We interviewed Takuto Ohta, who won the Best Performance Award at the "ADF Milano Salone Design Award 2021" sponsored by Aoyama Design Forum (ADF). We asked some questions such as his submitted work, his thought on art and prospects.

1. Biography
Takuto Ohta was born in France in June 1993. He graduated from Musashino Art University in April 2017. He has belonged at Tokyo Art University since April 2019 and Musashino Art University IIC INT Teaching Associate since April 2020, respectively.

2. Your representative work
“Rubbish Things”
https://www.designboom.com/design/rubbish-things-inanimate-objects-move-freely-human-help-09-15-2020/


3. About your policy of design
I re-expose the senses that we lost as a side effect of the reaction to the development of culture and civilization, and I express them in words and forms. Currently, I am focusing on the relationship between things with the keywords, "decomposition" and "production," which are the roots of life activities and manufacturing. I believe that I don’t need to stick to specific areas or categorize my works. I try to think in a fluid and pluralistic way during the process.

「〜」/ TAKUTO OHTA

4. What do you think of the Milano Salone Design Awards?
The Milano Salone Design Awards is a very attractive competition with full of opportunities. I think there is no other competition that appreciates diverse ideas like the Awards. I hope that the competition will continue to seek new value without being tied to specific areas.


5. Your thought for the submitted work
The work was a challenge for me to take meta-perspective of something that I take for granted. I focused on two points, "To take a skeptical attitude toward the words or behaviors that make up common sense and social norms" and "To transmit the fiction of the concept to others in a physical way". Unlike previous works, I made a big discovery that I paid attention to perspectives of others in the process of production. The expression still relies on vision, so I'm looking for its future developments.

6. How did you feel when you won the award?
I am very honored to receive the award. I would like to thank everyone who involved and supported me. One of my motives for the competition was the exhibition, so I will do my best for the opportunities I have received.


7. How do you think about the future in design industry after COVID-19?
I'm always thinking about how we should behave towards something changed, rather than what changes and how. For that reason, I always try to show a skeptical and blind attitude to all possibilities and thoughts and to make a margin for the uncertainty. If I had to say, then it would be the resolution of the viewpoint. While I have had more opportunities to think about invisible beings, I feel that my reaction to what I can see has slowed down. Therefore, I think it's more important than ever to create with physical approaches.


8. Do you think the world can change by the power of design?
I naturally believe that the design has big impact, but the belief sounds a little bit strange to me. So, I try to believe people’s imagination rather than the power of design. Because the design is not a goal but a tool to convey the imagination. Design doesn’t need to have power to change something directly. I hope the design exists as a communication tool that expands the imagination of the recipients and creators. If there is something that has changed as a result, it would be a new communication by their imagination.


9. What is your dream?
I would like to be involved in a manufacturing project in some environment, such as space, seabed, desert, radiation-contaminated areas. I am very interested in the things, which will come into the world by inhabitation and creating culture. At the same time, I would like to know what kind of materials and shapes the things would be and how the things would interact with humans in the future. I also would like to discover new aspects of the relationship between things and people and the relationship between things and things.