Arai Takeru was born in Chiba in 1991 and is based in Tokyo.
Tanikawa Kanae was born in Hokkaido in 1991 and is based in Tokyo.

Arai Takeru and Tanikawa Kanae work together as the artist duo MES, formed in 2015 when they were students at Tokyo University of the Arts. Through artistic activities focused on social issues such as politics, disasters, and gender, they challenge conventional thought and systems from new perspectives. À la dérive between club culture and contemporary art, they stage performances and create installations that sometimes quietly, sometimes intensely illuminate the darkness of the world through light and heat. Employing collaborative, intersectional approaches, their practice involves constant experimentation and exploration in stage directing, performing, and organizing, as can be seen in the REVOLIC—Revolution Holic party they hosted.