Art Department

Out of the Dark: Toshio Iwai humanizes technology, and reminds us to lighten up.

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The latter, a collaboration with illustrator Kayo Baba, was more playful than his previous works. Whereas earlier pieces like The Well of Lights (above) were hypnotic and beautiful with a technological glow in darkened galleries, "Happy Technology Lab" was set up like a science show for kids, with illustrations and kitsch explanations covering the walls.

It was also highly interactive. You could use your cellphone to call an animated character, whose own keitai would ring a bird-call chakumero attracting cartoon birds. Or take a lens-covered sensor around the gallery to hear musical tones generated by different light sources. (Imagine walking around night-time Shibuya plugged into this instead of your MiniDisc player.) Or take a handheld game console and play a kind of music piece or make a character dance, the former being a solo version of his earlier Resonance of 4, an interactive gallery-size work for four people. (Interestingly, Iwai used the Bandai platform instead of Nintendo's GameBoy -- because the former made available its development kit.)

Iwai had also wondered what happens when you become bored with your Aibo and it ends up sitting unused in a corner. Hence the development of his box robot (above), which sleeps when left untouched, opens its eyes when picked up, and spins its eyes drunkenly and burbles when tilted. And when you get bored? It's a useful box!

The idea is to humanize technology -- and remind us to not take things too seriously.

Note: Another Iwai show is planned for sometime this year in Harajuku's La Foret Museum.