and saw the waterfalls in the early morning on the next day. The

Heterogenous Symbiotic Space

video ends there. What I have described so far sounds just merely an

An essay on Aki Nagasakaʼs Exhibition:

exploration video, but, for most of the parts, the video shows sparks

To the Kamuy-Wakka, To the Spring of Eukaryotes

running sideways on a dark blue background, instead of showing
the snowy landscapes of the Shiretoko Peninsula. At first glance, theimage could look like a river, but the twinkling light spots make me

As I step into the bare concrete exhibition space, a table topped

think of a night sky or the universe. Also, while Japanese subtitles

with a markedly rusted iron plate stands still and a glass flask filled

are added on the video, their contents do not sync with the Eng-

with greenish water and yellow stones are on the table, illuminatedlish narration and the separation between the information I receiveby spotlights. Behind them, a video is projected on the wall, show-

through my eyes and that in my ears make an impression of the time

ing the image of a frozen land with a narration in English. I pre-flow in my mind. As I gradually start to sense that this is the device

sume that almost all the people, who stepped into this space, sensed

to represent time and space, Nagasaka asks Angus questions aboutstrong messages the work emitted yet could not grasp the meanings

the histories of the earth and life. Thinking “Ah, I get it. She wants

and wandered around the exhibition space, trying to find a place toto tell us where weʼve come from.”, I almost find myself being con-focus. I also repeatedly walk around the table, continuously search-

vinced by the thought, but that would be too hasty. Nagasaka seems

ing for Nagasakaʼs aim. Perhaps after two or three minutes haveto have overlaid more layers of messages on top of it.

passed, the narration is suddenly paused, and after a short silence,As I return my eyes to the table, the glass flask and stones catch

Nagasakaʼs voice starts to talk to a person named Angus. Her voice

my attention after all. After having seen the video, I can imagine

sounds as if it is also talking to me and, as I attentively listen to thethat the water in the flask was taken from the Kamuy-Wakka

monologue for a while, I start to see the intention of the work. I amWaterfalls. A kind of algae, called Cyanidium caldarium, is living

not sure if this will be the overall interpretation of the work, but I

in this water. Then, what are the stones? They are fossils, called

would like to describe in this essay, how this work appears to myStromatolite, and they are produced by a kind of algae, calledeyes, as an inhabitant of Hokkaido, where the work is set, as wellcyanobacteria, which emerged in the sea about three billion years

as a geologist.

ago and have been thriving till now. It is said that cyanobacteria

What the video projection on the wall shows is the scenery ofis the creature that increased the amount of oxygen in theHokkaido in March. Moreover, it is a wintry, frozen landscape ofatmosphere. In short, the flask and stones are both algae: one isEastern Hokkaido. In these conditions, Nagasaka went deep into

cyanobacteria, which has created the present environment and thethe Shiretoko Peninsula. The destination she headed for was theother is Cyanidium caldarium, which is quietly living in obscure

Kamuy-Wakka Waterfalls. It is known to be highly acidic, hot spring

spots on the earth. And, the rusted iron plate is a bridge between thewaterfalls, but the road to the waterfalls gets closed by snow in win-two existences. At the moment I have realized the ingenuity of thister. Nagasaka traveled on foot on the snowy road, reached there,arrangement, the mystery of the strong messages, which had been

drifting in the exhibition space, has been cleared.

which the earth surface was completely covered by snow and ice.
It is known that it has happened at least three times in the earthʼs

About three billion years back in time. Cyanobacteria, which

history and many species became extinct every time it happened.

emerged in the seawater around that time, started photosynthesiz-

Despite it, it never happened that all species were eradicated. This ising and releasing oxygen ions into the seawater. Iron ions in thethought to be because of the existence of hot springs. Although theseawater took in oxygen and maintained the oxygen level in theearth surface was completely covered with snow and ice, the snow

seawater for a while. However, once all the iron ions became ironand ice in volcanic areas was melted by the heat from the volcanos.

hydroxide, the oxygen level in the seawater rapidly went up and

These quasi oasis hot springs collected sunlight and must have

oxygen finally started to be released into the atmosphere. Anaero-functioned like Noahʼs ark, passing down the life light. And backbic bacteria, which likes the anaerobic condition, had flourished onthen, creatures, such as Cyanidium caldarium, which can tolerate

the earth until then. However, taking advantage of this atmospherichighly acidic hot water, had the right strengths and they must havepollution of the rapid increase of oxygen, aerobic bacteria, whichsurvived through these times in the obscure spots on the earth as

had been living pitifully in boredom, took their turn and started

mothers giving birth to the next generation creatures.

expanding their habitat. The amount of oxygen in the atmosphere

Looking under the table by chance, I see a heater. This is likely

continued to increase after that, and this made it possible for ani-

the device to keep the content of the flask warm. It can also bemals with large bodies including humans to emerge.

called life supporting equipment for Cyanidium caldarium. If thisIn other words, cyanobacteria was the pioneer, who created theheater broke, the Cyanidium caldarium in the flask must die out

surface environment of the present earth, and Cyanidium caldarium,soon. Although looking so weak, they adapted to the environmentson the other hand, is an ephemeral existence, which can only livein the times when most other species died out and passed the lifein the limited environments in present times. However, in thisonto present times. If the creatures that lived back then did not haveexhibition space, cyanobacteria is dead and Cyanidium caldarium

diversity to allow these kinds of creatures to exist, then the creatures

is alive. I assume that this paradoxical arrangement also holds somethat are living now would not have emerged. And, if the creatureskind of message. We humans sometimes have an illusion that wethat are living now do not have diversity, we would not be able tohave completely reclaimed the earth and are ruling it. However,overcome the crises, which will surely happen someday. I see. Is it

when we compare our times with the magnificent space and timethat Nagasaka is alarming the lack of acceptability in the present

scale of the earth and universe, it is only a moment of coexistingsociety? I also teach at a university and often feel the homogeneitywith the earth, just like the shooting sparks in Nagasakaʼs video.

among students. The primary cause for this is clear: universities

And, although we might feel that we have built something up, that

select students according to their test scores, which mainly focus

might disappear in an instant. This suggestion is supported byon studentsʼ ability to memorize, and as a result, the students,

Snowball Earth, which is talked about in the narration. Snowballwhose characters are adoptable to this examination system, end

Earth is the term that points out the times and phenomena, inup enrolling in universities. And, because many of them have beenmastering the skill to memorize the past cases rather than the ability
to discover and solve new problems, they might get left behind in
the changing society. Although it has been called out everywhereto build a sustainable developing society, there is no sustainable
environment on the earth as this work clearly indicates. We needto make efforts to create society, which allows diverse senses ofvalue to exist, in order for us to adapt to the changing world andovercome crises.

Nagasaka is conveying the importance of the environments, whereheterogeneous existences coexist without completely being mixed. Imight be reading too much into it, but isnʼt it because she felt that
Hokkaido is an appropriate model for inclusive society, she chose
Hokkaido to present the work? The Ainu people have long been developing their own culture on this land of Hokkaido. I do not consider that I deeply understand the Ainu culture, but as I have been incontact with people who are blood-descendants of the Ainu people,
I have come to know their view of valuing the way of living withnature. In contrast to them, people, who migrated later on from themainland, worked hard to reclaim and to change nature, and as aresult, places for the cultures to coexist with nature have decreased.
Looking at Nagasakaʼs work, it starts to look as if the Ainu culture
is Cyanidium caldarium. Although it is forced to be cutback in thispresent society, the lifestyle, in which we coexist with nature, mightcome back someday when the environment changes again. Well actually, taking it into account the fact we are pressed by the environmental changes, which surpass artificial disturbances, and socialissues these days, it might be that the time is slowly approaching forthe present majority existences to decline. And, if that is the case,will we start anew again?

Junji Yamamoto

Hiroyuki Hattori

Tsuyoshi Abe

Independent Curator

Phycology

Born in 1978. Hiroyuki Hattori graduated from Waseda University with a Masterʼs in Architecture. Through working as curator at Aomori Contemporary Art Centre [ACAC], hehas been working as associate professor for the Graduate School of Transdisciplinary Artsat Akita University of Art since 2017. He has been developing various activities, including
exhibitions, projects, and research, mainly in Asia. Recent projects he was involved incurating include: Towada Oirase Art Festival–SURVIVE: Time Hoppers on the Earth (Towada
Art Center and Oirase Area, 2013), Media/Art Kitchen (Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila,Bangkok, and Aomori, 2013-2014), Aichi Triennale 2016–Homo Faber: A Rainbow Caravan(Aichi Arts Center and other locations, 2016), ESCAPE from the SEA (National Art Gallery,Malaysia and Art Printing Works [APW], 2017), and Going Away Closer (Centro de Arte
Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, 2018). He was also curator of Cosmo-Eggs in the Japan
Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition–La Biennnale di Venezia in 2019.

Born in Tokyo Prefecture in 1968 and moved to Saitama Prefecture during his childhood.
Tsuyoshi Abe completed his graduate studies at Hokkaido University with a Doctorate
in Science in 1998. Using the red algal genus Laurencia as his research specimen, hetheorized their differentiation process in the seas near Japan by applying the conventionaltaxonomical methodologies as well as the cross experiment and chemotaxonomy byusing cultivated strains. In 1998, he became an instructor at Graduate School of Science,Hokkaido University. He was involved in the foundation of the Hokkaido UniversityMuseum. In 1999, following the inauguration of the museum, he transferred his position
to be instructor in the Section of Informatics and Media Studies. In 2000, he received
the Best Paper Award of the Japanese Society of Phycology. In 2006, he joined the firstalgae survey of the coast of the Shiretoko Peninsula after almost forty years, and, sincethen, he has been participating in the shallow sea biological monitoring survey of theShiretoko World Natural Heritage site, as the person in charge of seaweeds. In 2012, hetook charge of making a summer exhibition Algae Save the Future of Humankind at themuseum. In 2012, he became a lecturer in the Section of Fundamental Studies. In 2013,
he took charge of loaning the exhibition Algae for Humankind to the National Science
Museum, Thailand [NSM]. Since 2019, he has been an associate professor in the Sectionof Fundamental Studies at the Hokkaido University Museum.

Junji Yamamoto
Earth Science, Education, and Museology
Born in Shiga Prefecture in 1973. Junji Yamamoto completed his graduate studies at Tokyo
University with a Doctorate in Science in 2001. He promoted the “Four-dimensional
Exploration of the Earth” project, aiming to dissect the earth spatiotemporally. In 2003, hebecame assistant professor at Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University. He promoted
the “Galaxy in a Stone” project to search for the formative process of the solar system,
where the universe and the earth come in contact. He devoted himself to search residualmaterials from the early stage of the earthʼs formation, which are buried deep within theearth. Upon experiencing the Aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami,
he keenly felt the importance of educational activities and aspired to education andmuseology. In 2012, he became associate professor at the Hokkaido University Museum.
He started the “Sensory Tool for the Earth” project. Since then, he has been committing toimprove scientific literacy through introducing the teaching aids he developed in science
events and lectures and publishing their effects on educational and museological academic
journals. Since 2015, aiming to create a place where society and academia intersect, hehas been doing the “Intellectual-Hub” project to turn university museums into intellectualhubs. He is currently an associate professor at Hokkaido University and working with thegoal to create an ultimate universal museum, where everyone can casually visit.