The Collectors’ Museum of Contemporary Art, WHAT MUSEUM, operated by Warehouse TERRADA, will hold an exhibition titled “Akihito Okunaka, Synesthesia –Crossing the senses with art–” from October 4th (Fri), 2024 to March 16th (Sun), 2025. It will feature balloon-like soft sculptures by artist Akihito Okunaka.

Okunaka has created large-scale works themed around “air, water, and light,” generating experiences that stir the senses of viewers.

The exhibition title Synesthesia refers to the rich sensory experience where one sense is simultaneously perceived by additional senses. Okunaka has uniquely interpreted this phenomenon and incorporated it into his works. Based on the idea that the act of sensing can bridge connections between nature, society, and people, his works transform from traditional forms to something more organic.

The highlight of this exhibition will be a balloon-like installation piece with a maximum diameter of 12 meters. Created specifically for this exhibition, it will expand to completely fill the exhibition space and change colors. Inside the piece is a large water pillow. By using the intangible elements of air, water, and light, it evokes and resonates with viewers’ senses. This sensorial experience allows the viewers to feel a “connection” with others that transcends physical sensations.

Okunaka has also been influenced by the philosopher Bruno Latour, a leading figure in the field of sociology of science and technology. Okunaka’s background in education and sociology is reinforced by Latour’s philosophy on reevaluating the modern framework of dualism between nature and society. This exhibition presents some insights into the philosophical thought behind Okunaka’s work and the process of integrating it into his creations through exhibit materials and an interview video.

We will provide visitors with an opportunity to experience a “connection” with nature, society, and other people by touching, entering, and lying down inside the installation.

[Highlights]

– Experiential artwork

Visitors can touch, enter, and lie down inside the artwork, experiencing it with all five senses.

– Recognizing air, water, light, and relationships with others through the artwork

Air, water, light, and relationships with others have no solid form. Visitors can find these shapeless entities by experiencing the artwork and seeing its wavering form and surfaces in response to the movements of other visitors.

– An exhibition that welcomes visitors to explore the artist’s mind

The exhibition features books that inspired Okunaka, along with materials such as his sketches and scribbles, and an interview video filmed exclusively for this exhibition. It offers the chance to learn in-depth about the intention and process behind the work.

[Exhibiting Artist: Akihito Okunaka]

Artist

Akihito Okunaka was born in 1981 in Kyoto Prefecture, where he is currently based. He is an artist, co-director of AOIoA, and head of the Experiential Art Course at the Yamashiro Cultural Center in Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture.

After graduating from the Shizuoka University Department of Education, Okunaka specialized in art education for children and worked as an instructor at the Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art and at facilities for disabled people, teaching art and play. Okunaka then studied modern and contemporary theory before becoming an artist. He has received grants from the Nomura Foundation and the Asahi Shimbun Foundation, among others, and has dedicated himself to study in France, Korea, and China as a research fellow. With the theme of pursuing the dynamics of people, things, and matters through the lens of water, air, and light, he has held many workshops at regional art spaces around Japan and exhibited large-scale experiential artworks both domestically and internationally.