An audiovisual installation composed of five wide displays and a 3D sensor. The displays show a 3D model of the artist generated using volumetric capture technology, continuously casting its gaze in various directions. In this work, the vertices of the viewing frustum that constitutes the perspective of the image are always set along the extension of that gaze, so the viewer continually experiences dynamic anamorphosis (distorted imagery). However, only when the viewer’s viewpoint is tracked and the 3D model turns its gaze toward that position—that is, only when the viewer and the 3D model “meet each other’s eyes”—does a single integrated space emerge across display planes oriented in different directions. Invented in the 15th century, perspective drawing has continued to exert a strong influence on dualistic ways of understanding the world, centered on the subject/object divide. In this work, by making the reciprocity of the gaze a condition for the existence of virtual space, those boundaries and hierarchical relationships are dissolved, while the visual experience that arises there presents a current reality in which multiple dimensions coexist.

Premiered at “MOVOP,” an exhibition screening by young animation artists under 30, held at digity mini (Shibuya).

Theme set as “music as an asylum (sanctuary / free domain).” The staff notation in the lyrics (music) was interpreted as an asylum, a free domain. In the lyrics, music itself is called upon as something whose inherent joy one is made to notice, and it is sung that surrendering oneself to it is an ordinary, insignificant act. It also sounded like an antithesis to the recent situation (the COVID-19 pandemic), which can even create the illusion that there are restrictions on enjoying music. But in reality, there are no such restrictions on music itself. For both its creators and its listeners, it has always been free, inviolable, a sanctuary, and sometimes a refuge. Within that, the aim was to express through collage and an allegorical story the process of simply enjoying music with curiosity. “An asylum, or asylum (German: Asyl, French: asile, English: asylum), is a historical and social concept referring to a special area also called a ‘sanctuary,’ ‘free domain,’ ‘refuge,’ or ‘place without ties.’ Its etymology lies in the Greek word ‘ἄσυλον’ (meaning a place that cannot be violated, a sacred place). In concrete terms, it generally refers to an area beyond the reach of governing power.” - Wikipedia “A place where criminals, slaves, and others flee to escape severe harm or retaliation and receive protection. The term derives from the Greek asylos (unharmed, inviolable, sacred). In premodern times, before the state’s power to punish had been organized and systematized, it was a制度 seen in most societies. Originally, this system was based on a primitive religious belief that harming (taking revenge on) someone who had entered a sanctuary was a blasphemy against the gods. In ancient Greece, temples were regarded as places of protection for abused slaves, criminals, and debtors, and it was considered a religious offense to retrieve or punish those who had fled to a temple and come under divine protection.” - Kotobank What I focused on in this work was not only using live-action cuts, but also frequently cutting by motif in order to blur the boundaries of the domain.

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