Prism | Takumi Takahashi

An installation [prism] was exhibited at an art event held on the island SARUSHIMA, which was used by the military until World War II.When we first came to the island, we were deeply impressed by the remains of the island's past, including the remains of a turret.We were also fascinated by the island today as well as the colorful night view on the other side of the island, so we took these experiences as inspiration for our installation.We attempted to revive the island's memories of the past with a beautiful, colorful light that resembles a night scene.Sarushima is an island off the coast of Kanagawa prefecture that still has remnants, such as an abandoned gun turret, from World War II.Prisms had the ability to disperse into colorful light when struck by direct light. We attempted to revive the memories of the past beautifully through a prism.The shape and heritage of this island were the inspiration for the layout of this installation in which prisms were placed on the beach in a pattern imitating the shoreline of the island and the site of the turret.The prism glowed beautifully, illuminated by a light that looked like a lighthouse on an island.Visitors were invited to sit on the beach and manipulate the light sources and transform the way in which the beams connected through the prisms.The light of a prism shines and disappears, illuminating people's hearts as if it were caressing the hearts of the people who see it.This installation, arranged in the shape of the island and its turret, along with the lights from the skyline of the city of Yokosuka across the bay, created a powerful moment in which the memories engraved on Sarushima are brought to life by the beautiful lights. The aim of this installation was not to beautify war nor Japan’s history, but rather to revive the memories left on the island and the remnants that remain there in an aesthetic, engaging experience. It is our strong belief that design and art have an important role to play in keeping the memories of the past alive lest we forget the lessons we can learn from our history. We hope that the installation stands as an example of how we can create something beautiful and reminiscent out of the artefacts of our tainted and sometimes negative history.