Exhibitions

KAKEHI Yasuaki Laboratory,

The University of Tokyo

Harpreet SAREEN, Franziska MACK, KAKEHI Yasuaki

Hybrid exhibition

Algaphon

Schedule

  • Sept. 8 – 12, 2021, 09:00 – 17:00 (CEST)

  • Algaphon

    Photo by Franziska MACK

  • Algaphon

    Photo by Franziska MACK

  • Algaphon

    Photo by Franziska MACK

​​The KAKEHI Yasuaki Laboratory in the University of Tokyo Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies Graduate School is led by artist and associate professor KAKEHI Yasuaki. In 2020, Soundform No. 1 won the Excellence Award in the 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival Art Division. In this exhibition, KAKEHI presents an online participatory hybrid installation work in which he “talks” with algae in the water, with lab members Harpreet SAREEN and collaborator Franziska MACK.


Urban environments and manicured nature, with no sight of native organism diversity, have led to forgotten evolutionary histories and a reduced understanding of ecosystem relations. Algaphon is a hybrid installation wherein algae bubbles that produce sound at Minnaert frequency near algal filaments are rendered audible through a hydrophone. Online visitors can leave a voice message that is translated into photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) variations in a remote aquarium. The algae bubble response to this human speech is then recorded and sent back to the visitor for them to engage in a reflective dialog with algal species. The installation refocuses the attention on nonvascular physiological mechanisms and invites the viewer to think about how the “umwelten” (environment) is in a heightened dynamic to adapt to human actions.

  • Concept/Research/Creation:
  • Harpreet SAREEN, Franziska MACK, KAKEHI Yasuaki

“Algaphon” official website (off-site)

“Algaphon” official website (off-site)

Director’s comment

​​Life has its own tempo and time ticks away. Regardless of the existence of human beings, the earth's biosphere will continue to operate, the ecosystem will maintain its equilibrium, and the earth's time will continue to tick. Through this work, KAKEHI Yasuaki, an engineering researcher and a pioneer in forming new media artist collectives in Japan, Harpreet SAREEN and Franziska MACK connect the scales of algae time and human time, and present the question of Umwelt as proposed by Uexküll through the experience of the coordinates of algae, the origin of plants. “Will the algae world accept a human presence?” The work will be presented at Ars Electronica Festival 2021. (TOMURA Asako)

Harpreet SAREEN

Harpreet SAREEN

Scientist-designer

​​Harpreet SAREEN is a scientist-designer who creates bionic materials and hybrid substrates that lend themselves to future ecological machinery, sensing systems and interaction design.

Franziska MACK

Franziska MACK

Multidisciplinary designer/Researcher

​​Franziska MACK is a multidisciplinary designer and researcher based in New York, where she is currently pursuing an MFA at Parsons School of Design.

KAKEHI Yasuaki

KAKEHI Yasuaki

Media artist/Researcher

​​KAKEHI Yasuaki is a media artist, HCI researcher and an associate professor at the University of Tokyo. By combining digital technology and physical materials, he has created installation works that show new (alternative) ways of experiencing objects and environments. His work has been presented at exhibitions and conferences such as the Ars Electronica and the Japan Media Arts Festival, and has also won many awards.

KAKEHI Yasuaki Laboratory, The University of Tokyo

KAKEHI Yasuaki Laboratory,
The University of Tokyo

​​KAKEHI Yasuaki Laboratory (xlab) is a research group affiliated with the University of Tokyo Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies Graduate School. The group has been led by media artist and HCI researcher KAKEHI Yasuaki since 2018, and works on physical interaction research and experience/expression design to manipulate the properties of materials under the theme of Material Experience Design. The members of the group have a wide range of expertise in information, machinery, materials, art and architecture, and they take an interdisciplinary approach that crosses the boundaries of engineering, art and design. The group’s work and research results have been presented at numerous exhibitions and conferences, including the Ars Electronica Festival and the Japan Media Arts Festival.

© 2021 Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan All Rights Reserved.