"It may seem like you're interacting with technology, but you're actually interacting with nature."

Matsuyama (MINOTAUR INST. collaboration creator): Listening to what you just said , I get the impression that there are now more people playing with technology without thinking about its essence. When you think of the two words technology and culture, I think we are entering an age where we can play with technology without having to think about difficult things, for better or worse.

Wakita: I feel that strongly. It's true that the barriers to technology itself have been lowered, it has become more socialized, and it has become easier for many people to engage with. In the Western concept, the opposite of nature was culture. In the past, in Europe, nature was seen as a convenient material for creating culture.

Matsuyama: I see.

Wakita: We now live in an age where we can access many resources from the internet anytime, anywhere, and computers have become miniaturized and ubiquitous, so technology is everywhere. Many people say that in a sense it is becoming nature. In other words, using culture and technology like nature means that we are now using technology as a convenient material, just as natural materials were in the past. Humans have skillfully manipulated nature, creating rice fields and waterways and modifying it to make life easier for themselves. We are now on the same trajectory, and although it may seem like we are interacting with technology, we are actually interacting with nature.

Izumi (MINOTAUR INST. Designer): The brand name Minotaur is taken from a book we all collaborated on during the Surrealist era. As I pursued my own sense of the times, I tried to incorporate more of the latest elements of the culture of the generation before me, compared to the fashion of the generation before me, but I received a lot of criticism. At that time, I realized that this was not something new, but something that had existed for a long time, so rather than using the name of a clothing brand, I used the name of that era and continued it as a brand name that expresses my stance toward the movement and culture.

Triplet / Land Art / 8K / Visual Audio Installation / 2020

Izumi: Specifically, I was influenced by a nylon bag from PORTER that I bought when I was 16, and even now, 30 or 40 years later, it still feels like a classic natural product. I think there are people now who say that natural products are better for the earth. However, while polyester used to be said to be cheap and itchy, today's polyester has evolved. It still has some areas where it is not as good as natural materials, but it is becoming classic again. I have always kept that perspective in mind when it comes to materials and fashion, so listening to Mr. Wakita's talk helped me to reminisce and organize my thoughts.

Wakita : "Nylon is classic" is a good phrase. For Matsuyama and me, computers can be considered classic. There's a similar situation in the music world, with hip-hop, for example, with 2 Live Crew and RUN DMC, and there was a lot of talk about them at the time, but now we can definitely feel that they're classic.

Triplet / Land Art / 8K / Visual Audio Installation / 2020

Wakita: Actually, I've always had a complex about people who are good at drawing or who are dexterous. But then, it was computers that helped me make up for my physical disabilities. As I continued to work on simulating and visualizing natural phenomena through programming, I began to gain a deeper insight into nature. In the past, painters and sculptors tried to capture the essence of nature through their creations, but today's artists are realizing what they did using a classic tool called computers.