Meet the artist that shot a bouquet of flowers 30,000 meters into space

Georgia McCafferty, CNN and Yoko Wakatsuki, CNN
5 minute read
Updated 9:51 PM EST, Mon December 5, 2016
Japanese artist Makoto Azuma uses nature -- from flowers to fungi and bonsai -- to create unique "living art". Trained as a florist, Azuma says he is both a florist and an artist.
Exobiotanica - Botanical Space Flight, 2014 —
Japanese artist Makoto Azuma uses nature -- from flowers to fungi and bonsai -- to create unique "living art". Trained as a florist, Azuma says he is both a florist and an artist.
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
In Exobiotanica, Azuma sent a pine bonsai and a mother's day bouquet into space and photographed them suspended against the earth. "Making just an art object was not a goal at all," says Azuma. "I thought I could make more beautiful flower art in the world of minus 60 degree Celsius."
Exobiotanica - Botanical Space Flight, 2014 —
In Exobiotanica, Azuma sent a pine bonsai and a mother's day bouquet into space and photographed them suspended against the earth. "Making just an art object was not a goal at all," says Azuma. "I thought I could make more beautiful flower art in the world of minus 60 degree Celsius."
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
"Originally Flowers exist in the nature in a way they should be. But I always thought that flowers shine even more or strike you with their beauty deeper in our minds when I stripped them out of their natural environment," says Azuma.
'Shiki1 x Sandstone' from Shiki: Landscape and Beyond, 2015 —
"Originally Flowers exist in the nature in a way they should be. But I always thought that flowers shine even more or strike you with their beauty deeper in our minds when I stripped them out of their natural environment," says Azuma.
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
Azuma is presently experimenting with making art with flowers in the deep sea. "The time needed for creation depends on the size of the work, but we cannot take tens of hours to work on flowers," explains Azuma of his work. "We need to build detailed plans and processes and create a piece in one go. I would not take more than 2-3 hours even for the biggest art work."
'Shiki1 x Glacier' from Shiki: Landscape and Beyond, 2015 —
Azuma is presently experimenting with making art with flowers in the deep sea. "The time needed for creation depends on the size of the work, but we cannot take tens of hours to work on flowers," explains Azuma of his work. "We need to build detailed plans and processes and create a piece in one go. I would not take more than 2-3 hours even for the biggest art work."
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
The artist works closely with a number of high-end fashion brands. "Fashion moves faster by absorbing the changes in society, much faster than flower culture does. It is very important to depict the mood of the current society and I learn to diversify my art work (this way)," he says.
FENDI and Azuma Makoto, 2015 —
The artist works closely with a number of high-end fashion brands. "Fashion moves faster by absorbing the changes in society, much faster than flower culture does. It is very important to depict the mood of the current society and I learn to diversify my art work (this way)," he says.
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
"Flowers come close to human feelings, but the human also needs to get close to flowers," says Azuma. "Flowers have been attracting human beings for a long time and that has never changed. The culture of mourning with flowers existed even before the language was established."
'Tsuge' from Leaf Man, 2015 —
"Flowers come close to human feelings, but the human also needs to get close to flowers," says Azuma. "Flowers have been attracting human beings for a long time and that has never changed. The culture of mourning with flowers existed even before the language was established."
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
"I do not care much what others say about me. When I try something new, there are many comments made. I hope that my work will change people's view of the flower and its beauty," says Azuma.
Botanical Installation 'Palm Tree x Algiers' —
"I do not care much what others say about me. When I try something new, there are many comments made. I hope that my work will change people's view of the flower and its beauty," says Azuma.
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
Azuma began to experiment with burning flowers for art following a death in his family, something he described as "a difficult work."
Burning Flowers, 2016 —
Azuma began to experiment with burning flowers for art following a death in his family, something he described as "a difficult work."
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
"I have been interested in what kind of expression flowers show when they burn down to nothing for a long time," says Azuma. "I prepared flowers that were about to wither, because they won't burn otherwise, but they still look beautiful at that stage."
Burning Flowers, 2016 —
"I have been interested in what kind of expression flowers show when they burn down to nothing for a long time," says Azuma. "I prepared flowers that were about to wither, because they won't burn otherwise, but they still look beautiful at that stage."
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
Azuma works closely with Japanese photographer Shunsuke Shiinoki, who is an old friend of his from high school and now his business partner.
Box Flowers, 2015 —
Azuma works closely with Japanese photographer Shunsuke Shiinoki, who is an old friend of his from high school and now his business partner.
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
"Only he (Shunsuke Shiinoki) can make a photograph of my art work because...flower art is very special, slicing out the beauty of a moment," says Azuma. "His photo is not a loyal depiction of my work, but it empowers my work. That's because he himself is florist, a flower expert. He knows flowers best."
Box Flowers, 2015 —
"Only he (Shunsuke Shiinoki) can make a photograph of my art work because...flower art is very special, slicing out the beauty of a moment," says Azuma. "His photo is not a loyal depiction of my work, but it empowers my work. That's because he himself is florist, a flower expert. He knows flowers best."
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
"I use flowers that are living. If I use their life to create a piece, I would like to create a work that should surprise the flower themselves, or the people who see them. I am an entertainer who uses flowers," says Azuma of his art.
PETAL BOX, 2015 —
"I use flowers that are living. If I use their life to create a piece, I would like to create a work that should surprise the flower themselves, or the people who see them. I am an entertainer who uses flowers," says Azuma of his art.
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
Azuma has an underground florist shop in Tokyo, called "Jardin des Fleurs", that he says is "like a wine cellar." The temperature, light and humidity are all carefully controlled to ensure the flowers are shown at their best.
Drop Time installation, 2016 —
Azuma has an underground florist shop in Tokyo, called "Jardin des Fleurs", that he says is "like a wine cellar." The temperature, light and humidity are all carefully controlled to ensure the flowers are shown at their best.
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
"I think my mission as flower artist is to create something new out of flowers by adding our artificial inputs, or to give flowers new life in totally new situation. I believe that's what my work is about and that's what I must do," says Azuma.
Iced Flowers installation, 2015 —
"I think my mission as flower artist is to create something new out of flowers by adding our artificial inputs, or to give flowers new life in totally new situation. I believe that's what my work is about and that's what I must do," says Azuma.
Courtesy Azuma Makoto
"Expression using plants is not something that is expected to last long. It is the art of something that withers and disappears at the end...and that is ephemeral beauty that the art of flower and plants express," says Azuma. "Having said that, we have the technology now to photograph it, film it or fixate it in acrylic cube."
Frozen Pine, 2011 —
"Expression using plants is not something that is expected to last long. It is the art of something that withers and disappears at the end...and that is ephemeral beauty that the art of flower and plants express," says Azuma. "Having said that, we have the technology now to photograph it, film it or fixate it in acrylic cube."
KRISTOF VRANCKEN/Courtesy Azuma Makoto
Makoto Azuma fuses nature and technology to create "living art"

Story highlights

Japanese artist Makoto Azuma fuses flowers and fungi with metals and technology to create unique artworks

Azuma tells CNN Style about his ongoing quest to find new beauty in flowers and why he sent a bonsai into space

Tokyo, Japan CNN  — 

From flowers locked in ice to space-age pine trees, Japanese artist Makoto Azuma has built a career from a “new genre of art” that blends plants with artificial mediums to strikingly beautiful effect.

A florist by training, the Tokyo-based Azuma creates what he describes as “living art” – ecosystems using fish and bonsai, bicycles covered in astroturf and spectacular fungi dipped in gold, platinum and copper.

For one of his best known series, “Exobiotanica”, Azuma sent a 50-year-old Japanese white pine bonsai and an extravagant mother’s day bouquet 30,000 meters into the atmosphere and photographed his unusual satellites suspended against the edge of the earth.

“Many misunderstand me as a contemporary artist, or drawer, or sculptor, he says. “But I create living art. I am creating a totally new way of expression.”

CNN Style spoke to Azuma about the inspiration behind his work, his relationship with flowers and the technical challenges of transforming life into art.

Do you see yourself as an artist or a florist?

I think I am a florist to begin with. But I create my art work in order to find out new value and potential in flowers. So I am a florist as well as an artist. Both are important for me.

Iced Flowers installation, 2015
Iced Flowers installation, 2015
Courtesy Azuma Makoto

What was your first memory of flowers or plants when you were a child?

I grew up in the countryside, in a place called Fukuoka on the island of Kyushu (Japan’s third largest island, southwest of the main island of Honshu). My house had a large garden, surrounded by rich nature. Every morning my mother cut flowers from the garden and put arrangements at the house entrance. I was very close with nature growing up. 

When did you realize you wanted to work with natural materials to create art?

While I was running a flower shop, putting together bouquets and decoration, I thought I could find a new type of flower by applying a new expression on the flowers themselves. Besides merely making bouquets as presents or table top decoration, I thought it would be possible to capture the beauty in a photograph or video while the flower is changing its shape. It is like slicing out a moment for keeping the beauty eternal.

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What is it about this medium that attracts you more than other art forms?

I believe flowers are the best art creation of nature. A human being can never make flowers. A flowers’ life is short but I scoop up the beauty of them by fixating it through various methods or letting them wither. The most attractive part of a flower is that it shows a life being withered and lost in shape, but revived again in a new shape.

What do you want to express most through flowers?

I would like to change the shape of flowers in a way no one has ever imagined before, or put the flower in an extreme environment. Sending flowers into space, or putting them in the deep sea – which I am doing now. What kind of expression do flowers show in such an environment? I embrace the quest through the experimental methods I use.

Azuma is presently experimenting with making art with flowers in the deep sea.
Azuma is presently experimenting with making art with flowers in the deep sea.
Courtesy Azuma Makoto

What are some of the main challenges of working with flowers?

it is a race against time. They say flowers age 10 years in one day. If I take three days for production, I would lose much of what I wanted to show. I must prepare fully and have a clear final vision in mind before starting the work. Flowers do not wait for humans.

It took you around six months to prepare for Exobiotanica, one of your most extreme and perhaps best-known projects. Can you tell us a bit about this work?

(Creating) Exobiotanica was a fight against a temperature of minus 60 degree Celsius (-76 degrees Fahrenheit). It is more to show the flowers’ beauty, even in a frozen state or even when they are shattered, rather than how to bloom beautifully. It (the art) went into space, so the body had to be chunky and the structure well cemented. Making just an art object was not a goal at all. I needed to choose flowers that can complete to form a good contrast in space. The piece also needed to have movement and strength. 

Azuma sent a bonsai and a bouquet into space to create "Exobiotanica"
Azuma sent a bonsai and a bouquet into space to create "Exobiotanica"
Courtesy Azuma Makoto

Which of your other past projects do you consider to be your most ambitious?

I have no work that I can call ambitious. Since last month, we are opening up flower shops titled “hope” everywhere in the world using guerrilla tactics, just giving flowers to the people. We did it in Congo, then Algeria. The world is filled with conflict nowadays, smelling of gun power everywhere. We wonder what we can do with flowers for the world, not politically, but more simply. This is probably not so ambitious, but something that we want to continue for long time, in a steady, small scale.

Are there other artists that you look to or take inspiration from?

I do not look to any particular person as I did not start flower art after being influenced by someone. It is flowers and nature that inspires me. Flowers are indispensable…they are something very close to me all the time.

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You have created a very unique studio in Tokyo, Jardin des Fleurs – can you tell us about it?

My shop is located underground and, simply put, is like a wine cellar. The temperature is kept on the same level year round so that the flowers bloom in the best condition. We also use special LED lights to show the flowers at their best.

Flowers do not bloom beautifully under full sun light so we manage an intricate balance of light, temperature and humidity and add a bit of artificial lighting so that the flowers perform at their best. 

Azuma's Tokyo flower shop is located underground
Azuma's Tokyo flower shop is located underground
Courtesy Azuma Makoto

What is the most surprising thing you have learned about plants and flowers to date?

Flowers have a very strong existence. A human needs flowers and plants to live, but flowers and plants do not need humans. They are so strong.

This interview has been edited for clarity.