PROFILE
Born in 1963 in Detroit, USA. He is a pioneer of "Detroit Techno," a genre that can be considered the origin of today's electronic music. Based in Miami and Paris, he has released numerous albums on the Axis record label, which he established in 1992. As a DJ, he performs nearly 100 events a year around the world, and has also collaborated and produced works in a wide range of genres, including modern art, fashion, symphony orchestras, jazz fusion, and Afro-beat.
COSMIC LAB, a creative team that continues to expand the boundaries of visual expression, and Jeff Mills will present a live audio-visual performance. As a musician fascinated by science fiction films, he felt the urge to create his own musical works for film and video, and in 2000 he started the "CINE-MIX" project. As the culmination of this project, "THE TRIP" was presented at Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo in 2016. TRIP" is one of the culmination of the project, which was presented at Hamarikyu Asahi Hall in Tokyo in 2016. This time, "THE TRIP - Enter The Black Hole-" was created as an evolved version of "THE TRIP" with the theme of a black hole.
An opportunity to expand and extend the imagination , through space travel.
The Trip - Enter The Black Hole - is a performance about a black hole. Could you tell us about the process of working on this theme?
For all the facts that humanity has uncovered about the universe from the past to the present, there are still many things that we do not understand. These include things that have not been confirmed to exist at this point in time, but we can infer that such things probably exist. It is these events that interest me.
For what we cannot know or understand, we can only supplement our knowledge through our imagination. Nevertheless, the further away from the earth we are, the more we will encounter the unknown. What we will need at that time, I believe, is imagination.
THE TRIP" deals with space travel as a theme, and we want to create opportunities for people to expand and extend their imagination through such travel.
I was told that the Ventablack round screen used at the stage is a substance that absorbs up to 99.965% of visible light. I actually had a chance to see it up close, and since it does not reflect light, it is impossible to capture the depth of the image, and I felt as if I was really being sucked in, and I was a bit intimidated. Jeff, what feelings or emotions do you experience when you are confronted with the event or concept of a black hole?
When I think about the existence of a black hole, I realize how fortunate we are to be living our lives as we do, and at the same time, I am made aware of the finite nature of time. If something were to happen to the universe, a black hole could suck everything in. . So we feel that we are spending very precious time now.
Black holes may be distant to us, but they are deeply connected to us humans. Or rather, the entire universe is linked to us. If there is a hypothesis that black holes are the root of all events, then there must be black holes at the end of human evolution.
. The environment in Detroit fostered something like imagination.
Black music has a close relationship with Afro-futurism (the Afro-American conception of the universe).
I'm not interested in Afro-futurism , I'm interested in futurism itself. I feel respect and awe for what lies beyond time. It is not so much a yearning for space, but rather the possibility of it being realized as more and more people act with the same goal in mind. For example, humans must have always had the desire to fly. As a result, airplanes were born, and now there are even spaceships and satellites.
I would like to be a part of such a trend. Problems and initiatives that I cannot solve on my own can be solved with the help of many people. The efforts of many people will make various things possible, and that is the purpose of "THE TRIP" this time. TRIP" has such a purpose. There may be a parallel world, a reality different from the one we are living in now. The Black Hole is a concept that evokes such ideas, and I wanted everyone to feel and think about it through this performance.
Jeff, you express yourself through "techno" as a medium for such imagination. I feel that techno, which was born in Detroit, has a kind of cosmic view. For example, I think it is easier to feel the universe when listening to Detroit techno than when listening to Chicago house.
Detroit is a smaller city than Chicago. . Naturally, it has a smaller population and is smaller in size. . but because of that, people are close to each other, and close relationships are built in socializing situations. Our generation grew up watching science fiction comics and Pulp Fiction. We were very much influenced by such things, and I think it gave us a solid foundation for conceptualizing things and using our imagination. I think this is reflected in my music as well.
It is very interesting to see the influence of science fiction comics and pulp fiction. It seems that the imagination you gained there was purely cultivated in Detroit.
Detroit is on the border with Canada, and I think the environment of being on the edge of the country had a lot to do with it. There has always been a sense that we are on the edge, not in the center. Detroit is famous for its automotive industry, but there is always new technology there, and when I was a child, I would walk down the street and see cars that were still in the process of being developed driving beside me. . I think there was an indirect effect of a sense that we were on a testing ground.
However, it was by no means an international city, and I had no contact with foreigners. I communicated with my friends through the medium of limited information, e.g., television, movies, and comics. Many families earned their wages through factory labor, and everyone lived a similar life. . I think that kind of environment nurtured my imagination.
Nowadays, with the spread of the Internet and social networking sites, it is easy to connect with people and find answers to questions. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to this, but how do you see these times?
. Indeed, I believe that people living today are not making the most of their inherent potential. However, I believe that we are in a period of transition. We use our smartphones as a recreational and communication tool, and I believe that in time, when a major problem arises, such tools will lead us to a solution. We are entering an era in which AI can do what humans cannot do, and I imagine that if this accelerates in the future, there will come a time when AI will communicate with each other to find solutions.
