Photos: Ryuta Nakajima.
A critique of Modernism by the Japanese artist
Ryuta Nakajima suggests that a 200 year quest for modernity entered its final phase in the Postmodern era. During this period, the recycling of pre-existing methods and theories created fragmentation and dislocation. Linguistic structures and categorization emerged as “governing principals of human consciousness”, according to the artist. At the same time, computer technology has enabled our visual world to be reshaped, assisted by new production and distribution technologies. Emerging from this context, Ryuta Nakajima attempts to answer: “Why we make images, where do they come from, and what is their primary purpose?”
In attempting to answer these questions, the artist focusses on the behaviour of Pharaoh cuttlefish where he aims to uncover the origin of visual communication.
A technique is applied that the artist calls “Hyper Saturated Stimulus Method (HSSM) which helps exploration of the cuttlefish's ability to respond to artificial visual sitmuli such as painting, video and photographs. The experiments have revealed certain categories of behavioural pattern. These observations have been used to create multimedia installations that serve “as a platform to discuss the current trends in contemporary art in relationship to the idea of evolution.”
Whilst it is abstract, it is believed that such research will become increasingly valuable to architects as the impact of CAD software that develops layout, and form using evolutionary techniques, becomes more widely used.
Ryuta Nakajima is Associate Professor of Art and Design at the University of Minnesota, and is a Master of Esoteric Buddhism.
See some videos of his work
here,
here and
here!
