Mega Death
Tatsuo Miyajima
(b.1957, Japan)
A room filled with LED lights, one closer look we will see many gadgets counting down from nine to one and then it blanks out. The cycle repeats with the gadget counting down again from nine. All gadgets have different pace and timing of counting down. We could see the dynamic flow within the art piece at this point of time, however, I was given a shocked when the whole wall went off all of a sudden.
Being confused about the meaning of the installation, I went out of the room and read the installation brief and it was when I felt that everything makes sense and realised how smart the artist is in the conveying of the concept, rebirth in Buddhism. The counting down from nine to one signifies the counting down of one’s life and when the gadget blanks out, it signifies a person’s death.
As each and every “life” is different, “death” is never the same. Therefore, each man’s “life” and “death” sparkle and resonate with others, as if they were performing a majestic and universal symphony. Miyajima considers this the beauty of “ordinary life and death” (Natural Life Time).
Miyajima made a juxtaposition in this installation by forcing the viewers to think of Natural Life Time and the act of Artificial Life Time, which is referred by the installation itself, where deaths are caused by human behaviours like wars and conflict. In my interpretation, I felt the long dark silence somehow represents the massive deaths in a warzone and lives are taken away forcefully as a result. The long dark silence also creates a sense of terror and suspension within the audience, replicating the act of Artifical Life Time.
Miyajima was inspired to create this installation about the Buddhist perspective of rebirth due to his childhood illnesses that left him hospitalised for months. Kids were dying around him in which left an impact on him. He wanted to live. However, when he was discharged from the hospital he saw people were just settling with their mundane life and weren’t appreciating every minute and second of their lives. Miyajima saw these and wanted to establish himself. Hence, this led to the idea of many Miyajima’s works of the idea, rebirth.
It is also bold of Miyajima to promote a Buddhist belief in artworks as often than not, religions do spark debates, especially in the globalised world today, it is uncommon to see many different religions in a cohesive society. Miyajima made a bold statement by relating it to Buddhism while having commentary of the increasingly “Artifical Life Time” society in contemporary world today.
I really like this world as there is such clever use of mediums which allows the installation to really speak for itself and every aspect of the installation is so cleverly thought out and being executed. I am really mindblown with how Miyajima is able to dictate a concept with just simple counters and LEDs.