OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE Vol.65 2005-11
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I'm looking for ideas that are impractical
and useless but interesting
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| Kaleidoscope projects are popular and exciting. The challenge is to create a kaleidoscope using diffraction sheets. |
What are your plans and dreams for the future?
Instead of presenting shows in front of audiences, I'd really prefer
to be involved in the planning of exhibitions and the preparation of exhibits.
My dream is to express the wonder of a phenomenon or technology in a single
exhibit that will bring enjoyment to those who see it. However, that is unlikely
to be feasible on a business basis at present.
Are there no jobs like that?
Exhibits in science museums are generally created by specialist
exhibit contractors. When a science museum decides to update an exhibit, it
calls for competitive proposals, and the work is then coordinated by the contractor
selected through that process. Because this is done on a business basis, it
would be too time-consuming to start from the development stage. So exhibits
are simply updated a little at a time. And since the same contractors produce
exhibits in many museums, they all tend to be very similar. An individual can't
fit into that framework under the present system. Even if I could become involved,
my input would be limited to offering ideas. This is not work that an individual
can do. If an individual could work in partnership with a museum to create
exhibits that many people would want to see, that would lead to the development
of new exhibits and technologies. That kind of partnership would result in
the development of people with specific talents.
If you could produce your own exhibits for a science museum, what would you create?
As part of my television work, I once went to a liquid crystal laboratory
as an interviewer. The people there showed me a really beautiful device. It
had no practical use, but it produced changing colors just like a kaleidoscope.
One of the researchers asked me if I thought if there was a use for it. Though
the device seemed to have no practical use, I thought it could be used in an
exhibit. I'm sure there are many things that are interesting and beautiful
but have been lost and forgotten because they have no commercial or practical
use. Your sea-fireflies have no immediate practical use, but they're perfect
things to show to visitors in a science museum. People would really love them.
I'm looking for ideas that are impractical and useless but interesting.
I'm sure we have things like that, too.
My work doesn't relate to advanced science and technology. I simply
focus on science at a more basic level. I take experiences that I found interesting
as a child, and I retrace them from a slightly altered perspective. When I
find something interesting, the origins of that feeling are linked to my childhood
impressions. I focus on things that cause that antenna to vibrate. If I were
to assemble an exhibit based purely on my ideas, I'm sure the result would
be strongly influenced by my own childhood experiences. Those experiences seem
to form the framework for my choices.
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