Aichi Triennale 2019

"The Portrait to Umwelts & Programs" in the first room of this exhibition consists of colorful two-dimensional works and distorted photographs of human faces. Displayed individually (and partially upside down), these colorful pictures of faces can be recognized by specific smartphones' built-in "face recognition" functions, whereas the "+" and "-" symbols that accompany each picture indicate whether or not face recognition was successful. The idea for this work came when the artist discovered that some of the drawings he had stored on his computer were automatically categorized as "human figures" by the computer.
On display in the second room is "Decoy-walking," an installation piece that was newly created using "gait recognition" technology by which a computer can recognize characteristic human walking patterns. Several monitors set up at the entrance show documentary footage of a performance that was staged at the venue, as well as charts that indicate what kinds of characteristics the gait identification system was able to detect in walking persons. In the performance, the artist tries out ways of walking that deviate from the recognized patterns, and thereby deceive the system.
Triangular mirrors and aluminum foil arranged in the circumference refer to military deception technologies to amplify or diffuse radar. This is collectively known as decoy, a term that originates from duck decoys (models) used in duck hunting. In this work it is used as a culture icon of sorts representing the deception of machines or living beings. Along with a drum as known from military bands as an element that constructs or destructs sound patterns, these are elements that are used with the aim to disturb the camera and the entire system. By juxtaposing such works, the artist metaphorically highlights the characteristics of technologies and systems for pattern-based recognition.
The installations revolve around technologies for recognizing patterns, and the presence of humans as objects of such technologies, as a central theme. Based on knowledge obtained from technical papers that constitute the background of technology, it seems that the artist explores the limits of recognizability of the world by way of technology.