The voices spoken into the entrance turn into lines of light that race along the paths on the table. Following each route, the lines of sound eventually reach the exit, where they change in many different ways—becoming higher-pitched, sounding like a robot’s voice, or resonating like a concert hall—before turning back into sound again. This is an interactive installation where you can enjoy the “journey” of sound by speaking into it in different ways. The name “Yukueon” combines the sense of voices changing tone with a chameleon-like quality, evoking the idea of sound taking different paths.

When you blow words into a hole, the “words,” shaped from your voice, begin to walk on their own and freely move around the plaza. You can enjoy their many changing forms, such as flowers blooming from their heads when you say “thank you,” fangs and tails sprouting when you say “idiot,” or wings growing so they can fly when you say “rumor.” This interactive work was created from the experience of sensing the speaker’s emotions and humanity in words, as if the words themselves were imbued with intention. Words may be remembered after returning home, passed on to others, or remain in one’s heart forever; they begin to walk on their own, sometimes gently accompanying us like flowers, sometimes baring their fangs like beasts, and sometimes spreading to many people like birds. Drawing on such imaginations about words, as well as motifs inspired by the origins of terms such as koto no ha, koto no ha, koto no ha, kotoba, and kotodama, the work gives form to a world where these independently standing “words” live on their own.

Description: When you move your hand close to the wall, multiple petals are drawn in a kaleidoscopic, multifaceted way, and whether you are good at drawing or not, no matter who moves their hand or how, a unique flower shape is created. A flower of possibility blooms at the fingertips of any person. What kind of scenery would a place formed by the gathering of those blooming flowers have? This is an interactive participatory work created by layering that imagination onto a flower field that gradually expands and changes color.