CONNECT: Connecting Art and Science 01 JHL×UTokyo
Pay a virtual visit to the Komaba Museum at the University of Tokyo where artist Tokolo Asao is currently exhibiting as part of CONNECTING ARTIFACTS 01. Live from Tokyo, Tokolo Asao joins origami engineer and University of Tokyo Associate Professor Tachi Tomohiro to discuss the collaborative process of art and science.
The mechanism by which simple forms are connected by certain rules to form a whole is a universal principle. Artist Tokolo Asao calls this principle ‘Individual and Group’ and his works exploring this can be seen at the exhibition Tokolo Asao [CONNECT] Individual and Group at Japan House London.
‘Individual and Group’ is also explored in a course the artist collaboratively teaches with scientist Tachi Tomohiro in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo. The creative process is not always straightforward, and what is created is often an unintended by-product. Deciphering these by-products from various perspectives, including science, information technology, engineering, art, and mathematics, leads to discoveries and new questions. The chain of making, discovering, obtaining questions, and solving them leads to a rich, interdisciplinary research field.
This event is held as a collaboration between the exhibition Tokolo Asao [CONNECT] Individual and Group held at Japan House London and CONNECTING ARTIFACTS 01 held at Komaba Museum, the University of Tokyo. The talk will be broadcast online from the Komaba Museum in Tokyo, Japan.
During this live online event, moderated by Japan House London Programming Director Simon Wright, there is an opportunity for registered guests to ask questions to the speakers.
About the Speakers
Tachi Tomohiro is an associate professor in Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo. He studied Architecture and received his PhD degree in Engineering from the University of Tokyo. He has been designing origami since 2002 and keeps exploring three-dimensional and kinematic forms through computation. He developed origami software tools including ‘rigid origami simulator’, ‘origamizer’, and ‘freeform origami’, which are available from his website. His research interests include origami, structural morphology, computational design, and fabrication. He is involved in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) education and teaches an art-science collaboration class, ‘Individual and Group’ in collaboration with Tokolo Asao.
Tokolo Asao (b.1969) studied architecture from a young age and now works in the interdisciplinary fields of art, architecture, and design. He has a connection with London already having studied under Egashira Shin at the Architectural Association. Since 11 September 2001, Tokolo has been producing patterns with the theme of ‘to connect’. Many of his patterns are based on simple geometry and can be reproduced using a compass and a ruler. His work is both two-dimensional and three-dimensional, crossing disciplines such as fine art, design and architecture. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games brought him to the world’s attention, when his graphic art Harmonized Chequered Emblem was chosen as the Games’ Olympic and Paralympic emblems.
