Aoyama Shin | "Alternative Computations — A Festive Culture of Calculation" (Part 1)
This article reviews Ryuta Aoki's special exhibition "Alternative Computations" at Spiral Garden, exploring its engagement with a culture surrounding quantum phenomena.Summary
This article reviews Ryuta Aoki's special exhibition, "Alternative Computations — A Festive Culture of Calculation" (Part 1), held at Spiral Garden as part of the "Quantum Art Festival 4/4." The exhibition explores how human sensibility and culture might transform as quantum concepts permeate daily life, functioning as science communication through art. The display featured three works, including the new large-scale installation, *Alternative Computations*, alongside *Phantom Realities* and *New Rousseau Machine*. The central work, *Alternative Computations*, utilizes elements symbolizing Japanese calculation tools (sangi), a field of reeds evoking the human world, and a four-and-a-half tatami mat space representing a microcosm. This structure embeds interpretations of the cosmos across celestial, terrestrial, and human scales. The ambient sound filling the space is generated via quantum reservoir computing based on viewer movement, suggesting a prototype for a quantum computer that coexists with noise, contrasting with the goal of noise elimination in conventional quantum computing. The author praises Aoki's practice for highlighting the cultural diversity of calculation, which contrasts with the dominance of Western mathematics, and promises to explore further possibilities in the second part.
(Source：artscape)