Thinking about new intelligence: The future of craftsmanship presented by the Japan Pavilion at the Venice Biennale

The Japan Pavilion is two stories high, with the ground floor showcasing works by Sunagi (Taichi Sunayama & Toshikatsu Kiuchi) and the upper floor showcasing works by Asako Fujikura + Takahiro Omura. A "hole" in the floor of the upper floor connects the two.

For about a year now, Mr. Aoki and I have been meeting almost weekly to discuss topics such as the "neutral point" and future manufacturing as the use of AI advances.

That's right. Nature and artificiality, humans and non-humans are not in opposition to each other, but rather the very behavior of the "dialogue" and "response" exchanged between them can become the subject of creation, or a new intelligence. Based on this premise, this time the Japan Pavilion building itself is engaged in a dialogue, and humans join in as equals to discuss the future of the Japan Pavilion. Iemura Tamayo and I wrote the original draft of the scenario, but it was Fujikura and Omura who ultimately put it together.

The scenario itself seemed to function as a prompt for the entire exhibition. You were also conscious of the gap between "fiction" and "actual."

Yes. When you actually experience the work, you first encounter the work on the ground floor and then see the video above through the hole. At that point, the ground floor feels real, and the upper floors feel fictional. But when you look down after experiencing the video on the upper floors, the lower floors feel more like fiction.

It's not like one is the other, it's a relationship that is always reversing.

Yes. Fiction and reality keep alternating like a Möbius strip. I think it worked well.

There is a different feeling to the two-layered work, one that compromises or blends with the other.

I guess it feels like they exist as separate, independent entities.

This may be the goal at this point, but at the same time, I get the impression that it is a "neutral point."

In other words, it's not a destination, but a dynamic fixed point. It's as if we're constantly moving towards that state of equilibrium. I hope that the word "neutral point" can convey this feeling. The existence of the "hole" played a major role in making this a reality.

It has become a main character. I feel like I was able to realize the idea of the hole being a hole.

That's right. I've seen the exhibits at the Japan Pavilion many times, and everyone tries to make use of the holes. But in this exhibit, there was meaning in the holes existing as holes.

It was a fictional renovation, and I feel like it changed the way we looked at the building rather than just adding something to it.