Humans didn’t always exist, nor will we exist forever. Which is why we must invent.
— From Dumb Type’s S/N (1994)

My first encounter with S/N came when I was 18 years old. I remember the day well. I was waiting, as always, at Shibuya Station to catch a bus to school, but I just didn’t feel like going that day. I left the line of students and jumped on an empty bus that was waiting nearby.

Being a serious student, I had never done anything like that before. I sat right at the back, on the seats that are slightly higher than the others, and waited for the bus to depart while gazing out of the window with my chin in my hand. I knew the bus would get me to NTT InterCommunication Center, where an exhibition was taking place. For some reason, I decided to go on that day. The exhibition included a screening of S/N, which is how I came to see this work whose influence I continue to feel to the present.