After a couple of days spent trawling the company’s work online, I worked up the nerve to send Asai a message through the general info email listed on the website. The message was heavy on flattery and long-winded questions. And entirely in English. Rereading the email the next morning, I was mortified — I was a grovelling fan. Over the following few days, I tried to distract myself, tried to start new books, tried to cook meals, apply for new jobs, but I would usually abandon these efforts partway through to refresh Gmail in case Asai had replied. Nothing. By the start of the following week, I was convinced that I had sufficiently embarrassed myself through my platitudes and that someone had graciously deleted my email rather than forwarding it to Asai. As the week came to a close, I had just managed to divest myself of any investment in a response when one appeared in my inbox.

Asai Koichi <[email protected]> Nov 12

to Jordan

Jordan,

Sorry for the slow reply, we just started work on a new show. I’m pleased to hear Singularity resonates with you.

One of our interns at the theatre knows of Videofag and showed me your videos. What a small world — and a strange and wonderful one you live in. Is this artwork or just your life? Have you seen the videos of Ryan Trecartin? I think our new show will draw some inspiration from him. Post-Internet identity and such.

Let me know if you are ever in Japan.

よい一日を,

AK

Jordan Tannahill <[email protected]>Nov 12

to Asai

Dear Asai,

Wow — that’s incredible someone in your company knows about Videofag. God bless the Internet. As per your question, it is both art and life. I suppose you could say it’s a sort of hyperreal portrait of a slightly more mundane reality. And yes, I do know Trecartin’s work — I’m a big fan.

As I mentioned in my first email, Singularity and the other videos of your work I’ve managed to track down have made me reconsider many fundamental things about performance. In fact, so much so that I have a proposal for you to consider.

There is a grant here in Canada from the Meranski Foundation that I could apply to (deadline Dec 15) that provides emerging artists with professional development funds to mentor under senior artists in their disciplines for three months. If successful, I could come to Osaka, observe the new show you’re working on, and audit your process in general — how you build/source your robots, rehearse, etc. I would be there simply to observe — there is literally nothing further you would have to do. And if you wanted an extra hand for any task, I would be happy to chip in — though there would be no expectation that I would have to be put to work.