Draft:A.A.Murakami

A.A.Murakami

A.A.Murakami is an artist duo composed of Alexander Groves and Azusa Murakami based in Tokyo and London. Formed in 2020, the duo is known for merging art and science through a practice they refer to as “ephemeral tech”. Ephemeral tech describes their use of transient, sensory-based technologies to evoke elements of the natural world. Alexander Groves has remarked, "If I’m experiencing technology through something on a screen, it exists in a different dimension to myself. It’s in a dimension that can’t age." In contrast, the duo’s concept of ephemeral tech facilitates a relationship between the digital and the physical, grounding technological experiences within the same temporal and spatial reality as the viewer. In essence, ephemeral tech is technology that is "experienced not through standard interfaces like screens, but through ethereal and shifting matter, facilitating fleeting but deeply meaningful in-person experiences." Their work frequently explores temporal themes by engaging with both the origins of human existence and speculative visions of the future.

Azusa Murakami studied architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture, while Alexander Groves pursued fine art at Oxford University. The two met during their time at the Royal College of Art during a product design course. Murakami and Groves co-founded a design studio, Studio Swine (super wide interdisciplinary new explorers) and A.A.Murakami is its art division.

A.A.Murakami frequently draws inspiration from ancient cultures and historical traditions. One such example is Floating World, an immersive installation influenced by ukiyo, a Japanese artistic concept that translates to “pictures of the floating world,” which traditionally depicted the transience and beauty of everyday life during the Edo period. The natural world also serves as a significant source of inspiration for the duo. This is found in works such as A Thousand Layers of Stomach, which draws from the intricate patterns found on clam shells, and Infinity Blue, a large-scale installation that pays tribute to cyanobacteria, the microorganisms responsible for producing the Earth’s early oxygen.

A.A.Murakami has works featured in the permanent collections of MoMA New York, Pompidou Centre in Paris, Vitra Design Museum Germany and M+ Hong Kong.

Exhibitions

Exhibition	Venue	Location	Dates
Five Old Altars of Rare Bacteria	Arts Centre Shenzhen	Shenzhen	November 2020
Spring Forest	Hyundai Department Store	Seoul	March 2021
Between the Clouds	Kunstpalast Museum	Düsseldorf	August 2021
A Thousand Layers of Stomach	Pearl Lam Gallery	Hong Kong	November 2021
Silent Fall	Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington Garden	London	October 2022
Wavelength	Beijing Times Art Museum	Beijing	July 2022
Flood	TANK	Shanghai	November 2022
Passage	LG Art Centre	Seoul	Permanent Installation
Cloudwalkers	Leeum Museum of Art	Seoul	September 2 – January 8, 2023
Space Symphony	Paradise Art Space	Seoul	October 25 – March 26, 2023
Scenery of the Emptiness	Asia Culture Center	Gwangju	December 23 - August 27, 2023
Passage of Ra	Grand Palais Éphémère	Paris	February 24 - February 25, 2023
Under A Flowing Field	Hyundai Motor Studio	Busan	April 6 - Oct 10, 2023
Metabolic Metropolis	Shibuya Parco	Tokyo	May 5 - May 10, 2023
Between Two Worlds	The Collectional Gallery	Dubai	March 2 - March 31 2024
The Passage of Ra	The Miraikan	Tokyo	January 24 - September 2024
Floating World	M+ Museum	Hong Kong	August 2024 - February 2025
The Cave Beyond the Horizon	Museo della Permanente Opposites United: Eclipse of Perceptions, presented with Kia Design and Zero	Milan	April 7 - April 13, 2025
Floating World	Museum of Fine Arts Houston	Houston	May 4 - September 21, 2025

Selected Works

Floating World

Floating World is composed of five individual installations and marks A.A.Murakami’s American debut. The title references ukiyo, a Japanese art-style of woodblock prints depicting "pictures of the floating world" during the Edo period (1603–1868). The exhibition draws on elements from the duo’s previous works, presenting an immersive and atmospheric experience.

According to Bradley Bailey, Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao, curators of Asian Art at the MFAH, the installations "not only push the boundaries of art and technology but also brilliantly evoke a touchstone of Japanese cultural history.". Floating World is as much a philosophical inquiry as it is a visual spectacle, encouraging viewers to reconsider their relationship with time, space, and the natural world. Gary Tinterow, Director and Margaret Alkek Williams Chair of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, described the work as embodying the concept of Ephemeral Tech, stating that the term “aptly captures the uncanny nature of these mesmerizing environments, which rely on the latest innovations in artifice and science to evoke the timeless, fleeting moments of nature’s forces”

The five installations, Cell, Neon Sun, Beyond the Horizon, Passage, and Under a Flowing Field, each explore different material expressions of transience and perception.

• Cell features a sculptural garden composed of aluminum and volcanic-like forms that evoke the ocean floor . The porous forms reference the East Asian tradition of Scholar’s Rocks and Zen Rock gardens . These structures suggest a dialogue between geological history and speculative futures, and draw attention to the origins of human life on the sea floor .
• Neon Sun consists of plasma tubes that emit glowing patterns reminiscent of the aurora borealis. This effect is achieved by filling vacuum-sealed tubes with noble gases and generating an electromagnetic field within them, producing a luminous glow that shifts from green-blues to orange-reds.. Neon Sun encapsulates a sense of wonder and awe toward the sun, the ultimate source of energy for life, while also evoking the uncontrollable and ever-evolving nature of the cosmos
• Beyond the Horizon presents a field of suspended vapor bubbles that resemble clouds. Viewers are invited to engage with the bubbles, whether by reaching out, avoiding them, or simply observing, as a way to explore the theme of constant motion and transformation.. The work investigates the boundary between physical sensation and digital perception
• Passage, created specifically for the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, is a tower with 8 fog cannons that release white rings of fog drifting through a gallery illuminated in cosmic blue. As the rings disappear, the audience is invited to understand the relationship between the space and emptiness.
• Under a Flowing Field features krypton-filled glass tubes that produce lines of light against a colored backdrop.. This installation is accompanied by the sounds that resemble insects in a field. The piece explores impermanence, rhythm, and the quiet unpredictability of natural systems

The Cave

The Cave is an installation by A.A. Murakami that combines primal and technological elements to explore themes of human creativity, entropy, and speculative futures. At the center of the installation is a large-scale automaton with robotic limbs that emerge from a reflective pool, activating bellows that blow air through replicas of ancient animal bone instruments. This interaction produces a haunting, ethereal soundscape, evoking early human ritual and expression.

The environment is immersed in red light and stillness, creating a sensory experience that invites meditation on the endurance of creativity in the face of existential uncertainty.. The use of robotic limbs, inspired in part by the appearance of bird legs, introduces a cinematic and futuristic quality to the space. According to the artists, The Cave reflects an interest in both the origins of humanity and the speculative trajectory of consciousness and technology, using the distant past as a lens to imagine the far future. The installation exemplifies the duo’s concept of ephemeral tech, emphasizing temporary, experiential moments that merge the ancient with the emergent

Beyond the Horizon

Beyond the Horizon is a sensory installation in which floating, fog-filled bubbles disperse throughout the exhibition room. Debuted at Opposites United: Eclipse of Perceptions during Milan Design Week 2025., the work features large amorphous bubbles that emerge from hanging automata and drift slowly before dissolving into cloud-like forms overhead

The installation explores themes of transience, impermanence, and the passage of time. The bubbles, formed from a custom, non-toxic, viscous solution, are engineered to hold their shape briefly before bursting into vapor, making the ephemeral visible and tangible. The interaction between automated systems and unpredictable physical forces introduces an element of chance, where each bubble follows a unique and unrepeatable path. This performative quality invites viewers to witness and engage with a fleeting, ephemeral moment that cannot be paused or replicated.

Beyond the Horizon reflects A.A. Murakami’s concept of ephemeral tech, where technology is used not for permanence or precision, but to create delicate, temporary experiences. The cool-toned lighting, reflective surfaces, and ambient pacing evoke a meditative atmosphere, encouraging viewers to slow down and become aware of their presence in relation to constantly changing natural phenomena.

Floating World Genesis NFTs

Floating World Genesis is a 2022 NFT series by the art duo A.A.Murakami, released through Pace Verso . The collection includes 250 unique generative works that explore themes of impermanence, ritual, and the origins of life. Each piece features animated bubble environments inspired by the Miller Urey experiment, using real-time 3D graphics and shader-based motion. The project marks A.A. Murakami’s entry into blockchain-based art, specifically through the use of Web3 technologies.