"We are in a phase where electronic technology is becoming ubiquitous."

Matsuyama (MINOTAUR INST. collaboration creator) For about three years, I've been working with Izumi from MINOTAUR INST. on an experiment in which we collaborate on fashion using generative techniques and technology to create graphic designs for T-shirts. We originally started with T-shirts, but this year's Paris Fashion Week was held online, so we created a virtual exhibition for MINOTAUR INST. As we did this, I began to want to delve deeper into various things. I felt that we needed some new elements to do this, and I wanted to hear from various creators, so I decided to interview Wakita-sensei.

Moment / Sculpture / 2019

Matsuyama MINOTAUR INST. has also launched its own media, which aims to function as an archive of activities that explore the nature of new street culture. The new street feel we are aiming for is called post-street, and MINOTAUR INSTITUTE is running a cultural research project that explores the nature of this new culture. We would like to hear from Professor Wakita, who is both a creator artist and a teacher at a school that has produced many top-notch artists, about creating such spaces and his understanding of technology, which is inextricably linked to contemporary culture.

Wakita: I started to become more socially conscious after I turned 40, so I'm actually not very good at "creating spaces." In my 20s and 30s, I was very particular about creating things myself, and I lived a life where I hardly ever exchanged opinions, threw anything into society, or initiated anything. After I turned 40, I happened to meet a lot of people, and we naturally started doing things together, so I feel like I've been creating spaces in my 40s.

Matsuyama: I see.

Wakita : Yes. I'm currently the dean of a university, but I can't do everything by myself, so I run the campus by making good use of the strengths of each member of the campus community in an editorial role. However, somewhere deep inside me, my desire to create still burns, so I try to juggle my time and find time for creation. I feel like I wouldn't be able to maintain both unless I did this.

Matsuyama: The time spent focusing on creating something is very important. Regarding "creating a space," I think it's about bringing together people who share similar philosophies on a deep level, regardless of whether they're into fashion, technology, or creation, and on a wavelength or frequency. I think it would be great if they could communicate with each other and show each other their finished works.

Wakita: That's right. I think we're currently in a phase where electronic technology is seeping into every aspect of our lives, but behind this lies the culture of programming and open source, and I think we've progressed while being influenced by the manners and rules of that culture. Think, create, share. I feel like this open source culture has permeated various parts of the world over the past 20 or 30 years. I think everyone keeps the really important things secret, but after separating them to a certain extent, they share what they can. This invigorates communities, gives rise to new forms of communication, and as a result, gives rise to commerce. I feel like the way we interact with others is also becoming more open source culture.

Matsuyama : I see.

Wakita: The relationship between technology and culture is easy to understand if we take video as an example. The film projector created by the Lumière brothers was initially a single technology. As this technology spread and became widely used, new uses were discovered and new forms of expression were pioneered. The Surrealist movement emerged shortly afterward, and with Luis Bunuel as its leader, I believe the subsequent visual culture was created. What was once merely a technology combines with the movements of the time and people's imagination to create a new culture. 100 years later, the Academy Awards and the Cannes Film Festival have come to be regarded as symbols of cultural activity. If we think about it this way, as media art spreads in conjunction with clothing and physical expression, it may give rise to the next generation of fashion culture, and the time may come when it will be positioned as a new cultural center.

Matsuyama: Personally, I think we're currently in a period of great change in the relationship between culture and technology. This is purely my impression, but I think we're entering an era where technology can directly become a form of expression. Rather than being a place for collaboration between people who use technology to create expression, it seems like it's becoming more like a playground for technology, and new value is starting to be born from there.

Wakita: That's true.

Matsuyama: Personally, I think of street culture as a kind of spontaneous culture. This kind of situation, where technology is directly sublimated into expression, strikes me as very street-like. When you look at the present, do you see any differences from the past, or do you think the way we interact with technology will change in the future?

Wakita : I think that when people encounter new technology, they usually think, "What can I use this for?" In other words, they view technology as a tool. While the approach of viewing technology as a tool is common, I also think there is an approach that asks, "What does this technology mean to humanity in the first place?"—an approach that seeks to understand its true essence. Martin Heidegger said that, for example, when someone discovers a stream, there are people who think, "I'll use the river water to make a waterwheel and use it as power." This tool theory extends to hydroelectric power generation, which then leads to the development of even more advanced energy systems. On the other hand, there is also the idea of ​​tracing the source of the stream and asking where the first drop came from. This is one way of looking at the true essence of water. I think there are both of these approaches to technology; while playing with it as a tool, we also try to grasp the essence of that technology.

Matsuyama: That's true.

Wakita: While we use AI as a tool, it also raises the question of what intelligence means to humans in the first place. I think that aspect is important. If we think about "what is the true nature of technology" rather than viewing it as a tool, we can see that technology is something that spreads rapidly, like a living thing. Technology infiltrates humans and self-multiplies. There has long been the idea that technology uses humans as vehicles to self-multiply, but this is a complicit relationship between humans and technology. In other words, humans use technology to create new expressions and lifestyles, while technology expands itself based on human desires. I think that's what it means when technology flourishes and becomes a kind of self-sustaining culture. Looking at internet culture and AI culture from this perspective can help us get closer to the true nature of humanity, and I think it's interesting.