about "Long Autumn Sweet Thing"

This is a massive illuminated work conceived, designed and produced by composer KAWASE Kohske. Created from incandescent light and liquid crystal film that pulsates with voltage changes, this work generates an ensemble linking the pulsating light with music composed by the artist, enabling you to experience a narrative of sound and light.

The work transcends a simple "light show". The scenes performed within the work touch a vast array of emotions -- tranquility, violence, the divine. When viewers are surrounded and embraced by the sound and light, the resulting landscape speaks directly to the spirit, becoming a mirror that evokes the viewer's mind. What kind of landscape will be unveiled within your heart? The possibilities are limitless.

This work uses a series of compositions, currently 6 works forming a 45-minute narrative. The work's structure and operating system are unimportant. I dream that this piece awakens within viewers "landscape" and "memories" sleeping within, evoking feelings that were once cherished, and triggering emotions and thoughts.

I believe it is possible. That you can grasp the vastness hidden within this work, a scale that transcends the phenomena before your eyes.
This is music created for light. Please gaze quietly.

Why light? :

I began my career as a composer. Before this work I used "sound" as my sole material for expression. Then I realized that I could expand the concept of composition, incorporating visual elements with "sound" to transcend the boundaries of composition/music. After considering numerous candidates and possibilities, I selected "light".

Why light? Like "sound" that I had dealt with until then, light is an abstract material without form. And light has a start and a beginning -- switching on and off. These special characteristics mean light can generate a time axis. With this realization, I decided to treat light and sound on the same level -- to perform music using light.

I selected the pulsating liquid crystal film for the same reason -- it alternates between transparency/opacity, blinks like light and expresses fluctuations, making it possible to generate a time axis. It enabled me to generate a more complex and musical kind of expression than would be possible with simple blinking or fluctuations in light. Using a musical analogy, light is "solo performance", whereas light with liquid crystal film creates an "ensemble".

Finally, the most important point:

"Existing, here and now".

It might be difficult to grasp this work's real appeal without experiencing it in person. "Existing here and now". This contrasts with blurred existences within virtual networks and TV monitors. The work bites viewers with the reality of sound and light in the "here and now". "Vibrations" conveyed through sound and "heat" created by light thrust viewers into present, triggering a profound response and amplifying the intensity of the experience.

KAWASE Kohske, MARCH 2005