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AS ABOVE, SO BELOW is a mixed media installation named after the Emerald Tablet, a cryptic alchemical text articulating the principle of correspondence between different planes of existence. The work contemplates the invisible threads that bind the cosmos, echoing the axiom that the microcosm mirrors the macrocosm. Juxtaposed landscape visuals from across the world fold distant geographies into a single shared space, dissolving the illusion of separation.

 

The installation draws on the Buddhist concept of Interbeing, articulated by Zen master Thích Nhất Hạnh. Interbeing reveals that nothing exists in isolation: a leaf contains the rain, the sun, the soil, the wind, and even the logger; all are part of a vast, interdependent web. Each breath connects us to the forest; every drop of rain carries memories from afar. The material world that speaks to our senses is thus a living fabric of mutual presence. To touch one element is to touch the whole — a notion that resonates with Quantum Entanglement, where distant particles remain mysteriously connected beyond space and time.

 

Black is a color that rarely exists as a true pigment in the natural world and rather defines absence. Thus, black envelops the whole space, creating a liminal threshold, akin to passing beneath a Torii gate: leaving the material world behind and entering a realm where the boundaries between the inner and outer, near and far, tangible and intangible, dissolve. Scattered leaves, subtle wind, natural scents, and layered imagery invite the viewer to enter this in-between space  - where the seen and unseen converge, and where the fabric of connection reveals itself.

 

As Above, So Below aims to act as a portal  - a sensory threshold inviting us to step into the liminal, to experience the subtle binding of all things, to see beyond the veil of separateness and recognize the deep, dynamic web of relations that sustain life  - and remember our place in this whole.
 

 

MATERIALS 

 

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW is a mixed media installation composed of dried tree branches and leaves from Sakurai City, in Nara Prefecture, Japan. The tree parts used in the installation belong to the now-empty garden, in front of the exhibition space, which was a signature element of the previous HANARART festivals. The tree had to be cut due to safety risks in the neighbourhood earlier in year 2025. The branches of the tree have been saved, with the demand of the artist, to create this liminal space, commemorating the soul of the tree. 

 

The video artwork is a juxtaposition of visuals from from Argentina (Patagonia National Park), Brazil (Praia do Moçambique), Chile (Coyhaique), Georgia (Mtirala National Park), Japan (Meiji Jingu Gyoen, Meiji no Mori Takao Quasi-National Park), Peru (Amazon Rainforest), Turkey (Marmara Sea), Vietnam (Lan Ha National Park).

 

Accompanying audio elements are composed of nature recordings and digital audio works, inspired by the dreamscape of the visuals.

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(The installation is %1oo composed of repurposed plant parts and no living entity has been harmed during the production process.)

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Installation Design, Curation & Video Art by Deniz Sak

Sound Design & Sound Engineering by DZSKN

 

Filming Locations: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Georgia, Japan, Peru, Turkey and Vietnam

Country of Production: Japan
 

October, 2o25

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(This mixed media installation has been commissioned by the HANARART 2025 Nara Contemporary Art Festival in Japan)

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