The performative act "Send a Zamboa, Receive a Pomelo, Return No Buntan," conducted by Taro Izumi and Yutaka Inagawa, took place on 22nd and 23rd June as part of Taro Izumi's participation in the show, serving as his response to artist-curator Yutaka Inagawa's invitation. Designed by Taro Izumi, the performance featured a unique one-on-one talk session in which Taro intervened in the bespoke environment of the exhibition created by Yutaka, establishing a set of ritualistic processes for each day. The performance was conducted in Japanese.
Throughout both days, Yutaka and Taro had to declare either “this is not a spell” or “this is a spell” after they replied or asked questions to one another.
Taro kept the contents of the talk event a secret from Yutaka as part of his work in the show. This decision came after dense email correspondence with Yutaka. Taro revealed his plan to Yutaka on the first day.
Day 1: On the first day, titled “Jam Ball Gets Lost, Confounded by Wickerwork,” the session took place within the exhibition space by the third-floor window, where Taro Izumi and Yutaka Inagawa sat side by side on a leisure sheet.
Participants created masks using a sheet of paper printed with "CC" and sat on the leisure sheet.
Taro and Yutaka painted fruit black with cross patterns while the audience had the opportunity to ask questions.
Yutaka sent an email to Taro, and gallery staff member Imai measured the time it took for Taro to receive it.
Imai conveyed the time it took to receive the email and placed a piece of paper with the recorded time in front of Taro and Yutaka (who were both facing the same direction), updating the time with each round.
Taro and Yutaka engaged in a talk session. After finishing each question or discussion, they declared, “this is a spell” if it was something they had said before or “this is not a spell” if it was new.
Using their internal clocks, Taro and Yutaka counted the time measured in step 3 before moving on to the next discussion.
After approximately 40 minutes of talking, Imai announced a summary text, substituting the terms "Buntan" and "Jamball" randomly within the text from the exhibition website:
Announced Text:
Taro Izumi and Yutaka Inagawa each send a Zabon to the Jamball they are contracted with. The Zamboa, which receives the Buntan, forwards the Tokunembo to the Jamball, such as Pomelo, designated as the destination. The Jamball that receives the Pomelo stores the Buntan within the Tokunembo until Taro Izumi and Yutaka Inagawa come to retrieve the Zamboa. Taro Izumi and Yutaka Inagawa go to their contracted Zamboa's Jamball to collect the Zabon addressed to themselves with their Buntan.While the summary was being announced, Taro and Yutaka continued painting the fruit with cross patterns.
Steps 2 to 7 were repeated two more times.
Imai made the final announcement.
The blackened fruit was placed on a chair and displayed as an exhibit for that day only.
Day 2: On the second day, titled “Buntan's Division / Hiding C with C by B,” the setting was changed. Taro sat on the floor by the window, and Yutaka sat on the floor on the exhibition room side, separated by a glass wall. The glass wall acted as a boundary between Yutaka and Taro, and the audience was divided into two groups, with each group seated on opposite sides of the wall.
Participants chose a piece of paper printed with either "CC" or "BCC" to create a mask, as done on the 22nd.
Those who chose "CC" sat in chairs facing Taro and Yutaka. Those with "BCC" masks sat facing the opposite direction, with their backs to the other side.
Participants were given Ziploc bags and wrote "from ●●" along with one of the terms “Buntan,” “Jamball,” “Pomelo,” “Zabon,” “Tokunbo,” or “Samboa” on them.
Taro and Yutaka exchanged the blackened fruits, referred to as "Pomelos," over the glass window and placed them on their respective chairs.
Yutaka sent an email to Taro.
Taro and Yutaka used post-it notes to record the time it took to receive the email and attached these to the chair backs where the watermelons were placed during the talk. The post-its were updated after each round as Taro asked Yutaka to send an email and acquired the new time.
Gallery staff member Imai announced the time via microphone.
Taro and Yutaka engaged in a talk session, speaking toward their respective Pomelos. If they declared a statement as a “spell,” they extended their hand with a 5-yen coin on their palm. If not a spell, they extended only their palm.
Imai observed the gestures and announced either “this is a spell” or “this is not a spell.”
Using their internal clocks, Taro and Yutaka counted the time measured in step 6 before moving on to the next discussion.
After approximately 30 minutes of talking, Imai announced a summary text.
Steps 4 to 11 were repeated two more times.
Imai made the final announcement.
Imai collected the two Pomelos and cut them on the leisure sheet.
The Pomelos were served to the participants, who ate together.
Each participant took a Pomelo seed in a Ziploc bag to take home.
