One set of two images is a photograph of a Japanese lacquer Urushi sculpture taken by a real photo and the other by 3DCG. This project explores the "surreal/unreal" aesthetic quality of Urushi by moving back and forth between real and virtual worlds.
Urushi is a naturally occurring paint that has been used in East Asia for 12,000 years. In Japan, it has long been used for household goods and furnishings and has been widely loved by people in general to the authority for its robustness, rarity, and beauty. However, as the market for traditional craft shrinks due to changing lifestyles and a shortage of artisans in the younger generation, the Urushi industry is in the need of searching for new possibilities.
We focused on the surface texture of Urushi that gives a "surreal" impression and introduced 3DCG/3D printing technology to explore the appeal of Urushi from a technological point of view, as well as to expand its formative qualities and production process.
ReKOGEI is a collective community of traditional craftsmen, artists, engineers and designers. The group was launched in 2017 with the aim of reinterpretation and reconstruction of the history, aesthetics, and techniques of traditional crafts through the perspective of contemporary technology, and its members come from across the spectrum. Their activities have been focused on Japanese lacquer Urushi in particular and the "between" series, which explores the allure of Urushi through the lens of technology, is a project that includes both artworks and product prototypes, with several outputs to date. ReKOGEI have been working on a project that asks the question, "What is Urushi?" by moving back and forth between CG images and real-life Urushi sculptures using 3DCG/3D printing, as well as a project that utilizes these technologies.
https://www.rekogei.org/
Director: Tomoya Ishibashi / Urushi: Mitsuhiro Kyoden / Modeler: Kotaro Shima / 3d designer: Yusuke Matsumoto / Algorithmic Designer: Junichiro Horikawa / Photographer: Masakazu Hirata / Retoucher : Michiko Nishio / Project Manager: Toshiyuki Numa / Designer: Takahisa Hashimoto / Engineer: Masaru Mizuochi / Project Manager: Yuta Hikichi / Copywriter: Kanako Shintaku