Ergonomic Embryo

2025-

Performance, Project

—I’m sitting on a chair.

The soft cushion curves to my hips, the backrest steadies my fragile waist, the armrests carry the weight of my hands. Ergonomically designed, the chair accepts my heaviness with ease. On trains, in restaurants, at work, in clinics, in classrooms, in theaters—before I notice, I am already made to sit. My body is being handled: as passenger, as worker, as patient, as student, as spectator, seamlessly integrated into the institution.

Yet—rather than sitting on a chair, I become the chair. In this performance, generative AI attempts to incarnate the human body into the image of a “chair.” The camera captures the body, and AI redraws it as a chair. But the image wavers—contesting, merging between human figure and chair. Through a head-mounted display, the performer confronts this redrawn body, exploring images that blur the border between chair and human. At that moment, I rise with the chairs—not in adaptation, not in domination, but in a still-unnamed posture.

Critique

Keisuke Oki: Instructions for Metamorphosis: How Does a Chair Exist? — Shin Hanagata, Ergonomics Embryo · Protocell, Picasso, Kosuth

Credit

Ergonomic Embryo - Protocell, Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo Atelier West, Tokyo Metropolitan Theater, Tokyo, Japan 2025 Nov 1st-3rd

Artist: Shin Hanagata

chair-human: Fujio Hagihara, Takuya Takemoto, Yuri Sakai, Moe Yoshida, Shin Hanagata, Armchair, Windsor chair, Keyboard bench, Stool, Counter chair, Stacking chair, Folding chair, Gaming chair, 3D chair asset, etc.

camera-man: Takahiro Ueno Engineer: Atsuya Kobayashi, Chihiro Igarashi, Shin Hanagata Assistant Engineer: Chihiro Igarashi Sound: Rench Kee Light: Namiko Watanabe Stage Manager: Shinri Takahashi Technical Support: JACKSON kaki Assistant Engineer: Chihiro Igarashi Assistant Staff: Miyu Kameda, Kanon Yunoki, Ayumi Yoshikawa Recording Director: Hibiki Miyazawa (COG WORKS) Documentation Photos: Azusa Yamaguchi Graphic Design: Harumichi Nakamura Main Visual: nyu Program Coordinator: Nanaho Kato*, Shotaro Kawasaki* Producer: Hirohiko Hanzawa* *refers to Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo

Organizer: Tokyo Festival Executive Committee [Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)] Support: Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan Japan Arts Council Sponsor: Asahi Group Japan, Ltd. Media Partner: Tokyo Art Beat

Ergonomic Embryo - short NYC version CultureHub, New York, United States 2026 Jun 9-10th

Concept, Performance & Engineering: Shin Hanagata Management: Yae Akaiwa Graphic Design: Harumichi Nakamura Talk Support: Kosuke Fujitaka, Video & Light Operation: Ray Wong Reception: Annica Dong Photography: Yuzuru Joe Kobayashi Translation: Shogo Ishikawa

Ergonomic Embryo - Protocell, Yamanashi Media Art Award 2026 GASBON METABOLISM, Yamanashi, Japan 2026 Feb 27th

Artist: Shin Hanagata Chair-Human: Moe Yoshida, Shin Hanagata, stacking chairs, and others Camera-Man: Kai Takaha Video Operation: Chihiro Igarashi Lighting & Assistant: Ayumi Yoshikawa Graphic Design: Harumichi Nakamura Main Visual: nyu Production Support & Premiere: Performing Arts Festival "Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo"