Zoo as Zoo on Poetry and Meaningful Connection in the Digital Age

Google 'Zoo as Zoo' now and there's a large chance you won't be feeling creatively inspired. After all, zoos are sweet but they don't exactly have a reputation for inspiring the arts. For Japanese-American artist, Ami Sueki, this is all part of the master plan, whose very own platform Zoo as Zoo - founded in 2016 and has nothing to do with zoos in the traditional sense - provides not only creative inspiration for like-minded individuals but a total redesign of what's creatively possible in the 21st century. The platform's website alone looks like it's from another time (far in the future) as visitors are transported into the metaverse where they can find themselves immersed in any one of Zoo's published projects - it's almost like you're right in the room with them with nothing but a digital pixelated screen that stands in your way. Bowled over by the platform's future-facing vision that embraces tomorrow's world, we sat down with Sueki herself to find out more about her background in neuroscience and industrial design helped kickstart it all.

SHOWstudio: What is Zoo as Zoo? 

Ami Sueki: I like to say that Zoo as Zoo is a multidisciplinary creative studio that isn't armed with a set focus. Instead, we practice in a diverse range of mediums and markets by integrating emotional storytelling and system-led thinking, navigating across multiple media landscapes by blending art, technology, music, fashion and culture. I see Zoo operating more like an 'art band' and by this, I mean every member plays a pivotal role in 'shaping the sound' of each project and so the process becomes the outcome, like a jam session. I know this sounds abstract but that is completely intentional as it leaves room for discovery through chaos. By surrendering each path to curiosity and believing in the possibility of the undefined, Zoo as Zoo continues to question its purpose in culture.

SHOWstudio: What is the meaning behind the name Zoo as Zoo?

AS: The name represents the unique collision of different cultures and disciplines within our own team and wider network. Like a Zoo, it’s a place where a lion, a polar bear, and a parrot coexist and create an experience together. We view unusual tension and challenges as inspiring and so believe It’s important to leave room to embrace chaos and find discovery in our processes. Zoo strives to become a place where we can become our true selves and discover our most honest desires.

SHOWstudio: On the about page of your website, it says, ‘Zoo as Zoo wants to set new rules, speak our own language, experiment with processes, find beauty in chaos'. Can you explain what you mean by this? How would you describe your creative language and how do you think it sets you apart from other creative digital platforms?

AS: This means we don’t subscribe to a set standard or a status quo, and the work itself is to find our own ways of practice, expression, and defining value. Our means is not to be alienated or set apart necessarily, but is the exercise of constant questioning amongst each other and within each self that will lead the way.

SHOWstudio: What is one of the most exciting projects you’ve worked on so far?

AS: Each project has various meanings and is reflective of each phase and intention. We always challenge ourselves to take on a new perspective, even if it means we must acquire new skills to do so. This means that after every new project's completion, we always think, 'This is the best yet' - we become stronger each time. By this methodology, it's our current projects that we find are the most exciting. These include 41st Day, Experimental Jam 002 and Life is Pain - 360 Dark Comedy Theatre.

SHOWstudio: Considering your background in neuroscience, how do you think science and art intersect? 

AS: It’s more than an intersection, it's a total entanglement in nature. We tend to forcefully want to detangle, dissect, and categorise, but everything is so complex, not to mention beautifully interconnected. People think they're separate, but a small shift of focus in perspective reveals everything.

SHOWstudio: How has your background in neuroscience helped you creatively?

AS: I've enjoyed witnessing myself grow over the years of Zoo. Each year, I feel myself opening up like a flower, more capable of understanding, of empathising, of finding beauty in each and everything around me.
My background in neuroscience, including psychology, ethical studies, and cognitive science, always reminds me that the brain is so complex and makes each person unique. We must understand each person’s reality can be very different from others without blame. I believe this is what makes finding connections special, from my experience, the more brutally honest I am about my deepest desires, the more I find deep, meaningful connections.

SHOWstudio: How do you fuse poetry into your brand? 

AS: Because Zoo is abstract in its ideologies - we keep open to interpretation. We see poetry as the ultimate medium for self-expression because, when verbal, the writer and the reader can both find truth within and can be relative.

SHOWstudio: What do you want from the future for Zoo as Zoo? What’s next?

AS: From the beginning, our 10-year goal was always to build a physical multi-use space in Atlanta. Thanks to our partners, what once was a vision is now becoming a reality and EXIT is planned to open in 2026. Sometimes, I get anxious at how vast the future really is, especially when the nature of my work drives me away from material value and recognition. I am behind Zoo all the way, and I have been since the beginning. I can't wait to see how we grow over the next nine years.