“a_m_m_s: is zero no.thing?” presented by Ajaykumar and Nandi
Symposium:
Session Title:
- Technologies of Place 2
Presentation Title:
- a_m_m_s: is zero no.thing?
Presenter(s):
Venue(s):
Abstract:
a_m_m_s is a tele-epistemological investigation of South Asian and Japanese notions of akasha, ma, mu, sunyata, and the inter-relating pertinence in a contemporary trans-local art context, beyond immediate specifities of culture, religion or nation.
The Japanese term ma has multiple meanings and resonances, including space-time, an emptiness that has presence, interval, and pause. It corresponds partly to a Sanskrit term, akasha: which also signifies a space that has presence. Sunyata in Sanskrit means void and has correspondence to the Japanese Zen term mu, which also could be understood as void or nothingness.
It is a unique and particular tele-epistemological process through an intersection of Japanese, South Asian, Anglophone and Francophone cultural inputs which will allow us to deal with experiential technologies in ways that enable the emergence of different conceptions of borders.
On an experiential point of view, two areas of research are being explored:
- space: architecture and materials constraints
- technology: hardware, sensors/actuators triggered by software
Specifically, in relation to Buddhist concepts, research on sounds and vibrations will allow to generate “sensible events” in the “immersive” space designed.
The aim of a_m_m_s is to construct a conceptual intersection zone, where ancient and historic South Asian and Japanese concepts are revisited in a tele-dialogue by an Anglophone and a Francophone, hence confronting different points of view on the notion of space, stillness, emptiness, void, time, distance, … with technologies to engender novel art manifestations. Both researchers are also of the South Asian Diaspora, and both have a highly developed interest in Japanese art and philosophy – cultivated by numerous previous research projects – hence allowing a unique and particular trans-national epistemological process through an intersection of Japanese, South Asian, Anglophone and Francophone cultural inputs.
