In-Between

The Exhibition of the Japan Pavilion at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia. Curated by architect Jun Aoki, with a curatorial team including advisor Tamayo Iemura (Professor, Tama Art University), the exhibition featured two units: SUNAKI (architect Toshikatsu Kiuchi and artist/programmer Taichi Sunayama) and Asako Fujikura + Takahiro Ohmura.

The theme, “IN-BETWEEN,” examines the responses that arise in the ma (in-between time/space) between binaries such as human/non-human and natural/artificial, without merely integrating them. It envisions the possibility of a third intelligence that does not presuppose the separation of subject and object, using the pavilion building itself as the site of inquiry. SUNAKI was responsible for the pilotis, while Fujikura and Ohmura created a video installation for the gallery.

What Fujikura and Ohmura attempted in Venice was a “fictional renovation” of the Japan Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia. This was not a physical intervention, but rather a reconfiguration of the human perception of architecture among the people drawn into a “dialogue” arising between the pavilion’s constituent elements—Hole, Wall Columns, Outer Walls, Pensilina, Brick Terrace, Tilted Loop Path, and Yew Tree—that were imagined as possessing their own viewpoints.

Inside the exhibition room, where the “voices” of humans and non-humans intersect, two large screens are installed. One displays the Human Video, live-action footage of five humans sharing a meal. The other displays the Construction Video, a 3DCG work that builds a fictional landscape using the spoken words of the dialogue as material. In the foreground, two monitors are arm-mounted to the wall columns: one for subtitles, and the other for the Object Video, displaying the object currently speaking. At times, it appears as though humans and non-humans are exchanging words. These videos, audio, and dialogue are synchronized in approximately 17-minute cycles, emerging together as a single event.

第19回ヴェネチア・ビエンナーレ国際建築展・日本館展示。キュレーターは建築家の青木淳。キュラトリアル・アドバイザーに家村珠代（多摩美術大学教授）を加えたキュレーターチームのもと、木内俊克と砂山太一による「SUNAKI」と藤倉麻子＋大村高広の2ユニットが出展した。テーマは「中立点／IN-BETWEEN」。人間／非人間、自然／人工といった二項を単純に統合せず、その「あいだ＝間」に生じる応答を探る試みであり、主客の分離を前提としない第三の知性の可能性を、日本館という建物そのものを舞台に構想している。ピロティをSUNAKIが担当。藤倉麻子＋大村高広は2階展示室を担当し、映像インスタレーションを展開した。

藤倉と大村がヴェネチアで試みたのは、ヴェネチア・ビエンナーレ日本館という建築の「フィクショナルな改修」だった。それは物理的に手を加えるものではなく、日本館の構成要素ら──〈穴〉〈壁柱〉〈四周壁〉〈ペンシリーナ〉〈煉瓦テラス〉〈動線リング〉〈イチイの木〉──がそれぞれの視点をもつと仮構し、そこで生じる「対話」に巻き込まれたひとびとの、建築への認知を組み替えるものだった。

人間と非人間の「声」が飛びかう展示室に、大きなスクリーンがふたつ。ひとつは食事をする5名の人間の実写映像《Human Video》。もうひとつは、対話で発せられた言葉をその都度素材にして、虚構の風景を組み立てていく3DCG映像《Construction Video》。手前に、壁柱にアームで取り付けられたモニターがふたつ。ひとつは字幕。もうひとつは発話中の事物を表示する《Object Video》。人間と非人間は、ときおり言葉のやりとりをしている、ようにも見える。これらの映像と音、そして対話は、約17分の周期で同期上映され、ひとつの出来事として立ち上がる。

Name In-Between

Date 2025

Type Exhibition, Video installation (4-channel video, 16-channel sound, 17 min 33 sec)

Exhibitor of the Gallery / Video Director Asako Fujikura + Takahiro Ohmura

Curator Jun Aoki

Curatorial Advisor Iemura Tamayo

Exhibitor of the Pilotis SUNAKI

Composer / Sound Designer ermhoi

Sound Engineer / Sound Designer Makoto Oshiro

Technical Engineer Yuya Ito

Graphic Design Akiko Wakabayashi

Actors (Human Video) Kie Onikubo | Shuji Morita | Takuto Ohta | Rie Allison | Kyoko Ano

CG Production (Object Video / Construction Video) Ai Ikeda (Rendering Coordinator) | Miki Nigo (Motion Design) | Ibaraki University, Takahiro Ohmura Lab (Yudai Kato, Taiyo Sumi and Yurika Onodera) (Assistant)

Structural Engineer Tomomi Kimura

Local Coordination Harumi Muto

Project Management Shinagawa Tomoko | Machida Yuko | Iwase Yukiko

Photography Yurika Kono

Commissioner The Japan Foundation

With the Special Support of
Ishibashi Foundation

In Special Cooperation with
kolor