Étude on Painting (Unlock)
On this site, we explore the techniques and tools we created for Étude on Painting (Unlock), exhibited at MYAF 2026 in Tokyo. This exhibition is intended not for experienced artists, but for anyone passing by who is curious to try. We made it a little strange and unpredictable, inviting people to embrace surprises and figure things out as they go, rather than rely on familiar techniques or feel intimidated by a blank canvas. When things take an unexpected turn, they can blame the tool and respond to what just happened.
To make the drawings portable (so they could be displayed and animated on the large screen at the venue or viewed later on the website), we built a simple system that represents each mark as a series of points with an associated style. This allowed us to easily store every drawing (we gathered more than 900 in four days!) and reproduce it anywhere while preserving the traces of the artist's hand.
Étude on painting (Unlock)
This work poses themes we rarely think about in everyday life as subjects to draw: the moment your brain was stirred, a scene you want to see once more, or a memory with someone dear.
To face such open-ended themes, Kenichi Yoneda, who has spent years building by hand the very mechanisms by which pictures come into being, has prepared a rather special set from a handmade drawing library. Familiar tools like paint and pencil, some with slightly curious textures, and others that draw lines on the opposite side of the pen's movement: a toolbox full of different expressions. Colors and tools can be chosen with the dials, but what comes out is up to chance.
You may feel lost at first, but start by moving your hand and enjoy the chance encounters with what appears on the screen. Rather than deliberating, respond to the picture in front of you and keep the dialogue going, and you may come across new perspectives and ideas you never knew you had.
Étude on painting (Unlock)
この作品では、普段の生活ではあまり意識しないテーマを、絵のお題として投げかけます。脳が刺激された瞬間、もう一度見たい景色、あるいは大切な人との思い出。こうした答えのないお題に向き合うために、長年にわたり絵が生まれる仕組みそのものを自分の手でつくり続けてきた米田研一が、お手製のお絵描きライブラリの中からちょっと特別なセットを用意しました。絵の具や鉛筆のようなお馴染みのもの、ちょっと不思議な質感を持ったもの、ペンの動きの反対側にも線を引きだすようなものまで、さまざまな表情が詰まった道具箱です。色やツールはダイアルで選ぶことができますが、何が出るかは運次第です。最初は戸惑うかもしれませんが、まずは手を動かし、画面に表れたものとの偶然の出会いを楽しんでみてください。深く考え込まず、目の前の絵に反応して対話を重ねることで、自分でも気づかなかった新しい視点や発想に出会えるかもしれません。