Suspended from the frame are six pendulums, each in a state of continuous motion. Viewers cannot take their eyes off the pendulums as they follow their movements, which seem to be perfectly controlled without producing any collisions. Occasionally, however, they come into contact with each other. Onozawa Shun sees this work, Performing structure (2021), which resembles a physics experiment, as a performance.

Onozawa first encountered juggling when he was in junior high school, and has been active as a juggling performer himself. Juggling, which is said to have already existed in ancient Egypt, has a universality that transcends time and geography in terms of how it expands human physical capabilities through practice. Performing structure, a work in which this act of juggling has been turned into a machine or moving sculpture, was created at a time when the world’s future had become uncertain due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The movement of the silver balls, which are controlled so that they do not collide with each other, collapse, and then resume their beautiful movements as before, can be seen as a metaphor for the order of human society, its collapse, and its recovery. The global spread of viruses and wars wrested away our daily lives in an instant, and many people around the world have lost their precious lives. Today, however, everyday life is on the verge of returning. Looking at this Performing structure, we may find ourselves able to place our hope in the resilience of human beings.

Onozawa completed his graduate studies at the Department of Intermedia Art of Tokyo University of the Arts, and has participated in Media Ambition Tokyo (2020; Shibuya Scramble Square/2021; Mori Arts Center Gallery) and Sense Island — Sarushima Dark Museum, Sarushima (2022; Kanagawa, Japan). In 2021, he was selected as one of the “Forbes Japan 30 under 30.”

Selected Works & Awards

2022

Sense Island Sarushima Dark Museum, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan

2020－2021

Media Ambition Tokyo, Shibuya Scramble Square/Mori Arts Center Gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2019

SMART ILLUMINATION YOKOHAMA, Zou-no-hana Terrace, Kanagawa, Japan

Exhibition

• Installation view at Aichi Triennale 2022
• Performing structure, 2021
• Photo: ToLoLo studio