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In his design ouvre, Japanese designer Takuto Ohta’s strives to challenge a product and an object’s ability to be functional in conjunction with its design. Known for exploring the relationship between humans and the products they manufacture, Ohta’s experimental wood designs embrace and rouse human emotions and ordinary life. "I try to observe the minute changes in emotions that occur in our actions and the influences from our environment. A good example to point to is the way home. Is the handkerchief that fell on the street yesterday still there today, or do we always pass the same people when we leave the house at the same time? Is the flowerpot that you replaced without permission back to its original position?" Ohta shares his observations. Deriving his sensibilities and imagination from intuition, the designer has created interesting design interventions including the CNM collection:taking shape from repurposed plastic containers found at an abandoned port freezer to the INNCENT furniture collection which experiments with the laws of physics. Meanwhile, Rubbish Things collection follows the natural phenomenon of moving with no impositions or restrictions, untameably moving within the environment; Up To Sky abstracts the concept of a vase with a shifting focus on the act of stabbing while arranging the flowers; Anti-Spindle was designed as a window sill decorative piece, extracting the purpose of a window in conjunction with the strings of the spindle.
In a conversation with STIR, he discusses his projects, taking inspiration from traditional Japanese culture, the importance of observation and what it means to be a student of design.
STIR: Take us through your journey as a designer and what eventually led up to building your studio.
Takuto: My design career began when I met my current best friend and mentor, a designer who was newly appointed to the university during my undergraduate years. I studied interior design (mostly furniture ) as an undergraduate and then went on to graduate school at another university to study more poetic and critical design. There, I learned about the importance of being interested in and enjoying various things as a human being, and the beauty of the behaviour of objects (for example, the relationship with people and the environment that occurs through their existence), which goes beyond the basics of manufacturing. The name 'DECO' is an acronym for "Design Complex," which expresses such a situation, and also the decorative aspect of contemporary design.
STIR: How does culture and Japan find a place in your creative process?
Takuto: I try to observe my life very carefully because I consider all the activities that take place in life as culture. Seemingly ordinary daily life is a result of each individual's journey through a variety of environments, and many hints and opportunities for creating things are hidden in them. There is a concept in Japanese culture that I like called “八百万の神” it means "many gods," and most Japanese people understand the idea that there are gods in everything that surrounds us. In this sense, I may be looking for, enjoying, and closely observing countless traces of gods. Through the things I create, I raise the resolution of my life. That is how I feel.
STIR: “Decomposition” and “production” seem to be at the core of your creativity and product design, to what extent does that influence your craftsmanship?
Takuto: Life exists by decomposing materials and producing new materials. The reason we produce and consume things is to decompose materials that are fixed on the land as resources and redistribute them on the surface of the earth. In a world overflowing with goods, why can we not stop ‘making?’ When I thought about this question, I came up with the keywords ‘decomposition’ and ‘production.’ Just as we convert oxygen into carbon dioxide when we breathe, there are fundamental activities and reasons that we cannot stop, even if we know we are doing them. Of course, there is great concern about the destruction of a habitable environment for humans, but when we look at the hundreds of millions of years of Earth's history, we become acutely aware of the smallness of our existence. I would like to continue to think about these two keywords, which are inseparable in our lives as human beings and in our craftsmanship.
STIR: What considerations do you make, in terms of material and techniques, to make such sculptural designs?
Takuto: As a furniture designer, There are three major design considerations that I take into account when designing. These are whether the final output can be understood by children without language, whether the shape, structure, and material properties of the object are not overpowering each other, and what kind of impact the object will have when it exists in a space. The appeal of objects lies in the ability to establish a formative conversation with others, and children's honest and intuitive judgments of likes and dislikes are very helpful. The shape of an object is beautiful when it functions as a structure, and appropriate materials are selected for the purpose. We do not design for the sake of decoration. In the end, an object shows its true value by existing, not by the process of creation. The final essence of the work is the strength of the object to stand alone as an object regardless of the environment in which it is placed and to influence the space
On turning discarded fishing containers into furniture with CNM Collection
STIR: The ‘Common Neglect Material (CNM)’ collection has a strong connection with Japan, what was your motivation behind the abstract collection?
Takuto: It was inspired by a visit to a friend's house in the countryside. Even though he had not lived there very long, he had a great deal of knowledge about the area and its attractions. One of the places he showed me was a freezer in the harbour that had been abandoned for more than 20 years. It was a facility that had been active during Japan's period of rapid economic growth and explosive population growth but had outlived its usefulness, due to the depopulation of the area, caused by the declining birthrate. Behind the broken door, I could see a large number of piled-up containers scattered about. The containers were very attractive to me, so I decided to find the owner and ask him to give them to me. The owner was quickly found, as it was a small town, but at the same time, I experienced the extraordinary loneliness of the entire town. In fact, I found that 30 percent of the town was abandoned and most of the residents were elderly. Our generation lives on the great benefits of the past, but we are also the generation that must look to the past just as much. There are many towns in Japan in similar situations. However, this is not a negative thing, but rather a given environment, and we started CNM to see if we could find new clues from our perspectives and observations.
STIR: How did you come up with the forms for the CNM collection? Was it influenced by the choice of materials?
Takuto: I used cutting and heat bending to keep the containers from becoming too square as a form, while successfully taking over the stacking elements of the containers. The design was also made in such a way that it can be processed with simple tools that can be purchased locally. The letters on the container bear the name of the company that operated the abandoned port freezer. It signifies a material with a high degree of local specificity.
Wooden blocks, philosophical themes, and the INNCENT collection:
STIR: The ‘Inncent’ furniture series focuses on the concept of intuition, what was your thought process behind the collection?
Takuto: At the time, I was trying to create furniture designs that dealt with a very philosophical theme, and my hands were having a hard time moving through the heady process. I wanted to move my body, so I picked up a piece of discarded square wood and cut it at 45 degrees anyway. I enjoyed working with the wood so much that I found myself cutting several pieces of square timber. The end of the square timber cut while rotating is 45 degree from any angle, so when two pieces of square timber are joined together, a 90-degree gap is created. I noticed that the corners of the side of the square timber fit perfectly, but the two pieces were not glued together, so the square timber would slide down the gap. I picked up a piece of masking tape that happened to be lying at my feet and wrapped it around the two sticks to stabilise them and make it possible to place the corner pieces on top of each other. I collected cubes from the garbage dump and cut them at an angle. The production process was also very intuitive.
STIR: How did you play with the laws of physics in the ‘Inncent’ furniture collection?
Takuto: By using masking tape to bind two or more square timbers together, I fit square timbers at different angles into the gaps created by the binding of two or more square timbers and then stack the timbers while determining the centre of gravity and shape of the objects. What is slightly different from building blocks is that the size of the stacked blocks can be varied. A disproportionately large block can be stacked on top of a small block. The imbalance is also very meaningful. Also, when you go to a mountain or a river, you can always see stones piled on top of each other. Perhaps people have always liked the act of piling things up while keeping an eye on the balance.
Wanting to create Rubbish things that move at the slightest trigger
STIR: The collection ‘Rubbish things’ has a very intriguing name, what struck a chord with you to craft this collection?
Takuto: It has to do with my motivation for creating ‘Rubbish Things.’ I live alone and repeatedly leave home in the morning and return at night. Naturally, the appearance in my room when I leave home in the morning and when I return home at night has not changed a bit. And I feel safe in that situation. If something were moving, one would suspect a burglary or an earthquake and feel uneasy. However, I was also uncomfortable with the fact that there were more than 100 things in the room and yet not a single thing moved. Isn't it assumed that the things we create do not move as a matter of course? In order to understand this question, we created an object that can move at the slightest trigger. However, I intuitively felt that this object is not something we need immediately. I named it Rubbish Things with the idea of a perspective that we don't need it now (like garbage) but will need it somewhere.
Up To Sky Collection:
STIR: ‘Up to the sky’ is classified as a vase collection, what was the thought behind abstracting the concept of a vase?
Takuto: In Japan, there is a traditional art of composing and appreciating plants called Kado (flower arrangement), in which a pedestal made of countless needles called a Kenzan (flower holder) is used to hold the flowers in place and determine the composition of the flowers. I designed this vase focusing only on the act of ‘stabbing’ when arranging flowers. The pointed tip allows the floral form or floral pattern to be held in place. The oval bottom of the vase gives a different impression depending on the angle from which the vase is viewed. Because the action is limited, it requires the creativity of the user.
Windows as public galleries, unwinding threads, and the Anti Spindle
STIR: ‘Anti spindle’ showcases a harmony between windows and a spindle, how did you weave a narrative between the two for this product?
Takuto: This is a work submitted to a project that collects 5cm square objects to be placed on a window sill. Originally, a room is a private space and the window is a part of it, but the moment it is separated by curtains, the space outside the curtains changed into a public space. Some people place dolls or plants. It is a very mysterious space. As a person who likes to observe the city, I sometimes come across interesting windows when I walk around. For example, a window with a cat sleeping behind the curtains, a window with different items depending on the season, dried socks, etc. They function well as a gallery open to the public, which I see when I walk around town even if I don't want to see them. The "Anti-Spindle" is an object that keeps coming out of strings whether they are pulled out or not. Since no one but me, the creator, knows when the string will end, there is always a sense of tension as the string continues to be pulled out, and the way the string is placed and the amount of string pulled out reveals a little more about the owner of the object. The strings, which are displayed on the windowsill and extend capriciously, invite unexpected viewers to the windowsill.
STIR: What is NEXT in store for you?
Takuto: Currently, I am working on an object that is perceived not by sight but by hearing. There are too many objects around us that disappear as soon as we close our eyes. I personally have had poor eyesight since childhood and can hardly see anything without glasses or contact lenses, and the development of social networking and online content is helping to reduce the eyesight of the entire human race. Wonder Object, presented in 2022, is an experimental work that considers the gap between sound, perception, and action. I am currently in the process of further refining Wonder Object.
What do you think?