Goro Murayama is an artist who lived and works at Tokyo. Ph.D. in fine art. 2025- University of Tokyo, Project Researcher.

Murayama, who studied painting, explores the temporality and emergence of human acts of creation (poiesis) within the theoretical frameworks of biological systems and the philosophy of science. As seen in his representative series Woven Paintings, Murayama expresses the processes and patterns of self-organization through his drawings and paintings. In recent years, Murayama has extended his artistic endeavors by collaborating with scientists on AI pattern recognition and generation. These collaborations aim to deepen human understanding of and sensitivity towards artificial intelligence.

Can you tell us about your background and how you started your artistic journey?

I was born in 1983 in a suburb of Tokyo. My grandfather had a PhD in engineering and my father had a PhD in chemistry, so my family background was in physics and chemistry, but I wanted to be an artist. I did not particularly want to be an artist from an early age, but rather when I was in high school. I was (and still am) a fan of a British musician named Aphex Twin, who came to Japan to perform as a DJ. When I saw his overwhelming performance, I was shocked and awakened to the fact that I wanted to start some expressive activity. The first form of expression I chose at that time was painting, simply because I was good at it, and from there I began to explore painting expression that included musical temporality. I then enrolled in an art college in Tokyo, where I pursued creative research and also studied the latest scientific philosophy. This, combined with the scientific background of my birth, gave birth to my early works, “Textile Paintings”. As luck would have it, my work caught the eye of Yuko Hasegawa, then chief curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, at a graduation exhibition. It was accepted into the museum’s collection, opening the way for my debut as an artist.

How do you stay inspired and motivated to create new work?

Since the style of my work often involves the accumulation of a vast number of acts, I am always able to conceive of the next work during that long production period. My policy has been to present a new work at each new exhibition. In fact, I sometimes organize my own exhibitions to create new works. When I present my work in an exhibition, I have a specific person in mind whom I would like to show my work. It does not necessarily have to be an existing person; it can be a great thinker in history. For example, my first solo exhibition, “The re-enchantment of painting system” (2010), began with a quoted text by Gregory Bateson, a thinker I admire. I wondered what he would have said to me if he were still alive, and I created the exhibition as an answer to his thoughts. History provides us with endless inspiration and motivation. The latest science and technology is also a great source of inspiration. In particular, the development of AI in recent years has been remarkable, and in response to this, I have been continuously developing my artistic practice about AI since 2015. These contemporary intellectual sources are also a great source of inspiration and motivation.

How has your artistic style evolved over time?

My work is based on the principles of nature and theories of life systems and self-organization, so it has developed in a way that simulates evolution. My early representative work, “Textile Painting,” is a hand-woven canvas made of hemp, on which I draw, weave, and weave again, and the work grows and repeats itself. The textile has a botanical, branched structure. In the beginning, the support was flat, with the flatness of the painting in mind. However, like a mutation in evolution, an error in weaving led to the emergence of multi-layered forms, which gradually became three-dimensional. My creative research up to that point is summarized in my doctoral dissertation “Emergence Painting” [Tokyo University of the Arts] written in 2014.

Around 2015, I also began my current project on AI, attempting to contrast human production (poiesis), which I had been exploring, with the functions of AI. There are four projects, including AI cognitive systems such as face/gait recognition and human perception and body, protein structure prediction calculations and textile paintings, and learning generative AI using time-series image data from Murayama drawings.

A thread that runs through my 15 years of creative research to date is the temporality of the human act of creation (poiesis). I believe that creativity is built into the process. I began by simulating the nature of this process using various theories of self-organization. In contrast to AI, I have also developed into an attempt to elucidate the process of creation, which includes anticipation and emergence.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

What excites me most is probably the ability to commit to different people, histories, and cultures across periods and cultural spheres. I believe that this interview is just one part of that. To that end, I would like to capture creativity on a larger scale, not within the narrow paradigm of art history, but by reconnecting science, philosophy, and art, and by defining the value of one’s own art in the context of anthropology. The latest work to be presented at Setouchi Triennale 2025 is an actual cave mural. I hope to open a commitment with all people and cultures of the past, present, and future.

In what ways do you think the art world has changed since you started your career?

It was 2009 when I made my debut as an artist. Shortly before that, in 2008, the Lehman Shock devastated the art market, and in 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake struck. My departure as an artist was rough, but after that, there was a movement in Japan to hold art festivals in various regions. Representative of these were the “Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale” (2000-) and the “Setouchi Triennale” (2010-), in which I would later participate. I think the major turning point came after the pre-Corona period, with the “Aichi Triennale” in 2019 and “Documenta” in 2022. Since that time, identity politics and its conflicts have always been and continue to be the subject matter and management issues of the exhibitions. A situation in which “who does it” is as important as or more important than the content of the work has swept the art scene. I feel that I want to see beyond this situation and what can be done to build new collaborations and relationships that are not limited by one’s roots or identity. I am in the process of developing works of art, workshops, and lectures at universities based on the act of “drawing,” which is found not only in painting but also in extremely diverse modes of expression and culture.

What advice would you give to emerging artists trying to establish themselves?

I am still in the middle of my journey, but I have a feeling that I have been an artist for 15 years. I feel that the world continues to move. If we forget this and position and value our work narrowly and trivially, there is a danger that our work will have a narrow cultural range and a short shelf life. Specifically, I think it is necessary to work on themes and projects that can be developed with development potential for about 10 years.

I also feel that in recent years, even though I am in my 40s, my physical production skills are still improving. In a project to create drawing time-series data for AI to learn, I made over 600 drawings over a year, documenting the entire process. This was of course significant as a work of art, but it was also a training ground for me. I think we all have training that we were given and practiced when we were young, but artists who have reached mid-career will have to design and grow their training.

I think it is quite important to have a sense of balance between carefully carrying out the work in front of you and taking charge of your activities from a medium- to long-term perspective.

Text & photo courtesy of Goro Murayama

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