The mechanism by which simple forms are connected by certain rules to form a whole is a universal principle in artifacts and natural phenomena. Artist Asao Tokolo calls this principle "Individual and Group" and has created a series of works connected in various ways. High-dimensional geometry, nonlinear mathematics, and symmetry that exist behind "Individual and Group" lead to various fields of study and creation, such as art and music, architecture and space structures, algorithms and data structures, crystal and quasicrystal atomic arrangements, protein folding and self-assembly, and swarm behavior.
In the seminar "Individual and Group" (Integrative Arts and Sciences Seminar) offered by the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tokyo, students exercise the creative process of "Individual and Group" in collaboration with Tokolo and the university's researcher Tomohiro Tachi. The creation process does not always proceed straight, and what is created often becomes an unintended byproduct. These byproducts lead to a rich, interdisciplinary research field bridging science, information technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.
The chain of creating, discovering, obtaining questions, and solving those questions is the driving force of interdisciplinary collaboration. The exhibition series CONNECTING ARTIFACTS introduces the academic research chain that begins with the act of making.