THE RED SILK OF FATE
Sputniko! with Napp Studio & Architects
Do you feel the love in the room?
The Shrine
A red silk thread that connects two people who are destined to be together appears across many Chinese, Japanese and Korean mythologies. The thread symbolises the fragility of love but also its irresistible power. The myth is reinvented here in the form of a shrine woven with thread from bioengineered silkworms—genetically altered to produce silk containing oxytocin, a love hormone. Resembling a Japanese Shinto shrine, you can use a special pair of lenses to see that the silk glows with embroidered patterns, symbolising the night-blooming cereus—a flower that opens briefly under moonlight. Contemplate love and bonding in a spiritual setting as you walk around this immersive space imagining a future where humans could soon be creating living things through biotechnology once thought to exist only in legend—in other words, New Myths.
Tamaki’s Crush
This film follows Tamaki, an aspiring genetic scientist who creates her own version of the Red Silk of Fate in an attempt to win the affections of her crush, Sachihiko. By sewing the bioengineered thread into her favourite scarf, Tamaki hopes to forge a romantic connection but accidentally unleashes unexpected, mystical forces, reflecting the unpredictable nature of tampering with fate.
Could scientific advancements make myths become reality?
Sputniko! (Japan) otherwise known as Hiro Ozaki, is an award-winning Japanese artist, designer, and educator. She is best known for her films and multimedia installations that explore emerging technologies and the impact they might have on societal values. She has exhibited in museums such as Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and MoMA in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the Pompidou Centre in Paris, ZKM Center for Art and Media in Germany, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and the Mori Art Museum in Japan.
Napp Studio & Architects (Hong Kong) was founded by Aron TSANG and Wesley HO in 2016. Aron and Wesley were classmates at The School of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong, and went together to Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien. Later they parted ways to further their studies and experience. After gaining overseas exposure across Asia, Europe and US, they both decided to return to their roots and origin to explore design as a minimal yet effective intervention in dialogue with the needs of its users and context. Through filtering and accentuating the essential in design, they find beauty in simple and clear intentions.
This edition of The Red Silk of Fate – The Shrine was commissioned by ArtScience Museum, Singapore.
Installation photography: Matthew Stanton & Phoebe Powell