Meiro Koizumi is an artist who explores the forces of emotions, technology and shared memories in his work. He highlights how power systems shape people as well as their restriction and norms and the personal struggle this brings forth. These power systems can be cultural, political or technological. His work often explores how systems can be influenced and manipulated.

In Koizumi's work, the body is central as an object of tension and manipulation. The work often refers to Japanese culture, in which shame and indoctrination lead to taboos. In his work, we see people who cannot escape historical traumas and feelings of guilt, and who seem to be stuck in a kind of hybrid moment between the present and the past.

In his work, he also explores how technological developments influence our thinking about what life is. Life no longer distinguishes itself so sharply from technology. AI seems increasingly lifelike, but is essentially simply a language machine focused on data processing and pattern recognition. Biotechnology also complicates our understanding of what life is. A kind of intermediate area is emerging, a grey zone between living organisms and technology.

The work Good Machine Bad Machine (2022-2024) raises questions about the extent to which humans themselves can be seen as machines. It shows the position of the individual in relation to the collective mass, authoritarian regimes and the manipulative power of language.

The installation shows three young Japanese people who, under hypnosis, are forced to speak out or, conversely, to remain silent. Despite the palpable tension and discomfort this causes, the voices adapt to the commands. In the background, we see a collage of image fragments of collective and national moments from public life in Tokyo that Koizumi has collected since the earthquake in 2011, such as the Olympic Games in 2021 and the mourning for the assassinated President Abe in 2022.