July 7th is the 100th year anniversary of the beloved Japanese drink Calpis. Coinciding with the Japanese star festival, Tanabata, Emmanuelle unveiled two installations, “Universe of Words” and “100 message bottles”, presented at the “Calpis 100th year anniversary, Let`s Meet at Tanabata” exhibition.

▼装置概览，overview of the installation

On Tanabata day, Japanese people write their hopes and dreams on colored pieces of paper and hang them on a bamboo branch in hopes that their wishes will come true. Emmanuelle reimagines this tradition by extracting the sense of Tanabata onto the floating words. She chose the simplest written alphabet children first learn “hiragana”, composed of 46 different characters. In Tanabata, hiragana are used to express the hopes and dreams. The universe created by these floating hiraganas evokes an emotion through its stillness and its endlessness. By condensing the essence of the word itself, it derives to the emotion. The swaying hiragana form and symbolize the wishful colored pieces of paper swaying from the bamboo branch.

▼彩色的“语言的世界”装置，通过一系列漂浮的彩色平假名，创造出一个五彩斑斓的、无尽的静止宇宙，the installation of the Universe of Words, creating a universe with stillness and its endlessness by colorful floating hiraganas

▼“语言的世界”装置，遍布着平假名，各层的平假名字母都以100种颜色着色，the installation of the Universe of Words filled with hiraganas, the layers of hiraganas are colored in 100 shades of colors

▼“语言的世界”装置，部分纵截面上的平假名被移除，创造出一个贯穿了整个装置的交通流线，the installation of the Universe of Words, sections of the installation were removed, creating paths that cut through the installation