Second Nature at 21_21 Design Sight

Here are more images of the Second Nature exhibition at 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo, featuring work by designers including Ross Lovegrove. Makoto Azuma and the Campana Brothers.

The exhibition was directed by Japanese designer Tokujin, who invited eight other practitioners to contribute to the exhibition: Japanese artist Noriko(top image), flower-artist Makoto Azuma, designers Humberto and Fernando Campana from Brazil (above), photographer Asuka Katagiri, British designer Ross Lovegrove, ikebana artist Yukio Nakagawa, and dancer and choreographer Kaiji Moriyama with film maker Takeshi Kushida.

Above: Cristalina by Campana Brothers

The exhibition includes an installation of fibres called Clouds and Venus chair, created from crystals that form on polyester mesh left in a mineral solution for over a month, both by Yoshioka.

Above: Cellular Automation - Origin of Species 2 by Ross Lovegrove. “Focused on the mystery of life, this new work creates a construction of bones by stereolithography,” says Lovegrove.

The exhibition continues until 18 January 2009. Above and below: work by Noriko Ambe.

Photography by Masaya Yoshimura.

Here’s some text about the exhibition from 21_21 Design Sight:

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Thinking about the future of design: Second Nature, from the depths of a sea of memories

This exhibition offers an opportunity to once again ponder the future of design as well as the mysterious powers of nature which transcend the limits of human imagination.

Tokujin Yoshioka, the director of the exhibition, has attempted to incorporate in his own design work the many laws that exist in nature, while at the same time exploring the possibilities of technology. Above and below: Makoto Azuma.

Below: Reincarnation by Kaiji Moriyama and Takeshi Kushida; a film work on the theme of reincarnation, created in 2008. Hirotaka MAEDA (PYRAMID FILM).

His works do not merely remind people of the natural world on a visual level or imitate the more apparent manifestations of the laws of nature. Rather, by using technology as well as his own ideas as a kind of sustenance, he creates new forms of nature, in a process that results in what might best be described as a “second nature”. Below: Light Navigation #140 by Asuka Katagiri.

Rooted in this mindset, this exhibition presents the experimental works of eight groups of creators, including Tokujin Yoshioka himself. The exhibition also presents a cloud-like installation that envelop the exhibit space. Below: Light Navigation #152 by Asuka Katagiri.

This new work is a design experiment that incorporates the power of nature, which humans cannot completely control. Below: Yukio Nakagawa

Below: Clouds by Tokujin Yoshioka

Below: Venus chair by Tokujin Yoshioka.

Tokujin Yoshioka - exhibition director
Kazuo Hashiba - editor
Masahiro Kamijyo(AXIS) - editor
Noriko Kawakami - journalist
Eizo Okada - design director

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