Ryoji Ikeda Logbook

The ⟪Ryoji Ikeda Logbook⟫ has been planned and developed as companion content for the 2025 ACC FOCUS exhibition, ⟪Ryoji Ikeda⟫. The concept of a “logbook” first appeared in William Bourne’s 1574 manual on navigation and derives from the practice of measuring a ship’s speed using a rope tied to a log. The ⟪Ryoji Ikeda Logbook⟫ analogizes the exhibition viewing experience to a voyage, a journey on which to record the emotions that arise. This act of “Recording Emotions” connects the world of the artist with the experience of the exhibition, and these records are archived to form an ensemble of data.

Ryoji Ikeda introduces himself as a “composer”—one who not only composes music but also constructs experiences. His world is built from the binary of 0s and 1s. He deconstructs and reconstructs a diverse range of materials, from meteorological data to aerospace engineering data from NASA. However, the emotions felt by the audience are not as clearly delineated as 0s and 1s; they are more akin to irrational numbers, flowing fluidly between distinct points. The ⟪Ryoji Ikeda Logbook⟫ aims to capture these “in-between” emotions. If, as Ikeda suggests, the artist composes half of the work and leaves the rest to the audience, then the role of this digital guide is to broaden the viewer’s perspective and encourage free interpretation.

The ⟪Ryoji Ikeda Logbook⟫ proposes two ways of experiencing the exhibition: “Recording Emotions,” which allows for an experience mediated by nuanced language, and “View Artwork Commentary,” which explains the context and background of the pieces. In “Recording Emotions,” the visitor encounters questions designed to induce sensory immersion. Instead of conventional emotional nouns like “joy” or “sadness,” the content presents words that allow for an exploration of the space between sensation and emotion.

These words are categorized by various attributes such as the temperature, movement, texture, and scale of the feeling. The questions are presented in two formats: [1] a method that guides the user toward a more specific understanding by gradually refining their emotional description, and [2] a swipe-based method that allows for the serendipitous discovery of words. For example, using the first method, if a user answers “Large” to the question “How does the scale of the data feel?”, they are then presented with more detailed expressions like “Distant” or “Vast” to further specify their feeling. Through this process, one’s impression of Ryoji Ikeda’s work is not directly translated into a simple emotion but is naturally expanded through expressions grounded in physical sensation. Viewing the same trajectory of light, one person might get an impression of it “swirling,” while another might feel it is “shrinking” or “chilling.” Based on their intensity and characteristics, the selected words form a unique shape. Upon completing the record, users can see at a glance how their emotions have accumulated and transformed. The ⟪Ryoji Ikeda Logbook⟫ archive includes various functions, such as presenting data in order of the most frequently chosen words, becoming a space where the worlds of different viewers intersect, beyond a mere personal record.

Ryoji Ikeda once mentioned the inherent limitations of language in his creative process, stating, “I don’t create what can be explained.” This sentiment also applies to the process of introducing this website. In the ⟪Ryoji Ikeda Logbook⟫, the artist’s compose signifies both musical composition and structural construction. The audience’s perform implies both a musical performance and the act of carrying out a task. The resulting ensemble of records represents both a chorus and a collective action. While a single word cannot explain everything, we can gradually close the distance by adding more words, however tentatively. We hope that through the ⟪Ryoji Ikeda Logbook⟫, visitors will have the experience of naming their own emotions and, in doing so, move closer to a personal understanding.