Yuki Anai
CEO / Artist / Engineer
Yuki Anai is the founder and CEO of non-classic and a media artist. Born in Oita, Japan, he holds an MA from Keio University Graduate School of Media Design. While still a student, he launched a digital art team at teamLab and directed live productions for established artists.
In 2016 he founded non-classic, creating large-scale spatial productions such as Yorunoyo (Yokohama), the autumn illumination at Nikko Toshogu Shrine, and Meyameya (Kobe). As an artist he has been invited to Ars Electronica (Austria) and the Athens Digital Art Festival (Greece). In 2026, his new work “Passage of Time” was permanently installed in the atrium of the Oita Prefectural Art Museum (OPAM) to mark the museum’s 10th anniversary.
Artist Statement
People recall their own memories and those of nature by taking in Mother Nature. And to feel nature’s long passage of time will affirm the time they have lived and will live.
Nature is simply nature. Even though it just exists, it has meaning. Its interpretation depends on the person. For example, almost all people have memories that are associated with scenes of nature like falling rain, a summer sunrise, rippling waves, etc. When one sees a similar phenomenon, it works as interactive media. In other words, nature has a message for each of us even though it simply exists. It is a medium. I’m deeply interested in how to memorize the message created by nature’s phenomena.
To feel the passage of time is connecting an affirmation to who we have been, who we are, and who we will become. I believe it is also the only way to confirm one’s existence in a world that changes day by day.