What we are into.
SAOは実験だ。 スタジオでもある。
僕たちは建築、文学、芸術を媒介として、現実と虚構の狭間にある場所を作り出すのだ。“アルス・オブ“の意味は‘かのように’であり、２０世紀初頭に現れたハンズ・バイヒンガーの文学論から引用したものである。バイヒンガーによると人は文学や芸術に接する時、作者が生み出した虚構の世界をあたかも実際にある‘かのように’思う事により作品を受け入れる。
それと同じように、SAOでは（ストーリー、デジタルデザイン、建築やアートで作られた）バーチャル※な世界がある‘かのように’実際の空間の見方を変化させていく。それにより意味のある特別な場所が生み出される。例えば、プラハの町をカフカの‘城’を読みながら歩くと、町の見方が変わる、その感覚と似ている。
SAOにおけるプロセスは循環的でありクリエーターはバーチャル空間を作ると同時に自分たちが住む場所を変えて行く。マイクをアンプの側に置き、フィードバックが増幅していくのと同じ様な物だ。このように、現実とバーチャル世界は増幅しあい、バッハの多声なフーガのように混ざり合うのだ。
単純に言えば、僕らは世界をつくり、その世界は僕らを作り直す。その繰り返しだ。
SAO is an experiment in self-sustainable communal living.
We use architecture, writing, and art to create a sense of place that exists on the margins of reality. The philosophy of "als ob," or "as if," was developed by the German philosopher Hans Vaihinger (1852–1933) in his 1876 philosophy of fiction, Literary Theory Philosophy (1876). He argued that certain falsities should be accepted "as if" they were true, if they are in man's best interest. (Eg, it is in man's best interest to behave "as if" God existed, regardless of whether or not he acutally does.) Vaihinger also related this concept to the arts, where readers or viewers often suspend disbelief and accept the fictions of art as if it they were real.
Similarly, SAO uses virtual worlds* (created through fictional narratives, digital design, architecture and art) ‘as if’ they exist in order to augment one's perception of physical space; thereby creating a unique sense of place layered with meaning. For example, imagine walking through the streets of Prague while reading Kafka’s “The Castle”; the story alters our perception of Prague and creates a new layer of meaning to the city.
At SAO, the process of creation is cyclical and works in tandem with the design of the physical space inhabited by the creators. It's like the feedback loop created by putting a microphone up against an amplifier. In this way the physical and virtual worlds amplify and intertwine to become a polyphonic Bach fugue.
Simply put, we create a world; that world recreates us. Repeat.
*The term ‘virtual’ is used here to broadly describe any sort of alternate world which can be created through a variety of media including writing, digital architecture, Illustrations, photography and video.
