Hakanaï is the Japanese word for fleeting, ephemeral, but also for empty. However, in its “new” acceptation, it has nothing to do with emptiness.
Hakanai is a digital performance that made its debut in San Francisco, and it’s no surprise it fascinated the viewers so much. Enclosed in a weightless tulle cube, a dancer creates shapes that will dance with her in a, needless to say, ephemeral choreography. The shapes that surround the dancer and move with her are projections, light tricks created on the spot thanks to sensors, controllers and graphic tablets and with a software developed by the artists – eMotion.
In an interview, Adrien said that juggling partly gave him the inspiration for the project – the way the balls can move in the air, how the force is applied on a mass.
The two French artists Adrien Mondot and Claire Bardainne chose the word because it well encapsulated the concept of their art: in Japanese, the word in all its meanings can be used both for humans – and their precarious, transitory condition – and for nature: the installation is meant to be the meeting point of the two; and in this somewhat imperceptible space it is hard to tell dream from reality.
You can watch the video of the performance here, alongside with all of the artists’ wonderful art.
