haruka kojin: contact lens

the MOT museum of contemporary art tokyo is having an exhibition entitled ‘architectural environments for tomorrow
– new spatial practices in architecture and art’. the show, a collaboration between yuko hasegawa,
the MOT tokyo chief director, and SANAA architects (kazuyo sejima and ryue nishizawa), looks at the modern
interconnectivity between technology, urbanism and the way designers respond and influence our changing global culture. 

 

among 28 architects and artists presenting their work is hiroshima-born haruka kojin. the artist is the youngest
of the exhibitors, kojin explores the distortion of reality through her newest piece, ‘contact lens’.
two types of lenses are used, one completely flat and clear and the other with a warped surface to create
interconnected circles of varying sizes. as the light travels through the acrylic, the images on the other side
are flipped and contorted, changing the experience of the space. since the elements are clear with no frames
or distinct features of its own, the physical material merges into the environment, only visible
through the transformation it causes. 

 

‘the metaphor of the world-views suggested by the artist resonate with the practical proposals of the architects,
presenting images of future ‘humanity’ from a variety of different angles… an exhibition of the unknown experience,
that cannot be explained through words, only through the ‘feel’ of the future.’ – MOT museum of contemporary art tokyo

‘with yuko hasegawa, chief curator of the museum of contemporary art tokyo, we collaborated in the planning of
an exhibition involving both art and architecture which is based on the theme ‘architectural environments for tomorrow’.
architecture and art serve as a form of mirror, reflecting an image of the times and society which we are heading towards.
simultaneously, we believe that these serve as an important process in the creation of the coming age. for this reason,
we expect each of the participating artists to put forward an architectural/artistic proposal aspiring towards
a new kind of sensation, philosophy or experience. when we speak of a new era, we think it will be of one which
is diverse and believe that architecture or art plays a major role to provide a world-model in which various values
and dynamic relationships are able to coexist with each other. in this vein, we will not show each work in this exhibition
distinctly instead, as much as possible, we aim to display them all together, without walls coming between them.
we hope to see the entire museum functioning as an expression of diversity.’ – kazuyo sejima + ryue nishizawa / SANAA

 

see more designboom articles on the exhibition.