Roppongi-Nishiazabu History, Night Culture Archaeology!? REVOLIC presented by MES Holds "210911 -BORN THIS NIGHT-".

WALL_alternative, an alternative space for the night operated by Avex Creator Agency Inc. (ACA), will host the exhibition "210911 -BORN THIS NIGHT-" by REVOLIC presented by MES from Friday, July 17, 2026, to Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

REVOLIC presented by MES "210911 -BORN THIS NIGHT-" is a "Night Museum" under the name of "REVOLIC -Revolution Holic/Revolution Addict", a party label organized by the artist duo MES. MES has had the vision of a "Night Museum" since the early days of their activities, and has created works within the possibilities of artistic experiences born in the night, not limited to the art and music scenes.

This exhibition will present various approaches based on three projects, using the time and space of WALL_alternative and the night culture of Roppongi and Nishiazabu as clues.

Stars and Stripes

MES has previously used various media such as lasers, thermal cameras, candles, video, text, and the body to visualize the "lines" drawn by institutions, politics, and culture, and to re-examine their outlines. This time, they will present a prototype work on the changes in occupation that strictly exist in the heart of Tokyo, researching the history of Roppongi as a Japanese army base and later developing as a city of US military bases, also known as the "Tokyo Concession" after the war.

Fossils of the Dance Floor

In 2020, MES presented a series of works themed around the club culture of the Roppongi area at the inaugural exhibition "ENCOUNTERS" at Roppongi's alternative art space ANB TOKYO. At that time, they laid clay on the floor, held actual parties, and fired and sealed the heat of the floor. These will be reconfigured as fossils of the dance floor.

Night Gathering

Throughout the exhibition period, various guests including DJs and artists will be invited to engage in dialogues on themes such as nightlife, urban transformation, club culture, and the relationship between art and music. The testimonies accumulated daily will not only look back at established history but also foster imagination for future dance floors, creating new perspectives and connections.

On Friday, July 17, the opening day of the exhibition, an opening talk event (Night Gathering #01) by Yuki Kawamura and MES will be held, and Night Gatherings with various guests will be held during the exhibition period.

(Application here: https://forms.gle/JabmnuT7bg32VodU8)

Additionally, the adjacent bar will offer "California Rolls," "Japanese Tea Cola," and "Japanese Tea Highball" as original exhibition menu items.

Against the backdrop of the history of Roppongi-Nishiazabu, where Japanese and American cultures have intersected, you can experience the memories that have shaped the current city through the taste of the menu imagined by WALL_alternative.

This exhibition will be held as the final program of the annual series "MEDIA ART CIRCUIT 2026," which reconnects the possibilities of media art from the context of Roppongi-Nishiazabu's night culture. It will conclude "MEDIA ART CIRCUIT 2026" as a new practice of "Night Museum" that passes on the city's memories to the future.

"210911 ~BORN THIS NIGHT~" Statement

"In 210911. By then, 'clubs' will no longer be called 'clubs.'"

What was once called "disco" came to be called "club" from a certain era. The name has changed along with music, laws, and business. In Tokyo, entertainment districts flourished around Akasaka, Roppongi, and Azabu, and then the trends and cities continued to change their forms while shifting their centers to Shinjuku and Shibuya.

In that area—from Roppongi to Nishiazabu—lies the only US military base in the 23 wards of Tokyo. Akasaka Press Center, Sanno Hotel. The night in this city began to light up around the US military base. The current heliport site was once requisitioned by the Japanese army, and since the war it has been American territory under the control of the US military to this day. The site is largely closed off and cannot be freely entered even now. There are over 130 US military facilities in various parts of Japan, including Okinawa, and instead of being returned, military ties continue to strengthen.

Will we one day be able to land on that heliport and rave freely?

As a VJ, watching the party unfold for a single night, the flow of people, sound, and light constantly changes form. The sound images and visuals that arise in an instant, the ecstatic floor, all begin from the moment a small spark flies, and the flame disappears without a trace. Like a kiln. While gauging the heat, light and color are added to the flow of sound and people. Sometimes shrouded in darkness, sometimes cooled. Everything influences everything else.

Sound and light technology liberate us. On the other hand, they can easily destroy people. With a single fader, you can change your insides or hormones. Therefore, we control it so as not to exert its full power. Sound and light are connected to words, helicopters, bases, and nuclear weapons. Not to break, not to exceed. But they are starting to break. Control is starting to slip.

Continuing to do similar things without knowing anything, we keep drawing shapes. While tired of the routine, we continue to struggle with its comfort and the feeling that this is not right. Just as there are no identical reflections in light, even if the laws repeat, the form occurs only once.

About the flyer drawing:

Countdown party for the start of 2019. On the dance floor, NAZE and TAKERU started drawing in a small sketchbook. NAZE's "Cute-chan" and TAKERU's "Owl-chan" are dancing together under the mirror ball. Below them, NAZE tried to write January 1, 2019, but made a mistake with 0 and 1. They burst into laughter. We want to be dancing together in 2109, in 210911 as well.

About REVOLIC presented by MES

photo by Ayaka Endo

An artist duo that Ken Arai and Kanae Tanikawa have been collaborating on since 2015. Based in Tokyo. Drifting between club culture and contemporary art, they develop installations and performances that quietly/intensely illuminate the darkness of the world through light and heat. They have also been concurrently active in spatial design as laser VJs since 2016. In recent years, they have directed numerous parties such as "Zone Unknown" presented by YOUSUKE YUKIMATSU, "MAD MAGIC ORCHESTRA 2025 -home party-", "CLUB SKIN", "rural 2023", "WAIFU", and live performances for artists like Dos Monos. They are exploring collaborative and intersecting endeavors, including the exhibition "Behind Bars" (2025) about Russian political prisoners and the party "REVOLIC -Revolution Holic/Revolution Addict-" (2022-).

Major Solo Exhibitions

KAI/KA-I 2025, Stage Back, Tokyo

P-L/R-A/E-Y Prayer/Play/Masochistic, Act 2024, CON_, Tokyo

DISTANCE OF RESISTANCE 2021, Yoyogi TOH, Tokyo

Major Group Exhibitions

BENTEN2: Polyparallax -Parallactic Visions of the City 2025, Ojo Bldg 4F, Shinjuku, Tokyo

Do They Owe Us A Living? 2024, KAG, Kurashiki, Okayama

MEET YOUR ART FES: Super Spectrum Specification 2024, Terada G1 Warehouse, Tokyo

Land Route Spillover #1 2024, Art Center BUG, Tokyo

URBAN GAZE 2024, APRDERESP, Mexico City

JUNK’S PORTS 2023, ANOMALY, Tokyo

Cherry Blossom Viewing Party 2023, eitoeiko, Tokyo

EAST EAST_exhibition: About Validity 2023, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo

Reborn Art Festival Summer 2021, Ishinomaki, Miyagi

ENCOUNTERS "NIGHT LIFE" 2020, ANB Tokyo, Tokyo

Major Organized Events

REVOLIC -Revolution Holic/Revolution Addict- for QUEENDOM 2026, Aisotope Lounge

Behind Bars ~Russian Political Prisoners and Art~ 2025, BUoY, Kitasenju

oxitoxi × KATO M/A/S/S/A/C/R/E 2024, Hatagaya FOREST LIMIT

Kiki Kaikai 2024, TRAFFIC

REVOLIC -Revolution Holic/Revolution Addict- 2022, Contact Tokyo

【OPENING RECEPTION】

Date: Friday, July 17, 2026

Time: 18:00-21:00

*Normal business hours after 21:00

*Advance application required / Free admission

Venue: WALL_alternative (1F, 4-2-4 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Application URL: https://forms.gle/JabmnuT7bg32VodU8

【Night Gathering #01 GUESTS】

Friday, July 17 | Doors open 18:00 / Start 18:30 / End approx. 20:00

Night Gathering #01

Guest: Yuki Kawamura (DJ, Writer, Producer, Representative of Shibuya Oiran)

DJ, writer, producer. Head of OIRAN MUSIC.

After debuting with "Shakunetsu" in 2001, she performed in front of 100,000 people at the Love Parade Mexico 2003 held at the Monument to the Independence in Mexico City. Since then, she has traveled the world DJing.

In recent years, her activities have been diverse, including producing music for the open-world RPG "CYBERPUNK 2077" and participating in remixes for Square Enix's "Nier Re[in]carnation Chill Out Arrangement Tracks."

As a writer, she is currently serializing a music essay "Waiting for You in Shibuya" every two weeks on Gentosha Plus.

As a musician, she has seriously resumed music production for the first time in 20 years, and last summer officially covered the balearic classic "Adios Ayer ft. Naz" by the late Jose Padilla, a legend of Ibiza and her DJ mentor, released as a 7-inch record from OIRAN MUSIC. After releasing her first album "Love Forever" digitally on July 23rd, she was invited to Ibiza for the first time since 2005 and became the first Japanese woman to perform at "Cafe Del Mar," a sanctuary of chill-out and sunsets celebrating its 45th anniversary.

As her base, she opened the original warm-up bar "Shibuya Oiran shibuya OIRAN" in 2010, renovated from a 60-year-old traditional house in Dogenzaka, Shibuya, which celebrated its 16th anniversary in June and was selected as one of "Time Out Tokyo 2025"'s 50 Things To Do in Japan. Since 2014, she has been managing her creative and social hub, the label "OIRAN MUSIC," in conjunction.

Official site

https://oiranmusic.com

https://fkg.amebaownd.com

【Future Night Gathering Schedule】

Saturday, July 25 | 19:00

Night Gathering #X Tomotoshi Museum Collaboration Tour

Guest: Tomotoshi (Tomotoshi Museum)

Details of subsequent programs and guests will be announced sequentially.

For details, please check the WALL_alternative official Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/wall_alternative

FOOD&DRINK

As original exhibition menu items, "California Rolls," "Japanese Tea Cola," and "Japanese Tea Highball" will be offered.

Against the backdrop of the history of Roppongi-Nishiazabu, where Japanese and American cultures have intersected, you can experience the memories that have shaped the current city through the taste of the menu imagined by WALL_alternative.

Exhibition Overview

REVOLIC presented by MES

"210911 -BORN THIS NIGHT-"

Dates: Friday, July 17, 2026 - Wednesday, August 5, 2026

*Closed on Sundays (17 days total)

Time: 18:00-24:00

Venue: WALL_alternative (1F, 4-2-4 Nishi-Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo)

Admission: Free / No reservation required

HP: https://avex.jp/wall/exhibition/859/

Planning: MES

Cooperation: Yoshida Yama (FLOATING ALPS LLC.)

Organizer: WALL_alternative

Graphic Design: sudden star

Flyer Drawing: NAZE, Ken Arai (MES)

Grant: Arts Council Tokyo [Arts and Culture Promotion Subsidy]