Eva Schlegel, “No Man’s Heaven,” 2014. Rotor, video projection 94 inches (240 cm) diameter
No Man’s Heaven were huge projected images of men and women in black suits and sunglasses falling seems as though they were floating in the space. The films were projected on three large aircraft propellers installed perpendicularly slightly above the ground, spinning so quickly that another image was formed on the ground. Eva Schlegel explored the theme of "Flying" and "Falling", the ambivalent space between success and failure.
‘I made him just and right, sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.’ — John Milton, Paradise Lost
The film featured things that fly, from people and birds to weather balloons that eventually burst and falls back to the ground when they reached the atmosphere. Schlegel travelled to Zurich to film people free falling without parachutes. The lack of parachutes was important to her as she wanted to emphasize the risk of unsecured free fall as she was interested in the phenomenon of longing to overcome gravity. Dressed in formal attire, the men seem like a reference to the modern capitalist society, the ambivalent experiences between striving for success and the fear of failure, the moments in between such juxtaposition. The gaps in between each blade of the propeller allows the projection through, creating another image on the ground which could also be seen as an indication of the myriad of possible conclusions, even after "missing", or when the decision fails you.
The artist referred to the infamous photograph by Yves Klein, Leap into the Void, and the series of hworks by conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader which featured him falling, both of which dealt with risks, the leap of faith, hopes of flying instead of falling. Schlegel wanted to convey such range of thoughts and existential problem, the choice of one's free will that determines the possible conclusions. Schlegel's work displayed the precipice of mankind, the acquiesce of decision making.
Inori (Prayer) , WOW, Ishikawa Watanabe Laboratory and AyaBambi 2017, Realtime face-mapping
Set to the electronic beats, the dancers moved in fluid and hyper-synchronized manner as black tears streamed down their face, their features morphing with every beat. This inventive and mesmerizing performance, INORI (Prayer) is an art project by Japanese artist Nobumichi Asai in collaboration with WOW design studio, the Ishikawa Watanabe Laboratory who developed the high speed projector, along with Japanese dance duo, AyaBambi.
The team challenges the innovative expression by merging art & design thinking with new media technologies. With right balancing between the choreography and the limitations technology, they were able to create a stylish work that demonstrates the best out of the dynamic projection mapping technology. According to the Asai, the team adopted a new approach in projection design does not produce colour, instead plays with light and shadow. Asai believes that the human face has been an effective form of communicating and from an artist's perspective it is interesting to be able to change and alter this to create a new dialogue (2017).
Asai's real-time facial projection mapping video Omote became viral back in 2014. The work transformed a model's face into a canvas that illustrates elements of Japan's identity, both the traditional value and modern technology. It seems like a metaphor for a Japanese losing confidence and having strange anxiety towards the future brought about by technology that continues to evolve at phenomenal speed (Asai, 2014).
“INORI – we pray all nukes will eternally disappear from the world.” — Nobumichi Asai
The theme this time for Inori (Prayer), "Life" drew inspiration from the topic of "Radioactivity" which embodies the power of destruction, and that power brings forth death, suffering, and grief (WOW, 2017). The artist once again addressed the people's fear of technological development by addressing the concept of life and human nature by transforming the human face which best express emotions into a canvas for digital projection. The theme was symbolically represented with black tears, skulls, Noh masks ( or Omote, used traditional Japanese musical when a supernatural creature transforms into human shape and tells the story ) and the Heart Sutra in Japanese. Along with AyaBambi's inventive choreography the performative video attempts to express the will to fundamental strength of life and considering the state of life and death (WOW, 2017). The last act of the dancers putting their hands together as if in prayer seems to say that in spite of it all, people would continue to pray for the strength to survive.
Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, Transcending Space
teamLab, 2017, Interactive Digital Installation, 4min 20sec, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi
Teamlab is a Japanese digital art collective known for bringing immersive dream-like experience to life. Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, Transcending Space is an interactive and immersive digital installation where reality and fantasy converge, viewers become part of the space as it changes in response to people.
Crows rendered in light fly around the space, leaving trails of lights in its wake, creating spatial calligraphy. When they crash into one another while chasing themselves or attempting to fly at the viewer, they scatter and turning into flowers (teamLab, 2017). Though not as celebrated now, in Japanese mythology, the Yatagarasu (or eight-span crow) is seen as a symbol of guidance, rebirth and rejuvenation. The lines drew by the crows before they disperse into flowers seems like a direct reference to this traditional beliefs.
Aside from the mesmerizing visuals, the music is also an essential part of the experience, the beautiful melody comprise of timeless traditional folk music motifs enhancing the poetic nature of the installation. The installation is in constant change as it is not a prerecorded animation on a loop but a real time computer generation, previous states can never be seen again (teamLab, 2017).
“As we immerse and meld ourselves into this unified world, we explore a continuity among people, as well as a new relationship that transcends the boundaries between people and the world,” teamlab
Interactive art entails reciprocal response between artwork and participant. Not only can the audience inhabit the space, human activity determines the transformation of the environment. The collective explore the boundaries between traditional Japanese culture and futuristic imaginations through their works of art. TeamLab confronted conventional art, visualizing traditional Japanese arts and values by using digital technology and computer graphics. This groundbreaking work can be seen as a confluence of art and technology, illuminating traditional arts with modern technology.
The Mask, Tan Sher Lynn, 2018 Untitled, Tan Sher Lynn 2019
After analyzing the chosen artworks and talking to others, I came to realize that I have done works with some visual similarities. Inori and teamLab's immersive installation brought to mind works that I have done before discovering these works. The mask was the result of researching the works of Pierre Huyghe who worked a lot with the relationship between man, creature and technology. Moss would start growing on the mask, then corals, before morphing into a human face accompanied by the sound of a beating heart and lastly a robot who speaks of destruction. In the recent Cyberspace Workshop, I created an immersive virtual space which becomes denser with light trails the more the participants moves in the space.
A common attribute of the three works is the use of digital technology in creating the art installations. Having previously worked with immersive mediums like virtual reality, I thought it would be interesting to expand to the physical space. Although the creation of alternative virtual realms is interesting, it would be nice to bring them to life as well?
Another interesting thread is the juxtaposition of reality and fiction, traditional and contemporary practice. Most of the works address their topic of social issues or human psychology through symbolism or fictional worlds, allowing people to reflect on these topic from another perspective, like how Asai managed to conveyed mundane emotions and experience with technology. Other examples like photographers like David Schermann and Rune Guneriussen were able to stretch reality and imagination, they created fantastical scenes, another version of reality.
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Reference
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Holmes, K. (2017) April 7. 'Blood Pours from Facial-Mapped Projections of Venetian Noh Masks', VICE, Available at: https://www.vice.com/en/article/d7qmzz/nobumichi-asai-facial-mapped-projections-venetian-noh-masks (Accessed: 4 October 2019).
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teamLab, (2017) 'Crows are Chased and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, Transcending Space', Available at: https://www.teamlab.art/w/crows_transcending_space/ (Accessed: 5 October 2019).
Traditional Kyoto. (2019) 'Crows', Available at: https://traditionalkyoto.com/culture/figures/crows/ (Accessed: 6 October 2019).
WOW. (2017) 'INORI - PRAYER - Realtime Face-mapping', Available at: https://www.w0w.co.jp/en/
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