아직 신들이 곳곳에 머물러있을 무렵의 이야기 / Story of the Time when Gods were Everywhere

Sisyu + teamLab, 2013-, Interactive Digital Installation, Calligraphy: Sisyu, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

아직 신들이 곳곳에 머물러있을 무렵의 이야기 / Story of the Time when Gods were Everywhere

Sisyu + teamLab, 2013-, Interactive Digital Installation, Calligraphy: Sisyu, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

상형문자를 만지면 그 글자가 가진 세계가 나타나 이야기를 시작합니다.

벽에 비춰진 상형문자(산, 나무, 새 등)를 만지면 그 글자가 가진 세계가 나타나고 새로운 이야기가 탄생합니다. 다른 체험자들이 불러낸 세계와 서로 영향을 주고받으며 이야기를 만들어 갑니다. 예를 들어 나무에는 새가 앉고, 양이 개의 존재를 눈치채면 깜짝 놀라 도망갑니다. 동물은 만질 수도 있습니다. 양에게 다가가면 춤을 추고, 말에게 다가가면 도망갑니다.

작품의 배경

The origin of Chinese characters

Since ancient times, words have been seen as possessing a spiritual power, the spiritual power of language. However, as words disappear, this spiritual power of language could not reside in words. According to the theories of Chinese literary scholar Shizuka Shirakawa, characters were born so that the power that people invested in words could be sustained and made more effective by putting the words down as pictographs.
Chinese characters are believed to have been created around 1200 BC, during the Shang Dynasty.
Kings of that era communicated with the gods through fortunetelling. Fortunetelling was practiced in connection with rituals and weather, and with every major decision concerning the dynasty, including war, harvests, and hunting. Inscribing records of communications with gods (fortunetelling) on tortoise shells or animal bones in the form of pictographs was the beginning of oracle bone script – that is, Chinese characters.
Reference
Shirakawa, Shizuka. Kanji: Oitachi to Sono Haikei. Iwanami Shoten, 1970.
Matsuoka Seigō. Shirakawa Shizuka: Kanji No Sekaikan. Heibonsha, 2008.