© Inoue & Fairnie 2019

KATEI is an international film collaboration between Japanese design researcher Dr Shiro Inoue and British brain scientist/artist Dr Jake Fairnie.

KATEI, which literally means “process” in Japanese, shows the course of the human body as it breaks down into its constituent parts, from muscle to bone to dust. Using the psychological principles of global precedence and Navon figures to visualize the process, evolving body structures comprise of letters that gradually synthesize with their natural grapheme environment.

The concept of KATEI resonates with the Japanese classical philosophy about nature in that every entity in the universe is ephemeral.

The film is accompanied by sound recordings that were sent between Tokyo and London.