Despite the popular feelings, life in itself is a non-linear path. We are used to think about life as a permanent sequence of hours, days and years following each other. While, if we look closer to the infinite subjectivities, there is only a remote chance to get the cause and effect linear process within the whole random stream of consciousness. "LIFE - fluid, invisible, inaudible ...", a non-linear installation by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Shiro Takatani, at NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] in Tokyo till 4 November, reproduces this matter of fact. It consists of a grid of 3 x 3 acrylic square aquariums, 1.2 meters wide, that hung in a darkened room. Each has a thin film of water inside, and speakers at both ends. Ultrasonic waves create an artificial fog, filtering fluid patterns. Takatani's imagery is projected through the tanks, including footage of Nazi prison camps, racial strifes in the American South and first-hand accounts of hardships, with a disturbingly dreamlike quality as the footage appears to float in the air. Music and sounds sampled from LIFE, the original opera composed by Sakamoto in 1999, are coming out from the speakers fixed to each aquarium, adding their own eerie part to the overall effect. Being run by a random control software, audio and visual files are aimlessly uploaded from the database, creating a constantly changing installation. Any actual meaning is eclipsed through the non-sequential and unique sequence of pictures and sounds that goes on endlessly. As if the artists wanted to pay a tribute to the randomness of life, just because life, in the end, is meaningless.
Valentina Culatti