A.A.Murakami
Artist
ISSUE 4 2026 SS
In the darkness, white bubbles fall from a tree-like sculpture, bouncing and rolling across the surface of the water before quietly disappearing. Visitors stand watching the scene unfold. On view at the Roppongi Crossing 2025: What Passes Is Time. We Are Eternal. exhibition at the Mori Art Museum (until March 29, 2026), the installation The Moon Underwater (P.116) embodies the concept of “Ephemeral Tech,” a philosophy championed by A.A.Murakami.
Azusa Murakami, who studied architecture inthe UK, and Alexander Groves, trained in fine art, first came together as a duo while classmates. The idea for this work emerged in 2010. However, understanding the mechanics of the bubbles and developing a method to inflate them with air required extensive experimentation, and it ultimately took seven years to bring the piece to life. For this presentation, AI was introduced for the first time to assist with aspects of its operation and management.
“Our practice begins with travelling around the world in search of new and intriguing materials, ”says Murakami. “Since we don’t come from a technological background, technology, from our perspective, is simply a tool that helps us create the phenomena we want to generate.” AI is used to regulate several conditions within the installation. It helps maintain the pool’s surface in a perfectly calm state, signals the machine when a bubble fails to form a membrane and evaporates, and pauses bubble production when too many bubbles accumulate on the water’s surface.
Their fascination with materials can also be seen in another work (P.118), in which the patterns of seashells are translated into algorithms and transformed into graphic compositions. Surprisingly, the inspiration came from something as ordinary as the miso soup with clams they eat every day. In yet another piece (P.112), special gas is injected into neon tubes and a low voltage applied, producing irregular lines and a sound reminiscent of crickets. The idea was sparked by the neon lights that captivated them while they were living in New York at the time. While their practice often begins with close observation of materials found in everyday life, why do they choose to incorporate technology into their art?
“We want to recreate natural phenomena and allow them to exist autonomously, almost as if they were alive,” says Groves. “In other words, technology is necessary to reproduce these effects.We work with elements such as soap bubbles, fog rings, plasma, and giant bubbles. When you automate something that humans can easily do, something interesting begins to happen. Creating bubbles with a machine feels entirely different from making them by hand. I think that difference is precisely why we use technology.”
They began creating immersive, experiential installations like this one in 2017. In the early years of their independent projects, without clients to commission their work, their pieces were primarily presented online. At that time, it was their videos that drew the most attention. Later, however, museums began approaching them with exhibition offers. The turning point came when their practice shifted from filmmaking to installation. “Until then, our work had been object-based, but it gradually became experience-based,” says Groves. “Most of our earlier projects were entirely self-initiated. Then we had the opportunity to participate in the Milan Salone in collaboration with COS. Because the exhibition lasted only a week, we wanted to leave visitors with a lasting memory. We asked ourselves what the best response to that situation would be and decided to create an installation. After that, more opportunities of a similar nature began to follow.”
Murakami adds, “There are already so many objects in the world that we started to feel uneasy about making yet another one. At that moment, we realised we wanted to focus on creating experiences that linger in people’s memories.”
“Our essential interests haven’t changed,” says Groves. “We’ve always been interested in how far the possibilities of reality can be pushed. We often think in terms of a ‘cinematic world.’ The Moon Underwater is also very cinematic. Visitors watch the bubbles fall onto the water’s surface and bounce with intense concentration. There’s a strong sense of immersion. Compared with our other works, it’s an especially experiential piece.”
Yet a cinematic experience rich in narrative might, at first glance, seem to stand in contrast to technology. “What we aim to achieve is a harmony between nature and technology. Rather than seeing technology as a destructive force, we want to use it to activate nature and amplify its beauty. We’re also interested in something close to the Japanese sensibility of mono no aware—a feeling in which joy and sadness coexist.Why is it that sadness draws us in, and can even feel strangely comforting? Perhaps it is because sadness makes us aware of meaning. When we feel something is ‘sad,’ it is often because it mattered to us in the first place. And that awareness can be a deeply rich experience. That is why we are particularly drawn to works that deal, in a sense, with things that are temporary and destined to disappear.
When we encounter technology, we tend to feel—consciously or unconsciously—that it exists in another dimension. It is digital, informational, intangible, and, in a sense, ‘immortal.’ It can be paused, rewound, or revisited ten years later exactly as it was. The only thing that changes is ourselves. Because of this, it can be difficult to feel a deep connection to it. Experiencing nature is different. When we see a flower blooming before us, we know it will eventually fall. And we ourselves exist only for a brief moment within the vast timescale of the universe. There is a sense that we are sharing a moment that will never return. That feeling is incredibly powerful, yet it is often missing from technology — and even from art. That is precisely what we want to explore.”
“If you take a broader perspective, everything is temporary. Even the moon we look up at every day is constantly changing, passing through time. The disappearance of oceans and the extinction of species are also part of that larger flow. The kinetic artist Jean Tinguely once said that the only stable thing in the universe is movement. Everything is always in motion. That is absolutely true. This very sense that everything is continually shifting and passing is what we want to explore,” says Groves.
Their approach to technology and AI is shaped by this same perspective. “Throughout history, technology has often functioned as a mirror, reflecting fundamental questions such as ‘Who are we?’ and ‘What does it mean to be human?’ When we think about artificial intelligence today, we are inevitably confronted with questions like ‘What is consciousness?’ and ‘What is intelligence?’
Some people say that AI doesn’t actually possess consciousness—that it is simply predicting the next word. But others suggest that human thought may not be so different. We don’t always fully know what we are about to say next; in a sense, we may also be forming our thoughts one word at a time.
That perspective invites us to reflect on our own existence. Perhaps that is why, as we create art using technology, we are also trying to explore and reflect on questions such as ‘What is existence?’ ‘What is time?’ and ‘What is life?’”—questions posed by Groves.
PHOTOGRAPHY: Reiko Toyama at Lesen
INTERVIEW: Mika Koyanagi
STYLING: Yoko Miyake
PHOTOGRAPHIC ASSISTANCE: Kosei Nozaki
CLOTHES: ALEXANDER Knit, t-shirt and trousers THE ROW,
AZUSA Shirt and trousers THE ROW
Questionnaire
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Alexander Groves
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1
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What do you do?
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I'm an artist. Which in practice means having a dream, followed by a great deal of administration to bring it into being.
2
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What do you love most about your job?
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The fact that anything I want to do, I can and somehow will manifest.
3
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What made you start your current job?
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A love of art, for as long as I can remember.
4
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Who are the most influential persons in your life?
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My parents. Azusa. Some great teachers like Richard Wentworth and Jurgen Bey. Some great writers like Cormac McCarthy, Samuel Beckett, Douglas Adams.
5
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Describe yourself in 3 words
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Intense, Curious, Optimistic
6
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What makes you feel good?
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Working on a vision. Falling asleep when completely exhausted. Swimming in the sea.
7
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What are you most interested in right now?
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How patterns of complexity emerge from formless chaos. Whether we can make something truly new and at the same time timeless.
8
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What are three things you cannot live without?
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Running to the sea. Tea—Sencha & Earl Grey
9
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What do you never leave the house without?
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A plan
10
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Tell us about your morning routine.
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Wake at 4:30. Run to the beach. Sit and look at the sea for 10 to 20 minutes. Run back. Empty the dishwasher. Put on rice. Prepare for the kids waking up. Take them to school. Gym. Then draw a pyramid of the most important projects in hierarchy and write the key tasks for the day.
11
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When does inspiration come to you?
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When bored, offline, with a pen and paper.
12
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What do you get immersed in, causing you to lose track of time?
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Building a project, writing.
13
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What is the ultimate luxury for you?
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Being offline and unavailable. Travelling to a remote place.
14
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When do you tend to feel cravings, and what are they for?
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When I have pushed myself very hard physically. Pure coconut fat. British crisps.
15
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What is your favorite color?
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A blue that comes from mercury and neon in a state of plasma. We use it in our neon works. It recalls the faint atmospheric halo seen from space—the razor-thin cyan edge that traces the curve of the Earth. Not the blue of water, but of light itself scattered and compressed at the boundary between atmosphere and void. A mineral, stratospheric glow.
16
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How do you face adversity when it arises?
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Talk to myself
Write it down
Make a plan
Do the plan
17
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What is the most important decision you have made in your life?
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To pursue Azusa, not really a decision. To go to Los Angeles, where I met the interior designer Paul Fortune. After that I decided to study product design, where I met Azusa.
18
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What was the most moving moment in your life?
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The birth of my children. Watching my daughter release her pet stag beetle, Uni, back onto a tree at the end of last summer, her first experience of letting go.
19
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Which of the five senses most strongly stimulates your desires?
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Smell
20
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Who is your favorite author?
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Cormac McCarthy.
21
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What are your three favorite books on your bookshelf?
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Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
My Life on Mars by Colin Pillinger
Peking Story: The Last Days of Old China by David Kidd
22
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Where would you like to go on a trip right now?
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Deep snow country. Not too far from Hayama.
23
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What’s a moment that moved you recently?
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Watching children performing folk songs at the Aral Music School on a trip to Uzbekistan.
24
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What is the most memorable place you’ve visited?
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Big Sur, California.
25
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Is there something you've loved doing and have kept doing since your childhood?
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Being in the woods.
26
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What music have you been into recently?
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I rarely listen to music now. Mostly audiobooks and long-form podcasts.
27
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Who’s your favorite singer?
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Kate Bush
28
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What is the one thing that you cannot compromise on?
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Bubbles
29
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What are your three favorite movies?
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Interstellar by Christopher Nolan
My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki
Casanova by Federico Fellini
30
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What are your three favorite foods?
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Lychees, Lebanese food, Sushi
31
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When you meet someone for the first time, what’s the first thing that catches your eye?
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Their energy.
32
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What aroma or smell is most memorable to you?
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Eucalyptus trees the first night I arrived in a Moroccan mountain town. Waxed walking boots on family holidays in the Lake District. Wall jasmine and rose scented geraniums warmed by the sun in a Victorian walled garden in my village. Peppery coastal sage scrub, Monterey pine, and California bay laurel along the Central California coast.
33
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What’s the best advice you’ve ever received from others?
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Focus on what is real — Paul Fortune
Don't worry. Just be good — Richard Wentworth
'The weak blame others. To blame oneself is progress. To realise no one is to blame is wisdom.' — Attributed to Socrates
34
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What do you wear in bed?
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Pajamas
35
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What are your most important values?
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Be open
Be kind
Try your best, with intensity.
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Azusa Murakami
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1
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What do you do?
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Artist
2
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What do you love most about your job?
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When a vision in my head becomes a reality.
3
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What made you start your current job?
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When I decided I wanted to go to school in England at the age of 12.
4
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Who are the most influential persons in your life?
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I don't just have one, I am constantly being influenced.
5
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Describe yourself in 3 words
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Instinctive, curious, gluten-free
6
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What makes you feel good?
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Eating in nature.
7
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What are you most interested in right now?
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Seasonal change.
8
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What are three things you cannot live without?
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Hot springs, nature, Japanese food
9
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What do you never leave the house without?
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SPF50
10
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Tell us about your morning routine.
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I drink hot water as I look out at the hills outside.
11
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When does inspiration come to you?
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When I am zoning out.
12
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What do you get immersed in, causing you to lose track of time?
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Bookshops
13
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What is the ultimate luxury for you?
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Slow mornings
14
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When do you tend to feel cravings, and what are they for?
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Curiosity for the unknown.
15
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What is your favorite color?
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White
16
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How do you face adversity when it arises?
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Write them down on paper.
17
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What is the most important decision you have made in your life?
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When we decided to make a team of 2.
18
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What was the most moving moment in your life?
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When unimaginable moments became a reality.
19
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Which of the five senses most strongly stimulates your desires?
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Scent
20
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Who is your favorite author?
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Alain de Botton
21
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What are your three favorite books on your bookshelf?
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Cy Twombly: Making the Past Present by Christine
Kondoleon The Japanese Garden by Sophie Walker
A life together by Aino + Alvar Aalto
22
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Where would you like to go on a trip right now?
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Road trip in California
23
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What’s a moment that moved you recently?
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Sports day at school
24
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What is the most memorable place you’ve visited?
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Human hair factory in China
25
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Is there something you've loved doing and have kept doing since your childhood?
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Imagination
26
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What music have you been into recently?
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Jazz
27
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Who’s your favorite singer?
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Nina Simone
28
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What is the one thing that you cannot compromise on?
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Whether it feels right or not.
29
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What are your three favorite movies?
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Blade runner by Ridley Scott
In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-wai
My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki
30
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What are your three favorite foods?
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Rice, dark chocolate, seasonal fruits
31
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When you meet someone for the first time, what’s the first thing that catches your eye?
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Air
32
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What aroma or smell is most memorable to you?
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Scent we created for our first installation in 2017 inspired by the city of Milan.
33
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What’s the best advice you’ve ever received from others?
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If you can imagine it, you can realise it.
34
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What do you wear in bed?
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Cotton PJ
35
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What are your most important values?
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Curiosity
