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A look at communication design from the position of the interface
The theme of this exhibition, "the future of the interface," was chosen to reflect the particular cultural diverseness of today's information society. On display are a variety of works from the fields of film, photography, animation, sound, architectural sculpture, product design and others, selected based on the principles of "art + physical expression" as an original discipline pioneered by YCAM. A total of eight artists/units from Japan, America, Netherlands, and Spain present their newest pieces of art and design - including commissioned works - at several points across the venue.

Connections established through media and the human body

The term "interface" is generally used to refer to a device that a person uses for navigating a computer. The keyboard, for example, connects the user's thoughts with the computer, functioning as a writing tool instead of a pen, but from a different point of view, one can also interpret it as an instrument that expands the abilities of the human body by way of the act of writing. Different ideas and systems are interlinked through the existence of an "inter-face", and the resulting communication makes us aware of new body sensations and images we aren't normally conscious of, while highlighting the connections between body and mind. By approaching the dynamic relationship of the body and its perceptions from the viewpoint of interface-based perceptive affordance, this exhibition aims to showcase the variety of spatial setups effected by the artworks on display. Visitors are invited to experience visually, acoustically and tactually some truly unique ideas for interfaces connecting media technology and the human body. 


An exhibition to design the relationship between artworks and audiences

"Minimum Interface" tackles the subject matter with the aim to encourage a redefinition of the relationship between exhibit and audience, and to review the role of an art center. Regarding the navigation plan for the exhibition as a meta-interface for the works on display, the event proposes an original interpretation of the presence and flow of information at the venue from this perspective. The show adopts a unique interface/navigation tool for the entire exhibition space, designed by the partaking members of Leading Edge Design, as an attempt to give visitors an opportunity to discover and unlock new channels of sensation and active conception.


＜Artists＞
Sergi Jordà, Martin Kaltenbrunner, Günter Geiger, Marcos Alonso
  (Music Technology Group,Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain) [Spain]
reacTable
The reacTable has been receiving international attention since it was used on stage during the "Volta" concert tour of the renowned singer Björk. At this exhibition, the instrument is introduced in the form of a hands-on installation that allows visitors to get in touch and play with it. The player of this novel kind of electronic musical instrument can manipulate sounds and its visual representations by moving or turning multiple objects on
an illuminated round tabletop. Sonic and eventually musical structures are created based on the objects' orientation, distance and the relationship between them. The instrument can be played by two or more
persons at once, while the spectators can monitor the other's performance and tangible manipuation of the sound elements, in order to study and acquire performance skills intuitively.


reacTable (2003-2006) photo: Xavier Sivecas


Daan Roosegaarde  [Netherlands]
new work (commissioned by YCAM)
Liquid Space 6.0
This organically configured architectural object is slightly bigger that a human body.
When a visitor approaches the object, sensors measure the position and distance from the object, and trigger an expansion or contraction of the three-armed structure, comparable to an underwater creature. In addition, LEDs integrated in the arms emit differently colored lights, while sound coming from the object's body change accordingly. The visitor can observe the transformations of the large object's shape and spatial construction that take place when he approaches or walks through it.


Liquid Space 6.0 by Studio Roosegaarde



Akihiro Kubota  [Japan]
new work (commissioned by YCAM)
Pureφ- Abstract Painterly Interface
A dynamic pictorial image is projected onto a large screen as an abstract interface. Without using diagramatic graphical user interfaces (GUI) as symbols or icons, the random dot image that looks like mere noise when motionless is mixtured through optical flows. With this new piece, the artist explores minimal interface affordance by stimulating direct perceptional interaction out of rapidly transforming textures.





LEADING EDGE DESIGN  [Japan]
Floating Compass
LEADING EDGE DESIGN have been focusing on future-oriented product design while consciously integrating aspects of human physicality and the way we relate to objects around us. This time the group propose a new interface for the navigation of the entire exhibition space. The display that lacks conventional explanatory elements is expected to unlock new sensual and intellectual channels in the visitor. Also exhibited is a work titled "Floating Compass", based on superhydrophobic technology to convey through a water strider motif the delicate sensation of "touching" a water surface.


Floating Compass (2007)　photo: Yukio Shimizu



Zachary Lieberman, Theodore Watson  [USA]
new work (commissioned by YCAM)
Card play
This work is based around an interface in the form of a card game - a magician's tool for catapulting aspects of chance and destiny into the realm of the unreal. The installation invites visitors to become illusionists and perform all kinds of magic tricks. Turning over playing cards switches on music or introduces a story. The American leading program developers and media artists have unveiled another fun piece for people of all ages to enjoy.





SHINCHIKA  [Japan]
new work (commissioned by YCAM)
H2Orz
Shinchika extract a variety of designs from Japanese subculture between the 1980s and today, and string them together to unique animated films combining elements of illustration and 3D computer graphics. This time they present a sculptural installation of objects that were plastically modeled after blueprints based on data from their own animations. Here the visuals as such integrate different methods and forms of spatial representation, to form interfaces depicting parts of reality.


JSCO (2008)



Chris Sugrue  [USA]
Delicate Boundaries
Small bugs are wriggling on a computer screen. When a visitor touches the screen, the bugs gather at that contact point, jump out of the computer and onto the visitorﾕs hand, and crawl up his arm. The artist employs dexterously programmed sensing technology to explore the boundary that separates/connects virtual existences with physical bodies in the real world.


Delicate Boundaries (2007)



Shunsuke Takawo  [Japan]
new version
Depth of the Field - Processing Photography Blink Series
Humans receive visual information while involuntarily opening and shutting their eyelids. This photographic installation works with sensors that were programmed to detect the blinking of a human's eyes, using the eyelid as an interface to manipulate the speed of a sequence of projected photographs. The images are shown on monitors of two different sizes, enabling the visitor to compare how the visual perception and experience of the photographs changes according to varying affordance and the amount of information perceivable on the monitor.


Processing Photography (2008)




Organizer: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
Co-sponsor：Agency for Cultural Affairs  Support: Yamaguchi City, The Board of Education of Yamaguchi City
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]
Graphic Design: good design company
Navigation Design: LEADING EDGE DESIGN
Project Curato: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)