2022.09.16
Kyoto's Traditional 'Nishijin-ori' Weaving Merges with Cutting-edge Technology in 'Ambient Weaving' to Explore the Ultimate Beauty
Ars Electronica, held in Linz, Austria, is a festival of art, technology, and culture, boasting one of the largest scales in the world for a media art event. At the STARTS (Innovation at the Nexus of Science, Technology, and the ARTS) division of Ars Electronica 2022, held from September 7 to 11, 'Ambient Weaving' developed in collaboration by ZOZO NEXT Inc., the Yasuaki Kokehi Laboratory at UTokyo, and Hosoo Co., Ltd., won an Honorary Mention (House of Honour), a respectable award.
Following conversations with Satoshi Nakamaru, who led the project at ZOZO NEXT Inc., Yasuaki Kakehi, who leads the Yasuaki Kakehi Laboratory at UTokyo, we spoke with Masataka Hosoo, the representative of Hosoo Co., Ltd.
Could you please share your thoughts on 'Ambient Weaving', the winning work this time from the perspective of Hosoo Co., Ltd.? How do you view the relationship with 'Nishijin-ori', a traditional art form of Kyoto?
Regardless of the matter at hand, when Hosoo takes on something, within the 1200-year history of Nishijin-ori, the question of "Why are we doing this now?" naturally arises. A persistent pursuit of the 'ultimate beauty', and continuing to answer the fundamental question, 'What is beauty?', has been consistent throughout the 1000- and 500-year-old histories. Many different technologies have emerged within this context. In light of this, I feel it's somewhat of a mission to be able to answer such questions.Also, originally, we had the idea of exploiting the characteristics of Nishijin-ori, which can weave a wide variety of materials into complex structures, to incorporate cutting-edge materials. In the context of the modern day, when we thought about how to output this idea, we thought of putting on an exhibit that would use 'textile', which has been present between the environment and people since time immemorial, to rediscover the relationship between people and their environment.
A project that allows you to feel the unseen event of environmental change through beauty
Could you please share your thoughts on winning the award?
I'm very honoured that our challenging initiative of collaboration between craft and technology was recognized.What are the unique features of this project (from the perspective of Hosoo Co., Ltd)?
I think a significant part of this project is that by exhibiting the external environment itself beautifully through textiles, one can not only see something architecturally beautiful but also feel the invisible event of environmental change through beauty.In this exhibition, I believe we were able to represent that you can notice the minor changes if you change the way you pay attention and process information. For instance, you can enjoy the slight changes in scenery due to the seasons and climate even while walking the same path every day. I think this leads to a kind of mental richness.
Please share your thoughts on exhibiting at Ars Electronica 2022.
I think it's very meaningful to have people around the world see this initiative.Share Article
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