This interactive artwork that was produced and unveiled at YCAM returns to Yamaguchi from a journey around the world
Up-and-coming female artist's extensive solo show

Seiko Mikami continues to produce works of art that challenge her contemporaries, while critically observing technologies and the ideas behind them with a focus on "information society and the human body" since the 1980s. In connection with the large-scale solo exhibition that opens in March 2010. Also Seiko Mikami and Sota Ichikawa's "gravicells - gravity and resistance" will be shown once again in a revised version.
This work was produced and subsequently unveiled at YCAM in May 2004, from where it embarked on a journey around the world. Celebrated exhibitions at twelve different locations in eight countries, including Tokyo, Berlin and Torino, solidified the piece's reputation as one representative work of media art. This work provides a space with hypothetical dynamics having the opposing forces of gravity and resistance, through special devices and sensors. Walking freely in the site, audiences are able to feel gravity that they are seldom aware of, resistance to it, and the effects caused by other participants. All movements and changes made by participating audiences are transformed into the movements of sound and geometrical images through special sensors,.whole space develops or changes in this interactive installation.

New creation of media art through the production, exhibition and circulation of original works
YCAM organize original art works on the theme of "art & science" are being conceived while incorporating information technology, and realized and exhibited with the YCAM InterLab production team's technical developments. Aiming to explore the creative potential of media technology, the numerous works of art that were previously created here highlight at once aspects of the human body and media that we are usually not aware of.
One of these achievements, "gravicells" is certainly an epoch-making interactive work that enables the participating audiences to sense the presence of gravity and its effect on the human body. This artwork that anyone can enjoy without background knowledge in media art and computer, it has been set up in twelve cities in eight countries so far, and continues to fascinate people around the world.







World premiere of the revised version

Significant modifications made to enhance the dynamic expression of spatial distortion
The new version of "gravicells" modified and made even more dynamic by the artists with technical support from the YCAM InterLab team. In addition to visuals projected onto the floor, the revised version introduces projections onto four screens that enclose the space. The interlinked visual transformations now take place on a total of five surfaces, resulting in a significantly improved three-dimensional perception from various angles of the spatial deformation caused by the audience's movements and the effect of gravity.


revised version (2010)


(2004)

about this work
The spatial expression of "gravicells" is rendered consistently by the real time calculation of the dynamics. The on-going dynamic movements are composed of the counter powers around gravity. Gravity is not materialized without the reaction force. In this artwork, it is possible for us to develop a new human sense through feeling gravity differently than usual and having new perception of body. The work provides a space with hypothetical dynamics having the opposing forces of gravity and resistance, through special devices and sensors.
Walking freely in the site, audiences are able to feel gravity that they are seldom aware of, resistance to it, and the effects caused by other participants. All movements and changes made by participating visitors are transformed into the movements of sound and geometrical images through the sensors, so that the whole space develops or changes in this interactive installation. Stand or move around on this unstable flat floor (6m x 6m), and audience are participating in the installation. Each participant becomes "an observation point," and another participant joins to make "plural moving observation points." The number of participants at a time is not limited. On the floor are placed 225 units of 40cm x 40cm cell-like grids, in which specially developed sensors are fixed to detect instantly and continuously the changing position, weight, and speed. Additionally, the position of the exhibition space is simultaneously measured by GPS, and with plural linked GPS satellites as part of the work and the moving direction of GPS is shown as the locus. Then the dynamics of GPS is turned into a simultaneously moving site, and thus the installation space involves the outside environment.

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"gravicells - gravity and resistance" tour schedule
＝Premiere＝
2004.5.15-6.20　Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]　StudioB
2004.11.9 -11.21　DEAF04 (Rotterdam, Netherlands)
2005.2.4-8　transmediale 2005　(Berlin, Germany)
2005.2.24-3.1　Share Festival (Torino, Italy)
2005.3.10-3.20　VIA 05 (Maubeuge, France)
2005.3.30-4.9　EXIT 05 (Creteil, France)
2005.9.1-19　Ars Electronica 2005 (Linz, Austria)
2005.11.23-12.25　"Possible Futures:" NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] (Tokyo, Japan)
2006.9.20-10.29　O.O.H 06 festival, Centro de Cultura Antiguo Instituto (Gijon, Spain)
2007.2.22-3.7　Mois Multi, salle Multi et le Studio d'essai de la Cooperative Meduse (Montreal, Canada)
2007.4.27-6.27　el medio es la comunicación ElTanque, Espacio Cultural El TAnque (Canaryls lands, Spain)
2008.4.19-2009.2.28　"Open Space 2008" NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC] (Tokyo, Japan)
＝This exhibition＝
2010.1.24-5.9　Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]　StudioB

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Organized by: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with: Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Grants from: THE ASAHI SHIMBUN FOUNDATION
Support: Tama Art University: Media Art Lab.
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]
Co-developed with: YCAM InterLab
Curator: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)