Press Release
Animation Diorama
12 hanging scrolls of light featuring an animated story in 3 Dimensional Space
12 hanging scrolls of light
Animation Diorama consists of 12 contemporary Japanese scrolls, LED displays of 2.7m in height, with an accompanying 12 channel sound track. During the installation the exhibition space and the space of the unfolding story become transformed and merged.
The computer generated 3D virtual animation, explores the recognition of space of our Japanese ancestors, and at the same time creates new interpretations of space, and becomes a new form of expression on a plane surface. Using this new form of expression, 12 large displays show an original story that can be seen from 12 different viewer points set in the 20mx10m exhibition space.
All three works will be on display in the main hall at the “Kansei Japan Design Exhibition”, celebrating 150years of France and Japan exchange, at the Muse'e des Arts De'coratifs located in the Louvre museum's western wing .
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Outline
An installation of 3D Animation played on twelve 2.7 meter high LED displays, with sound reproduced using a 12 channel sound system. The installation has the effect of transforming the entire 20mx10m exhibition space into a 3D animated story.
The Computer generated Virtual 3D animation captures the essence of Japanese painting and is set up in an arrangement of 12 hanging scrolls.
Japanese scrolls depict 4-dimensions (3-dimensions and the time axis) onto a planar surface. This approach differs from paintings of the West that consider the rules of perspective, rules of geometric and objectification.
Japanese traditional art expression, unlike perspective art, sacrifices the objective information of space and does not have a focal point. Without an observation point the observer’s mind is allowed to drift into another world, into the world of the characters of a story, where the borders between the subjective and objective become ambiguous and merged.
Through the process of turning a Japanese 2D painting into a computer generated 3D virtual space, we may gain a greater understanding of how our Japanese ancestors perceived, cognized and interpreted the space and the world around them.
Story
1. At the zenith of the HEIAN-era’s prosperity, Hikaru Genji lives in brilliant colors. One day, the capital HEIAN-KYO is suddenly struck by an unfortunate disease. Hikaru Genji leaves the capital on a quest to find out the cause of the disease that has fallen on his people.
2. Continuing on his search Hikaru Genji follows the trail of the disease and he arrives at a village. The village is holding a festival of thanks and gratitude to nature for its benevolence.
3. After the festival, the village starts to return to normal life, and the people live bravely and courageously even though there is still the threat of disease. They fell trees and work hard to continue to develop the civilization. Nature rewards the people with its benevolence and the people live good and peaceful lives.
4. The village people are requested to cut down more and more trees by the capital governor, in order to construct more buildings in the city. The village people plan to cut down a big tree from a forest deep in the mountains. After cutting down the big tree, suddenly, a YAMATANOOROCHI (*1) appears. The dragon burns with anger, and lets loose heavy rains that flood the village.
5. The YAMATANOOROCHI carry on rampaging and destroying the houses of the village. Then the forest gods come down to the village and take out their anger on the people in the village.
6. When the plight of the village is reported to the governor, he sends a group of Samurai to drive out the YAMATANOOROCHI and forest gods. The Samurai go to the village and start to fight the dragons with flaming arrows. After bitter fighting, the Samurai finally win the battle and kill the YAMATANOOROCHI and forest gods.
7. After the fight there is desolation, the ground is scorched and the houses are wrecked. The village loses nature’s benevolence and the people begin to suffer the torments of hunger.
8. Hikaru Genji is stunned as he stands surrounded by the dead YAMATANOOROCHI and forest Gods. In a state of bemusement Hikaru Genji tries casting seeds over the corpses. After a while, Shoots comes out from the bodies of the dead and flowers begin to blossom from them. Those flowers grow up trees and the forest comes back to life. The village people who have survived start to feel once again the benevolent forces of nature. They realize that whilst they make progress and start to develop civilization they must live in harmony with the forest. Finally, the festival is held in the village again.
*1 Yamatanoorochi is a legendary creature from the "Chronicles of Japan; A Record of Ancient Matters". He has 8 heads and 8 tails, his eyes are bright red, he has moss and trees growing on his back, his stomach is inflamed with blood, and it is said that his body is big enough to cross 8 valleys and 8 peaks. Yamatanoorochi's stomach being inflamed with blood is thought to be symbolic of a river that has become murky or polluted with iron. The making of iron required the felling of large trees and this in turn caused flooding.
Concept
The strange sense when looking at a photograph of a view that had made a deep impression on you, and seeing that view reproduced in a photograph. Alternatively, the gap between a picture that you have seen and that of the real view that you see.
We actually see space not with our eyes, but through our brains. We understand the space around us by compiling and interpreting the information from the eyes with our common sense, education and a combination of experiences. For example, we understand pictures drawn in perspective because we live in a city that exhibits uniformity, we have our educational background in perspective, and we also often see pictures and movies. Yet, even in the present day, ethnic groups who live in a primitive environment are not able to understand perspective pictures correctly, and even though a visually impaired person may have a successful operation to give them sight, if they have not had sufficient experience of the world, they may not be able to understand the space around them. Thus, to understand pictures and movies that exist on a plane surface it requires an understanding of space.
Why is it that in the modern world people feel less of a differentiation between the real world and that of photographs and movies?
Perhaps it is because we have begun to see the world through the eyes of our education in perspective to such an extent that we see the real world in the same manner as a photograph or movie. People actually look at the world from a subjective point of view more than they realize. However, once we determine the world as physical and objective, then the subjective world is discarded. People believe the space they look at is the same as in pictures and movies.
How would the world look in a culture sphere which emphasizes subjective understanding and physical sense over objectivity?
The ancient Japanese did not emphasize understanding of the world objectively. They thought of the world subjectively.
But how did people understand the world before the emphasis on an objective point of view?
In order to understand this problem we have tried to see the world as our Japanese ancestors did.
Japanese expression in paintings takes an ideological approach to depict space on a plane, without the geometric calculations and laws of perspective, space was ideological perceived. We thought that the process of trying to express Japanese painting using virtual computer 3D CG might help us to understand the way our Japanese ancestors understood space, and that that would serve as a hint that would enable us to recombine the subjective and objective world vision. That was the incentive for this project. Furthermore, we think it might help us to recombine the subjective and objective worlds once again.
3D Shading
(Depict Space on plane in law of perspective)
3D Wireframe
(Depict Space on plane in Japanese Painting way)
3D Shading
(Depict Space on plane in Japanese Painting way)
compile
Postscript
Japanese ink paintings are drawn in a subjective way that expresses feeling and vitality. There is no ideological consideration given to reproducing a feeling of space on a picture plane. It is abstracted, and has its own individual characteristics.
In this work we have tried to express the forest as being full of vitality, so that the observers can feel the gods of the forest.
Using 3DCG animation it is very difficult to express Japanese painting. Although the camera point moves around each scene in 3D space, such as a scene cutting down a big tree, the scene must be expressed in planes, as in the way of Japanese painting. As a result it becomes necessary to consider the branches and leaves as they form the shapes of those picture planes. (See pictures 1)
We have never seen the trees in (picture 2), but we feel as if we have. We feel awe from the vividness of the flowering trees of the forest, and it is as if we had come into the sanctuary of the gods where people have never been before. That feeling may have come about from the simple shape of a tree, and perhaps Japanese ancestors saw and felt trees and forests like in this picture. There is no logic and no consideration; just they see space naturally like in the pictures. If they saw the video today, they would probably see it as real.
We think of space and our body as different matter, but perhaps once again we will be able to see and feel space through our bodies.
INOKO Toshiyuki, TEAMLAB
pictures 1
picture 2 : Shading
picture 3 : compile
KUHSHO kansei 12 Hanging Scrolls of Light
A contemporary interpretation of traditional Japanese writing in abstract space. The installation consists of 12 video scrolls that show characters written in 3D, and then reconstructed in the exhibition space.
Since the Japanese did not seen space in perspective, they developed their own methods of configuring space not only in painting but in real life.
KUHSHO SPACE ･ PLANE ･ OVERLAP ･ CONTINUOUS or UNCONTINUOUS 12 Hanging Scrolls of Light
A contemporary interpretation of traditional writing abstracted in space. 12 video scrolls that show Japanese characters written in 3D, and then reconstructed in the installation space. In the past Japanese did not interpret space in terms of perspective, they approached depth of space, not only in painting but in real life, in their own way.
For example, in the garden of Palace of Versailles there are similar kinds and heights of tree planted in an orderly way. These trees appear to get smaller in a regular way and constant depth is emphasized. Whereas in a Japanese garden such as ‘Shugakuinrikyu’ depth is expressed as overlapping; ‘close view’, ‘intermediate view’ and ‘distant view’.
Characters written in a variety of spaces are bought together in the exhibition space.
This installation work explores the relation between writing in space and the way writing creates space.
Music, Sound System
The artists that contributed to the sound track produced the work without hearing the sound of the other contributors, and in a manner of improvisation and play that came naturally.
The aim is not to reproduce the sound of an environment, but to make a sound that is born from the energy of the environment.
12 channel surround system. Logic Pro7 in a 7.1 surround PAN. Jointly uses YAMAHA DM1000 and makes unique 12channel surround sound.
The format is completely original.
Total Produce: Design Association
Space Direction: JTQ
Artworks: TEAMLAB
Concept & Story & Art Director: INOKO Toshiyuki
Main Animator: SUZUKI Yohei
Assistant Animator: ITO Atsushi
Motion Graphics Designer: AOKI Yoshinori
Assistant Director: KAWATA Shogo, WATANABE Kenichi
Sound Director: SHIIYA Haleo
Compose & Mixing & Recording: AO Shigetake
The third term music: SHIBUYA Keiichiro
Voice(Khoomei): YAMAKAWA Fuyuki
Voice: Shuri
Shinobue(Japanese Traditional Bamboo Flute)：TAKEDA Tomoko
Wadaiko(Japanese Drum): NAITO Tetsuro
Field REC: KOYASAN SHINGON BUDDHISM SOHONZAN
KONGOBUJI/KOYASAN, Wakayama
- KUHSHO
・Electric Violin：KATSUI Yuji
Exhibition Details
Kansei – Japan Design Exhibition
Les Arts Décoratifs
2008.12.12-12.21
URL: http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/
Les Arts Décoratifs 107, rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris France - Phone: +33 (0)1 44 55 57 50
About TEAMLAB
TOKYO Ultra Technologist Group
Art and subjective and bodily recognition.
Technology and design that gives birth to new value from among actions.
TEAMLAB activities across a wide range of fields from the developing web searching engine to spatial design while making the border between Technology, Art, and Design ambiguous.
Visionary, Creative Director : INOKO Toshiyuki
Address: Hongo Fuji Bldg. 2F, 4-9-22 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo Tel:+81-3-5804-2356 Fax:+81-3-5804-2422
e-mail：pr＠team-lab.com
URL:http://www.team-lab.net
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