Robotic Artists Create 100+ Public Installations In Tokyo Reacting To Olympics
Image via Jason Bruges Studio
An artist collective of four robots take up residency in Ueno Park, Tokyo, as part of the Olympics’ cultural program. Combining the fields of sport, art, technology, and the traditional Japanese zen garden, The Constant Gardeners is a hybrid performative art piece celebrating the performance of athletes, a fitting theme for Tokyo this summer.
In this installation running July 28 to September 5, Jason Bruges Studio “commissions” four robots to create 150 illustrations throughout the course of the Tokyo 2020 Games in daily performances. They’re fed data from video clips of past athletes’ performances, then rake their creations into a canvas of gravel, made of 14 tons of crushed black basalt and another four tons of granite.
Image via Jason Bruges Studio
“Some of the performances will showcase the story of an event unfolding over time, while others will shine a light on a single spectacular movement or sporting moment,” the studio details. “The Constant Gardeners will create a new visual language to communicate and celebrate the motion of the professional athletes and their feats of physical prowess.”
The four stars of the show are secondhand industrial robots, “reclaimed” from working in a BMW factory to produce cars, Wallpaper reports. Given a new lease of life, the robots now serve to provide reflection on how machinery is incorporated in daily life.
Jason Bruges Studio evokes a new narrative for robotics, bringing them into the creative sector rather than being solely associated with tech and science. It also hopes to explore relationships between nature and technology with this installation, and in turn inspire visitors to “slow down” and reconnect with their surroundings.
Image via Tokyo Arts Council
Announcing The Constant Gardeners launching on the 28th July, Ueno Park, Tokyo! https://t.co/vKUPp9KYbS @TTF_official_PR @jpBritishArts @mattintokyo @BrilliantStages @TAITTowers @Sutton#theconstantgardeners #jasonbrugesstudio #ttf_special13 #zengarden #mediaart #robot #uenopark pic.twitter.com/nZqNrMtsfH
— Jason Bruges Studio (@jasonbruges) July 1, 2021
Content development for #theconstantgardeners @TTF_official_PR @jpBritishArts @jp_British @britishcouncil @BrilliantStages @TAITTowers @sutton #jasonbrugesstudio #ttf_special13 #TokyoTokyoFestivalスペシャル13 #TokyoTokyoFestival #UKinJAPAN #meditation #tokyo2020 #olympics2020 pic.twitter.com/ArNSOtV14S
— Jason Bruges Studio (@jasonbruges) July 22, 2021
Image via Jason Bruges Studio
Image via Jason Bruges Studio
[via Wallpaper, image via Tokyo Arts Council]
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