labor necessary for sound production.