Writing the Eternal Cycle of Life Through Numbers
Writing the Eternal Cycle of Life Through Numbers
Japanese Contemporary Art Master Tatsuo Miyajima’s
First Museum Solo Exhibition in Taiwan
“Human Life as Collective Experience” Opens November 8
at the Asia University Museum of Modern Art
Internationally acclaimed artist Tatsuo Miyajima, celebrated for “writing the philosophy of contemporary time through numbers and light,” stands as one of the most influential figures in Japanese contemporary art today. From the Venice Biennale to Tate Modern, his works are in major collections including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, and M+ in Hong Kong, underscoring his prominent position on the global art stage.
From November 8, 2025, to May 10, 2026, the Asia University Museum of Modern Art (Asia Modern) will present “Tatsuo Miyajima: Human Life as Collective Experience”, the artist’s first-ever solo museum exhibition in Taiwan. The show will feature 13 works spanning 30 years of his career, including two new pieces and five collaborative projects developed with participants in Taiwan. This long-awaited exhibition not only offers Taiwanese audiences a rare opportunity to encounter the artist’s practice up close, but also invites reflection on the interdependence and shared destiny of all living beings.
From Japan to the World — Tatsuo Miyajima
Tatsuo Miyajima is a leading voice in the contemporary art internationally. As a child, he suffered from illness and witnessed the passing of fellow patients. These early experiences instilled in him a profound awareness of life and mortality, which became the foundation of his lifelong artistic exploration into themes of “death and existence.”
Since the 1980s, Miyajima has employed LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and ICs (integrated circuits) as his core media. His use of constantly shifting numbers from 9 to 1, with the deliberate omission of 0, symbolizes the unceasing cycle and continuity of life. From this, he has articulated three enduring creative concepts: “Keep Changing,” “Connect with Everything,” and “Continue Forever.”
Miyajima first gained international attention at the 1988 Venice Biennale, and in 1999, he represented Japan at the Biennale’s national pavilion—becoming one of the few artists to appear on the international stage in his forties. His works have since been exhibited in major museums and biennales around the world. One of his most celebrated works, Sea of Time ’98 was created in collaboration with residents of Naoshima Island. Each of the 125 participants set the pace of their own LED timer, installed in a pool within the century-old Kadoya House in the local fishing village. The softly glowing numbers, reflecting each person’s sense of time, form a quiet constellation of temporal awareness—now regarded as an iconic piece of the Setouchi Triennale.
“Human Life as Collective Experience” — Interdependence Within Shared Destiny
At its heart, Human Life as Collective Experience explores the deep connections among all living beings and the notion that every individual shares a common destiny.
Since the 1990s, Miyajima has actively developed participatory art projects with citizens and children, promoting the idea of “Art in You.” He emphasizes that “Art cannot exist without the viewer. Rather, it is the viewer who gives life to the artistic essence within the work. When everyone participated in the creation or experience of an artwork, the work is enriched and so too is human life itself through that very act.”
Continuing this philosophy, the exhibition at Asia Modern invites Taiwanese participants, including indigenous language teachers, Asia University students, local elders, and elementary school children and teachers from Wufeng- to collaborate on five newly created works that give tangible form to the concept of “collective existence.”
Five Featured Works
- Changing Landscape / Changing Museum
A site-specific project created for Asia Modern, involving 126 Asia University students, 10 museum staff members, and 2 cleaning staff. Participants applied numbers—randomly selected through a roulette spin—onto the museum’s glass façade. As sunlight shifts throughout the day, the interplay of light and numbers forms traces of time reminiscent of a sundial.
- Mutual Ten Worlds
A new large-scale work inspired by the Buddhist concept of “the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds,” expressing the interwoven states of human life. Within a circular structure measuring 5.4 meters in diameter, 216 LEDs flash in different colors and rhythms, symbolizing the boundless transformations of existence.
- Painting of Change – 000
The first and largest work in Miyajima’s Painting of Change series, this interactive installation changes in real time. When visitors roll the dice, the numbers of the painting on the wall shift according to the dice’s outcome, reflecting moments of unpredictability and impermanence that embody the artist’s call to “live in the present.”
- Counter Language Network
Premiering globally, this new work visualizes numbers in 49 written languages from around the world, expressed through distinct colors and dynamic movements—celebrating linguistic and cultural diversity through the shared rhythm of counting.
- Counter Voice Network
A continuation of Miyajima’s long-running series, this new iteration, Counter Voice Network: Taiwan, transforms the museum’s third-floor corridor into an immersive soundscape centered on “the voices of Taiwan.” The work brings together participants of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, including recordings of various people and 15 indigenous language teachers—invited with the assistance of the Indigenous Peoples Cultural Foundation—each performing a countdown in their native tongue, creating a sonic portrait of Taiwan’s living diversity.
Another iteration of this series occupies the gallery 4, where a wall of paper cups—hand-decorated by elders from Wufeng and children and teachers from Tonglin Elementary School—contains 48 countdown recordings from around the world. Through resonance and vibration, the cups produce unique rhythmic sounds that echo the Counter Language Network in a subtle dialogue of sight and sound.
A Dialogue Between Tatsuo Miyajima and Tadao Ando
Opened in 2013, the Asia University Museum of Modern Art is the first architectural project in Taiwan by renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando. “Human Life as Collective Experience” within this distinctive concrete structure establishes a dialogue between Miyajima’s works and Ando’s architecture—creating a space where art, light, structure, and audience encounter one another in harmony. Curated under the leadership of Director Yulin LEE, this exhibition marks both her first major project since assuming directorship and the 12th anniversary of the museum, inaugurating Asia Modern’s new “Contemporary Art Masters Series.”
Illuminating the Passage of Time
“Tatsuo Miyajima: Human Life as Collective Experience” is more than a chance to encounter one of the world’s leading contemporary artists, and offers an invitation to contemplate the coexistence of individual lives within the greater cosmos of all beings. Opening at the end of the year, this exhibition transforms the museum into a poetic meditation on time, as the flickering numbers shimmer between light and shadow—drawing a reflective close to 2025 and ushering in a luminous beginning for 2026.
Press Contact Person: Ming-Jiun TSAI, Deputy Director of Asia Modern
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