Installation view at Chiba City Museum of Art
Unstable Time S-no.5
Details of Unstable Time L-no.1
Material: Light Emitting Diode, IC, electric wire, Nylon fabric, Switching Power Supply.
Unstable Time C-no.1
280 x 280 x 1cm (variable size)
Unstable Time S-no.5
220 x 220 x 1cm (variable size)
Unstable Time L-no.1
80 x 360 x 1 cm (variable size)
2020
Photo by Nobutada Omote
With the development of science and technology, including AI, it is believed that our future is predictable, and if we can keep up with it, we will achieve steady development. However, in recent years, the climate change caused by global warming and the resulting natural disasters have made it impossible to predict the future. The economy, which has been calculated based on the probability theory, is in danger of experiencing wild swings and volatility that could lead to a global depression. And even regional conflicts, which will never end, cannot be controlled by science and technology. What is wrong with this? We still pride ourselves on the fact that nature is controllable, but in fact, the discovery of the Chaos Theory and the butterfly effect half a century ago (the flapping of a single butterfly's wings in Brazil might cause a tornado in Texas) has revealed that the world is actually not so simple that humans can control everything.
The work consists of ticking LED gadgets mounted on fabric and hanging haphazardly on the wall. The mounted LED gadgets are moving at different speeds. They count down from 9 to 1 or count up from 1 to 9, and then repeats the countdown or count up again, without indicating 0. This represents human "life", and when it is counting, it represents "living", and 0 is a metaphor for "death". These gadgets are sewn into the cloth in straight lines, circles, or spirals. However, the cloth just instructs its owner to hang it freely from the wall with a hook or other means, depending on how it is mounted, the cloth will wrinkle or shake in the wind, and the LEDs that mark the time will sag or distort accordingly.
Time and the universe are not something fixed or absolute, but something fluffy, fluid and shapable, in fact. This suggests an uncertain moment before time or the universe is born. In fact, isn't the world we live in also uncertain and unpredictable? There is no fixed universe that we have believed in through science and technology. The only thing we can do against such an uncontrollable world is to face the various phenomena and fight back with our imagination.
Miyajima hopes that you would think about that through this artwork.