As a researcher and media artist, what approaches or methodologies did you employ to navigate and contribute to this project with Oitama Tsumugi?
Technical Approach: We utilized a balanced frame design incorporating stretchable frames and tensegrity structures to construct a foldable and portable tea room.
AI Integration: We seek to reconstruct each part of the tea room using AI and rebuild the digital nature of tea utensils into the ontology of Yamagata weaving. We explored incorporating devices to recognize space and convert that information into sound, visuals, and light, thereby manifesting digital nature.
Which particular facets of Oitama Tsumugi’s historical background and craftsmanship most profoundly resonated with your artistic inclinations and vision?
Exploratory Design Process: We incorporated an ethnographic approach and gave attention to craft techniques such as those found in Mr. Nitta’s workshop. I am particularly influenced by the fact that Mr. Nitta’s workshop explores a series of processes, from agricultural work to the construction of machinery, creating items from scratch.
Cultural Significance of the Tea Room: We rediscovered the culture of tea rooted in the traditions of Yonezawa and incorporated it into the vision of contemporary art as a world view centered around the ontology of weaving. Through this process, digital nature intervenes in the reconstruction of tea utensils, with AI interfacing with design and providing real-time feedback.
Could you provide more insights into the specific artistic or technological innovations you introduced to complement and enhance the traditional techniques of Oitama Tsumugi for your project together?
Utilization of AI and Digital Media: Employing AI in design theory and dynamically altering visuals and music in real-time allows physical spaces to develop into transportable artworks and blend into digital nature.
Transportable Structure: Combining traditional analog materials with digital technology in design theory creates works that are both mobile and expressive.
In the process of merging contemporary artistic expression with the revered practices of Oitama Tsumugi, what unexpected complexities emerged, and how did you address or navigate these challenges in your collaborative work?
Fusion of Media Art and Digital Nature: A new artistic expression that incorporates elements of digital nature into the traditional space of a tea room. Understanding and constructing the ontology of Yonezawa as the roots of digital nature.
Collaborative Experience: Through dialogues with experts such as Mr. Nitta, exploring the balance between tradition and innovation, and adding new perspectives to the project.
How do you foresee the impact of your creative fusion with the tradition of Oitama Tsumugi influencing the ongoing preservation and evolution of traditional Japanese textile craftsmanship?
Eastern Worldview and Digital Nature: Understanding the Eastern perspectives of world-building and deconstructing them to import into digital nature.
Cultural Preservation and Evolution: Through those processes and the interaction of AI and space for ontology understanding, adding new dimensions to traditional crafts and contributing to cultural preservation and evolution.
