Enso on the Fushimi Yagura Turret - Fukuyama Castle

teamLab, 2022, Digital Installation, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

Enso on the Fushimi Yagura Turret - Fukuyama Castle

teamLab, 2022, Digital Installation, Sound: Hideaki Takahashi

The Fushimi Yagura turret was relocated from Fushimi Castle in Kyoto, and is designated as a National Important Cultural Property. In this artwork, Enso is drawn infinitely on this Fushimi Yagura turret.

The black lines drawn with light express the absence of light, and cannot be distinguished from the shadows of the stone walls that have been weathered over the past several hundred years. The black calligraphy and the black shadows created by the long passing of time become one, infinitely drawing Enso on the stone walls.
Enso blurs the physical boundaries of the Fushimi Yagura turret, and creates a new time space.

Enso is the Zen practice of drawing a circle with a single brushstroke. This artwork depicts Enso drawn as Spatial Calligraphy. As the three-dimensional stroke rotates, there are moments when its circular shape is revealed.
Spatial Calligraphy is a form of calligraphy drawn in space that teamLab has been exploring since it was founded. The artwork reconstructs calligraphy in three-dimensional space to express the depth, speed, and power of the brushstroke.

Back in ancient times, Enso was drawn in space using sticks, to symbolize the concepts of enlightenment, truth, the universe, and equality, in a figurative manner. The circle is also a reflection of the viewer’s inner self, thus its interpretation depends on the viewer.