Jun Takita, born in 1966 in Tokyo, graduated in 1988 from Nihon University, majoring in arts. He received a Masters from Paris Ecole National d’Art in 1992, having received a scholarship from the French government.

He draws heavily from concepts of traditional gardens and their careful and respected arts. Each of his works immerses the audience in the process clocked by the cyclical rhythms of biological and ecological phenomena. Life and death are simultaneously presented and aesthetically represented in the artist’s procedural work around the relationship between man and nature in the era of biotechnology.
He collaborates with numerous scientific teams as the Centre for Plant sciences at the University of Leeds (UK), Plant Biotechnology of Faculty of Biology University of Freiburg (DE), CNRS - Université Paris-Sud, MRI Medical and Multi-Methodes(FR), and the Royal Observatory of Belgium Seismology-Gravimetry (BE).

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Bamboo ear (2006)


Bamboo, solar powered electronic amplification system, speakers, metal pipe.



This project consists of creating a sound instrument in bamboo to amplify children’s voices.

Bamboo canes are held between two vertical metallic grids (see diagram 1 for the structure) so that the mass of horizontal bamboo canes forms the shape of a giant human ear in relief (approximately 4m high). 

A metal pipe through which kids can shout serves as the auditory conduit. It contains microphones that send sound signals to an amplifier powered by solar panels. 

Voices are transmitted to small speakers placed in each cane of bamboo. These amplify again, bamboo itself being a natural amplifier, before the voice is finally broadcast behind the ear. 

This toy allows the child to dominate the space around him with the strength of his voice mimicking certain animals that, by their call, affirm and extend their territory. 

Voice amplification diagram

Diagram 1


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