“Tangent” is a stage masterpiece led by Japanese media artist Shiro Takatani and his avant-garde art collective Dumb Type. The work synthesizes Takatani's three decades of interdisciplinary artistic exploration across installation art, theater, and modern dance, pioneering a new expressive form in contemporary performing arts.

Centered on the theme of “liminal space,” the piece delves into the perceptual boundaries between reality and the surreal. Through meticulous light and shadow design and soundscape construction, it creates a unique perceptual field that blurs the boundaries of time and space. Takatani redefines the cognitive limits of “visibility” and “invisibility” by artistically recreating natural phenomena—such as the refraction of light in morning mist and the representation of seismic vibration frequencies—guiding audiences into an artistic realm beyond the everyday.

Breaking free from traditional stage performance constraints, “Tangent” employs motion-controlled cameras to track performers in real time, capturing electric sparks and synchronizing their light trails with the performers' body language. The piece employs an 18.4-channel immersive sound system and pendulum audio feedback devices, forming rhythmic feedback loops with the performers' voices to create distinctive sonic patterns. This profound fusion of technology and artistry not only delivers an immersive viewing experience but also imbues each performance with unique vitality.

The music featured in this work is selected from the late artist Ryuichi Sakamoto's final album, “12”. Ryuichi Sakamoto participated as a new member in Dumb Type's creation for the 2022 Venice Biennale. The late master's music, with its profound emotion and distinctive musical language, forms a subtle resonance with the work's visual expression. This cross-disciplinary artistic collaboration not only continues the deep artistic dialogue between Dumb Type and Sakamoto but also imbues the work with an immortal artistic soul.

“Tangent” is not merely an innovative experiment in artistic form and technics; it is a profound reflection on the relationship between human beings and nature, technology and humanism. It offers audiences a unique opportunity to reexamine the boundaries between human perception and the real world.

Shiro Takatani

Artistic Director

Shiro Takatani was born in Nara, Japan in 1963. He works diversely with photography, video, lighting, graphics, and set design in his creations. He is one of the founding members of the artist collective Dumb Type.

Besides Dumb Type, Takatani began a parallel solo career in 1998. He created his own performance La Chambre Claire (premiered at Theater der Welt, Germany in 2008), CHROMA with music by Simon Fisher Turner (premiered at Biwako Hall Center for the Performing Arts, Japan in 2012), ST/LL with music by Ryuichi Sakamoto (premiered at Le Volcan – Scène Nationale du Havre, France in 2015). He also worked in collaboration with artists from different disciplines. The remarkable collaboration with Fujiko Nakaya, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Min Tanaka was presented at Tate Modern, London, and The New National Museum, Oslo in 2017. The latest theater piece by Ryuichi Sakamoto + Shiro Takatani, TIME was premiered at Holland Festival in 2021.

Dumb Type

Artist Collective

Dumb Type was founded in Kyoto in 1984, with founding members including Teiji Furuhashi, Shiro Takatani, Toru Koyamada, Yukihiro Hozumi, Misako Yabuuchi and Hiromasa Tomari. As a globally acclaimed media art collective, its early interdisciplinary works include Pleasure Life (1988), pH (1990–1995) and S/N (1992–1996). Since the 1990s, with the join of new members such as Ryoji Ikeda and under the direction of Shiro Takatani, Dumb Type has continued to create works including OR (1997–1999), memorandum (1999–2003), Voyage (2002–2009), and the related installations.

Their first large-scale solo exhibition, DUMB TYPE: ACTIONS + REFLECTIONS was held at Centre Pompidou-Metz in 2018. In 2022, Dumb Type created a new installation 2022 for the Japan Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale, welcoming Ryuichi Sakamoto as a new member. The related live concert 2022: remix was presented at the Teatro Goldoni in Venice. Also, the related exhibition 2022: remap was held at the Artizon Museum in Tokyo in 2023.

Miyu Hosoi

Performer

Miyu Hosoi (b. 1993) is a sound artist who creates multi-channel sound installations for outdoor, indoor, and theatrical settings. She also engages in sound archive and research-based projects, focusing on how sound transforms the perception of space and situations. Her works have been presented at the Barbican Centre (London), IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique, Paris), Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya Park, Nagano Prefectural Art Museum, Audio Engineering Society [AES], NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] Anechoic Room, Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM], Aichi Arts Center and more. In 2024, on stage as a performer at La Biennale di Venezia – Danza 2024, for the theater piece “Tangent” by Shiro Takatani (DUMB TYPE).

Ryuichi Sakamoto

Music

Ryuichi Sakamoto (1952–2023), Japanese composer, producer, and member of Yellow Magic Orchestra. Blending world music with classical impressionism, he composed over thirty film scores including “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” and “The Last Emperor”. His work spans multimedia opera and environmental sound experiments. The 2017 album “async” incorporated Sakamoto’s profound reflections on life and time.