[Tokujin Yoshioka] Venus chair

Venus chair by Tokujin Yoshioka

 

Second Nature – Born of Memory: Thinking About the Future of Design

 

Nature shows us a beauty that exceeds our imagination. On the other hand, it contains a strength that is sometimes frightening. The forms of nature are unique and cannot be reproduced. This endows them with mysterious beauty and makes them fascinating to us.

I believe that a design is not something that is completed through being given a form, but rather something that is completed by the human heart. I also feel that incorporating the principles and movements of nature into ideas will become something important in future design. I am sometimes surprised at how people who have seen my space installations talk to me about them while seeming to superimpose these works on the natural phenomena that they themselves have experienced.

So, what are the forms of nature that are evoked by human experience? In order to ponder this question in collaboration with others, in the “Second Nature” exhibition I have enlisted the participation of seven designers and artists who have demonstrated exceptional talent. Their works each convey the mysterious power of nature and life. In one work, a plant sealed in ice freshly conveys the life force. In another, a liquid seems to transform, producing hitherto unknown structures.

While some works make one imagine the strange landscapes that have surrounded people, others incorporate phenomena that occur by chance. In addition to these works, there is a cloud-like installation that envelops the entire exhibit space, allowing visitors to view a range of experimental pieces.

Future designs created by fusing technology and the life force with the imaginative powers that spring up from the “nature” that exists deep in each person’s memory; future-oriented ideas born from once again inquiring of the Earth – that is the “second nature” that I envision. - Tokujin Yoshioka, Exhibition Director