8

technology -

towards a deep  ecology of art, architecture and being


research project of goldsmiths, university of london 

director: raphael jay adjani


associate: sian ni mhuiri

 

red cube concept-philosophy


red cube is a translucent one room house made of vermillion red polycarbonate, that pops up in communal spaces all over the world: playgrounds, parks, squares, housing estates, centres of art, shopping malls. Each time the red cube pops up it develops a particular relationship to its external space, the people, who live there and who may frequent the cube; and they develop a unique relationship with the cube. Each appearance will have its own particular flavour and atmosphere, which could involve participation and collaboration of local people in unique ways as well as the use of various media in the surrounding space – like LED light, sound, video projection, and sometimes a particular one-on-one performance experience – which the artist describes as a ‘contemporary tea ceremony without tea’.


red cube combines architecture, science, digital and everyday technology, Asian philosophies and Japanese aesthetics to create a work that is simple in design yet splendorous, deeply thought-provoking yet accessible to any and all people who wish to enter.


The arrival of the cube becomes the starting point of a particular reflection on the relationship between people and the space in which they live and frequent.


red cube offers a sanctuary for people to sit, lie, listen to music, read a book, tap a laptop, tweet to their hearts content or simply enjoy the colourful passing of clouds and people viewed through the red ceiling and walls.


red cube is designed and manufactured so that it is easy to assemble and dismantle, light and easy to transport and tour to any communal space in the world. The assembly of the cube each time by the artists is part of the ritual process and preparation that may culminate in a ‘tea ceremony’.


Being in the cube with an artist is an experience for the participant akin to Japanese tea ceremony, with its philosophy, sensuous ritual, therapeutic immersion, sensory interaction and everyday technology.  As you sit in the cube you may sense a greater appreciation for both inner and outer worlds. You are inside yet still aware of your relationships to the wider space and city beyond; becoming more sensitised to the time, place, season, mood, other beings, architecture and landscape. Perhaps paradoxically, entering the inner space of the cube one becomes more sensitive to the greater external space.


Building on a Buddhist idea that we exist only in relationship to everything else, red cube draws attention to what is called ‘deep ecology’ – not just green concerns but how people are intimately integrated into a wider web of life.


 

red cube series



conception direction: ajaykumar