Known for her large-scale installations, Emmanuelle Moureaux’s first public art sculpture has been unveiled in the new well-being distric in Tokyo, Japan. The sculpture is titled ‘mirai’, meaning ‘the future’ in Japanese. As part of Moureaux’s ongoing ‘100 colors’ installation series, ‘mirai’ visualizes the next 100 years to come (2020 to 2119) in 100 different shades of colors.
Standing at 4 meters in height, composed of 592 layered big numbers, the structure of the sculpture provides a big enough gap in between the years to allow children to interact with the piece. Furthermore, when looking inside the body of the sculpture, passersby will notice that the colorful future is in fact supported structurally by the past, which is represented by white numbers.
‘mirai’ is on permanent display in GREEN SPRINGS at the tachikawa stage garden entrance plaza.
Born in France. Living in Tokyo since 1996. Established emmanuelle moureaux architecture + design. Inspired by the layers and colors of Tokyo that built a complex depth and density on the street, and the traditional spatial elements like sliding screens, she has created the concept of “shikiri”, which literally means “dividing (creating) space with colors”. Using colors as her signature, her works extend to a number of projects, including architectural design for Sugamo Shinkin Bank, space design for ABC Cooking Studio, art installations for UNIQLO and ISSEY MIYAKE, “100 colors” art installation series, and “Forest of Numbers” at The National Art Center, Tokyo. Associate Professor at Tohoku University of Art and Design.
About 100 colors
“100 colors” is an installation series that began in 2013, which forms space using 100 shades of colors. Emmanuelle Moureaux wishes to give emotions through colors as she felt from seeing overflowing “colors” in Tokyo when she first visited in 1995. She also wishes to give opportunities for people to see, touch and feel colors with their senses to become more conscious of colors that exist around them.
In “100 colors”, colors are explored in various forms depending on the environment, to maximize the beauty of colors. 100 colors entering the body with a glance triggers a physical response to engage with the sensation of colors. The installation series will continue to travel around the world.
“When I first arrived in Tokyo, I was fully fascinated by the colors overflowing on the street. In that very moment, my mind decided to move to Japan. Overwhelming number of store signs, flying electrical cables, and flashes of blue sky framed by various volumes of buildings, created three dimensional ‘layers’ in the city. The flood of various colors pervaded the street built up a complex depth and intensity in the space. These indelible experiences of colors and layers in Tokyo were the inspiration and essence of my design concept of ‘shikiri’, which means dividing (creating) space with colors. Valuing the emotion inspired from Tokyo, I want to show the beauty of colors to the fullest extent. I also wish to share the feeling of being surrounded by overflowing colors by exhibiting 100 colors, here in the middle of Tokyo,” said Emmanuelle Moureaux.
Photo Credits: Daisuke Shima
