Art

Daito Manabe + Motoi Ishibashi new installation "particles"

2011-02-12T12:00:51Z

The continuously burgeoning work of Daito Manabe and Motoi Ishibashi in a showcase of unique ideas and excellent skills inspired by media art

Daito Manabe and Motoi Ishibashi, two creators that have been utilizing media technology in their various endeavors traversing a wide area between art, design, advertising and music, unveil their newest work in the particles exhibition at the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM].
Part of a special program of the Japan Media Arts Festival installed with the aim to offer opportunities to appreciate outstanding works of media art, the exhibition is co-hosted by YCAM and the Agency for Cultural Affairs. Next to producing and presenting the newest work of Daito Manabe and Motoi Ishibashi, prizewinners at the Japan Media Arts Festival, YCAM will also be showing video footage of award-winning works at the 13 th (2009) and 14 th (2010) Japan Media Arts Festival. In addition, a concurrently held exhibition introduces two recent acclaimed works by the artists that have been attracting attention with their combination of unique ideas and excellent programming skills.
Experience the fascination of media art and new forms of technology-based expression in this first major showcase of the artists' continuously burgeoning work exploring the potentials of media art through repeated research, studies and experimentation.

*The exhibition is open through March 31st as a special program of the Japan Media Arts Festival, after which it will continue until May 5th, then hosted by the Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion.

]]> Daito Manabe + Motoi Ishibashi "SONIC Floor" (Kitakyushu Innovation Gallery & Studio, 2007)

New territories opened up through hybrid creative activity

Daito Manabe and Motoi Ishibashi are continuously active as artists, designers and engineers operating across a broad range of fields. While involved as programmers and engineers in various commissioned works created in-residence at YCAM, they have been working on numerous large-scale projects embracing business solutions and information services. Armed with unique ideas and excellent skills, they keep charting new territories and possibilities in media expression through the development of original devices, interface design and programming-based system planning in the realm of industrial development and the production of commercial spaces. As creators covering a wide range of media, they have been part of numerous cross-national collaborative projects, while operating a recently established creative space for research and experimentation. Together they are actively engaging in the formation of a community that functions as a hub for experimental media technology-based artistic work, and an aggregation of human resources and technologies.
Next to unveiling their brand new work as one major attraction of "media art", this exhibition includes a screening of video footage introducing the duo's previous experimental projects and other endeavors, with the aim to indicate possible future directions in creative work based on interaction and the human body.

Workshop (Setagaya Public Theatre, 2009)

WORKS[Special program of the Japan Media Arts Festival]
Daito Manabe + Motoi Ishibashi "particles"
□Related video screenings
"Daito Manabe + Motoi Ishibashi Digest 2004-2011"
"Japan Media Arts Festival Digest" *Through March 31, 2011

Concurrent Event：
YCAM exhibition series for the future artist "scopic measure"
#11 Daito Manabe "electric stimulus to face"
#12 Daito Manabe + Motoi Ishibashi "fade out"

Daito Manabe + Motoi Ishibashi "particles"
newwork, 2010｜Installation

Daito Manabe + Motoi Ishibashi "particles" Lighting points operation screen.

An illumination installation of seemingly floating lights that create a fantastic afterimage, this work centers around an organically spiral-shaped rail construction on which a number of balls with built-in LEDs are rolling while blinking in different time intervals, resulting in spatial drawings of light particles in all kinds of shapes. The illumination's three-dimensional design, achieved through a fusion of the rail construct's characteristic features and communication control technology, takes on various appearances depending on the viewer's position. Look forward to an exciting new work that combines generally entertaining ideas and sophisticated information technology in everything from LED devices and other hardware to programming.

Organized by: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
Co-sponsor: Agency for Cultural Affairs
In association with: Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Production support: rhizomatiks, DGN
Technical support: YCAM InterLab
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]
*The exhibition is open through March 31st as a special program of the Japan Media Arts Festival, after which it will continue until May 5th, then hosted by the Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion.

Noritoshi Hirakawa new installation"Beyond the sunbeam through trees"

2011-01-04T15:00:00Z

A new artistic hybrid of installation and performance - internationally renowned artists from different genres present the fruits of their collaboration

The Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM] is hosting an exhibition of contemporary artist Noritoshi Hirakawa's new installation - a fusion of imagery, sound and body expression conceived with the aim to explore new horizons in artistic expression. The installation integrates elements of light, imagery and sound that together contain the manifestation of spiritual energy and human awareness. The visitor generates through his activate participation various interaction between the elements of light (sunbeams falling through trees), music and video footage inspired by a single woman's subtle feelings and behavior.
Composer/musician Michael Rother and dancer Yoko Ando took charge of the creation of visuals and sounds that, in concert with the dynamics of light, define the piece's distinctive flavor. Their residence at YCAM was for the three artists a period of mutual inspiration and stimulation, and we are now proud to present the much anticipated result of these internationally renowned creators' first ever collaboration.
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Movement and spriritual energy generated through light, imagery of body expression and sound
Contemporary artist Noritoshi Hirakawa has been examining individual interpretations of free will to live utilizing a wide range of styles and rather propositional artistic language since the 1980s. This exhibition introducing his long-awaited new work is an experimental attempt to enhance the methodology of past audiovisual installations produced and presented at YCAM, by adding a performance element to the basic installation incorporating light, imagery and sound.
In this work, the emotions and movements born out of a single woman's struggle are expressed through various technology-based interaction between light, imagery and sound. The audience participation-based system behind this work is designed to channel the spectator's consciousness and energy into a cyclic mechanism that stimulates the female protagonist's consciousness and thus animates the work itself. While experiencing a gradually transforming space-time, visitors will be able to perceive the existence of their own energy.

Noritoshi Hirakawa "Insearch of a Purple Heart" (2005, Salon94, New York）

Noritoshi Hirakawa "NH Heimweh nach der Heimat" (1996, Theater Am Turm, Frankfurt)

Noritoshi Hirakawa
"Beyond the sunbeam through trees"
Collaborating artists: Michael Rother (Musician),Yoko Ando (Dancer）
2011 (commissioned by YCAM)｜audiovisual installation
text by Noritoshi Hirakawa
Contemporary artist Noritoshi Hirakawa has been examining individual interpretations of free will to live utilizing a wide range of styles and rather propositional artistic language since the 1980s. This exhibition introducing his long-awaited new work is an experimental attempt to enhance the methodology of past audiovisual installations produced and presented at YCAM, by adding a performance element to the basic installation incorporating light, imagery and sound.
In this work, the emotions and movements born out of a single woman's struggle are expressed through various technology-based interaction between light, imagery and sound. The audience participation-based system behind this work is designed to channel the spectator's consciousness and energy into a cyclic mechanism that stimulates the female protagonist's consciousness and thus animates the work itself. While experiencing a gradually transforming space-time, visitors will be able to perceive the existence of their own energy.

Noritoshi Hirakawa "Beyond the sunbeam through trees" (2011, commissioned by YCAM)

Organized by: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with: Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Grants from: THE ASAHI SHIMBUN FOUNDATION
Supported by: The Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (FY 2011)
Cooperation: Watari Museum of Contemporary Art; The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma; WAKO WORKS OF ART; Gallery HAM; NANZUKA UNDERGROUND; Tomo Suzuki Japan Equipment cooperation: Color Kinetics Japan Incorporated
Technical support: YCAM InterLab
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]

Curator: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)

Yoko Ando new installation"Reacting Space for Dividual Behavior"

2011-01-03T15:00:00Z

Dancer Yoko Ando's interactive installation co-developed with YCAM
The Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM] hosts an exhibition of "Reacting Space for Dividual Behavior", an interactive installation co-developed by YCAM and dancer Yoko Ando, a central member of The Forsythe Company.
In this work, Ando focuses on methods of intellection, perception and communication in the realm of physical expression that she has cultivated during her career to date, and illustrates these subjects by means of an installation to be experienced by every visitor to the Center. Through their interaction with the virtual environment that is part of the installation, visitors can discover movements, memories and motifs that lie dormant in their own bodies. Applying the structure of various installations shown at YCAM in the past to the realm of body expression, the piece encourages visitors to perceive aspects of space, body and movement in an entirely new way. During the exhibition period, the potentials of this work as an experimental environment for rediscovering one's body will be widely showcased also in a workshop and demonstration with/by the artist herself, using the actual display at YCAM.
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Yoko Ando's own body language showcased as a methodology of dance
Implementing aspects of intellection, perception and communication in physical expression
Yoko Ando has been operating in the front line of the international contemporary dance scene as a central member of The Forsythe Company. Working with the Company since 2001, under William Forsythe she developed her very own body language, intuition and philosophy of dance, which have been reflected also in the projects and solo performances Ando has been engaging in lately.
By addressing issues related to the human body and the sensibility of a dancer that she has cultivated during her career to date, Ando aims to generate an experimental environment for us to rediscover our perception of the human body and the surrounding space, as well as the various unconscious movements, memories and motifs that lie dormant in our bodies. Incorporating technologies and suggestions provided by the YCAM InterLab team of experts specializing in the creation of media art, this "intellection, perception and communication in physical expression" themed new installation examines the relationships between body mechanics, surrounding environments, and our perception of these, with the aim to sublimate these aspects into an innovative methodology through effective use of media technology.
The experience of this installation will be an opportunity for visitors to discover and exploit a professional dancer's perception of the body, while at the same time encountering new possibilities of their own bodies' innate movements and imaginations.

photo: Dominik Mentzos

Yoko Ando "Reacting Space for Dividual Behavior"
audiovisual installation / 2011 (commissioned by YCAM)
The installation "Reacting Space for Dividual Behavior" functions as a mechanism that temporarily dismantles the continuity of the visitors' movements and body images, in order to encourage them to explore a variety of perspectives of the body, and rediscover their own features and physical reactions.
Several invisible (virtual) objects are distributed across the exhibition space, to be perceived by the visitor via sounds and images triggered by interaction of the physically present body with the virtual environment that contains these objects. In a setting where real and virtual overlap, unpredictable physical reactions and new perspectives on the body refresh the visitor's perception of space, the human body, and its movements.

sketch drawing for installation (April, 2011)

Organized by: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with: Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Co-developed with: YCAM InterLab
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]

Sound design: Masashi Heirakuji
Vusual programming: Satoru Higa
Curator: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)

scopic measure #13 Ryoichi Kurokawa "rheo: 5 horizons"

2011-01-02T15:00:00Z

Ryoichi Kurokawa - an artist pursuing the sophisticated art of "temporal sculpting" with sound and imagery

In volume 13 of the ongoing scopic measure series introducing works and projects by up-and-coming artists at the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM], Berlin-based video/sound artist Ryoichi Kurokawa presents his piece rheo: 5 horizons. In this installation, Kurokawa uses a 5-channel sound system and five large monitors to create a spatial/temporal sculpture. His elaborate technique and delicate artistic expression are highly regarded both in Japan and abroad (*1). The scenery, merging together sound and imagery in a flowing transformation, inspires a new sensory experience of watching sound and hearing images.
In connection with this exhibition, YCAM also introduces a number of related works, and hosts a live music event with Kurokawa and other artists. Their various sophisticated performances will highlight the diverse potential of sound-based expression.

*1) Winner of a Golden Nica in the digital music category of one of the world's largest media art festivals, Ars Electronica, in 2010, and nominated by the review committee in the art category (installation) at the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival.
[In the sound tectonics #10 live concert that takes place concurrently with scopic measure, Kurokawa performs his piece Rheo (2009), which served as a foundation for rheo: 5 horizons. The event marks at once the first ever combined staging of both installation and performance in Japan.]

]]> Ryoichi Kurokawa "rheo: 5 horizons"
2010｜audiovisual installation｜8min

rheo: 5 horizons is an audio-visual installation that inspires a new sensory experience of "watching sound" and "hearing images". It is composed of five flat-panel-displays and five multi-channel speakers, whereas each vertically long visual element is linked and synchronized with one mono channel audio source. These pairs are juxtaposed in line like a quintet, and behave as five independent audiovisual apparatuses. The scenery of digitally reproduced high-resolution imagery, perfectly synchronized with playbacks of field recordings, combines both minimalism and complexity into an exquisite spatial construct of architectural beauty.
The piece that ultimately builds a "sculpture integrating sounds and visuals" can be considered as an attempt to melt and amalgamate such different elements as imagery and sound, nature and digital technology, with the help of a computer. The title "Rheo" refers to the Greek expression for "flow/current", and was inspired by the term "panta rei" coined by philosopher Heraclitus. Like the providence of life and nature, the essential things are constantly flowing and moving along. By integrating elaborately constructed high-grade imagery and sound as a single current in time and space, the piece explores the limits of human perception.

Ryoichi Kurokawa "rheo: 5 horizons" (2010)　©Ryoichi Kurokawa

"rheo: 5 horizons" translates temporal and spatial transitions into audiovisual motion as a dynamic fluid, and builds a spatial construction that facilitates a new form of audiovisual perception. In combination with sound, the visual impact emphasizes the behavior of the audio source, and highlights its motion, direction and position in the space. By integrating imagery and sound, the piece layers aspects of movement, direction, speed, shape, color, weight and texture on a parallel timeline, creating out of these multi-layered elements temporal sculptures within looped sequences of eight minutes length. The spatially architectural forms generated this way reflect my synaesthetic approach encompassing the viewer's senses of vision, hearing and touch from different angles.

Ryoichi Kurokawa

Organized by: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with: Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Cooperation: Cimatics
Technical support: YCAM InterLab
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]

sound tectonics installation #3 / #4

2011-01-02T14:58:43Z

In this next event in the sound tectonics series introducing the latest efforts in electronic sound and related fields by artists from Japan and abroad, the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM] presents a live concert paired with an installation.
As a new feature in this series, evala and Ryoichi Kurokawa will additionally introduce specially commissioned works in YCAM's patios, incorporating sound systems set up in the venue's basement. A rare opportunity to experience performances and sound installations at once, this showcase of the diverse potential of acoustic expression will highlight the featured artists' finely-honed senses and broad imagination.

]]> Installation Series
sound tectonics installation
Held concurrently with a live concert, this time's sound tectonics installation event introduces new commissioned installations by evala and Ryoichi Kurokawa, both of whom are appearing in sound tectonics #10 concert, each shown at one of YCAM's two patio spaces. evela, who has earned himself a worldwide reputation for his large-scale installations of dense three-dimensional sound, creates through the process of acoustic reflection, amalgamation and autonomous generation as-yet-unknown sonic environments. Ryoichi Kurokawa presents a revised sound installation version of his work celeritas (2009), recombined in accordance with the spatial characteristics of the patio setting.

Exhibited works:

sound tectonics installation #3
evala "void-inflection"　
new work / commissioned by YCAM
This sound installation utilizes a parallel 5.1-channel surround system to construct a novel kind of virtual sonic environment. Vast amounts of sound data, tagged according to their acoustic characteristics and fed through a processor, autonomously form an adventurous yet delicate type of music. This generation process in which - impossibly to realize without a computer - even acoustic phases are twisted, results in the emergence of a prismatic sonic environment that is neither artificial nor natural.

sound tectonics installation #4
Ryoichi Kurokawa "Remapped extract of 'celeritas' "
revised version｜commissioned by YCAM
With this sound installation version, Ryoichi Kurokawa takes his work celeritas (2009) onto new territory after presenting it in such different formats as audiovisual installation, live concert and theatre. For this piece, he recombined audio sources from celeritas into a 5.1-channel composition, tailored to suit spatial characteristics of this time's patio setting.

Guest Research Project vol .1 Related Exhibition

2011-01-02T03:19:05Z

The Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM] invites engineers and researchers focusing on cutting-edge subjects related to media art, to participate in the "Guest Research Project" and work on joint projects with YCAM's own "InterLab" research and development team.
In this first installment, New York-based engineer/artist Kyle McDonald will stay and work at YCAM for about three months. His joint research at the Center will revolve around "calibration" technology as used in computer vision, and culminate in the presentation of a "projector camera toolkit" developed during that period.
In tandem with the research program, two works realized with McDonald's participation are on display at two separate locations at YCAM.

]]> Media art integrating advanced techniques, ideas and creativity

Kyle McDonald, who will stay and work as a guest researcher at YCAM, has been producing works informed by a combination of advanced technical skills and expertise in the ﬁelds of art and science, and participated in a number of rather extensive projects. His international reputation is primarily based on his achievements in the realm of software development, where he has been modifying cutting-edge technologies for use in highly versatile systems. As part of the Guest Research Project, YCAM exhibits two works in which McDonald demonstrates his exquisite combination of an inquiring mind regarding technology, and distinctly playful sensitivity. Aiming to introduce the fruits of the joint research and development efforts to a broader audience, we are further planning to exhibit works implementing the newly developed technology.

Exhibited Work

The Janus Machine
Kyle McDonald, Zach Lieberman, Theo Watson, Daito Manabe
2010 | Installation

This is a work in which facial expressions of visitors and other persons are synthesized into three-dimensional images of faces that change their appearance in various ways.The mechanism of generating images by processing three-dimensional measurement data of faces is based on the "DIY 3D Scanning" open-source software that McDonald developed in 2009.
The contours of the face of a visitor sitting on a chair in the exhibition booth are scanned in a shower of light, and translated into a three-dimensional rendition of him/her. The generated image appears on a screen in the back, where it is synthesized with data stored in a computer, and ultimately transforms into a variety of new expressions, including those of (previously recorded) other persons that can be of different age or sex. "Janus" in the title refers to the double-faced god and guardian in Roman mythology, and the notions of transition and duality - come/go, past/future, young/old - it implies. Seemingly proposing new interpretations of ancient myths and metaphors, the work highlights the boundaries between the self and others, the past and the future.

I Eat Beat
Kyle McDonald
2008-2009 | Installation

I Eat Beats is a percussion instrument that can be played by placing candies as "musical notes" onto lines projected onto the top of a table, resulting in a limitless variety of rhythms. The work was ﬁrst unveiled as a prototype using such simple devices as a web camera and computer, combined with image-recognition technology. It is easy to play for anyone, and allows for ensemble performances by multiple players at once. This original electronic instrument that can be enjoyed while eating candies reﬂects McDonald's playful approach juxtaposing innovative ideas and techniques, and can be considered as a prototype tangible user interface.
[As part of the exhibition at YCAM, visitors can try and play the "nstrument" using similar objects.]

Organized by: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with: Yamaguchi City,Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Co-developed with: YCAM InterLab
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]

LabACT vol.1 We connect to the world through our eyes- Eye-Tracking study"The EyeWriter"

2011-01-01T15:00:00Z

Drawing with the eyes.
YCAM launches an exhibition project showcasing and practically applying The EyeWriter, a device for drawing by using just the eyes

The Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM] announces "LabACT": a series of exhibitions introducing creative work inspired by a dialogue between science and art, in a broad context including social aspects, and with a special focus on the technical aspects of media art. This year's program includes two exhibitions themed around eye-tracking technology. The first one presents The EyeWriter, a device for drawing by the line of sight that has been developed in the USA.
Along with a general overview of The EyeWriter project, and an explanation of the technical development, the exhibition features a hands-on booth for visitors to try the latest version of the device for painting pictures with their eyes. A workshop and display of new installation work based on the latest technology complete the program of this multidisciplinary exhibition demonstrating the media-informed developments in technology, thought, and artistic expression, using examples of The EyeWriter's practical application.

]]> Creative diversity and social meaning carved by technology, examined through The EyeWriter's operation
The EyeWriter project, launched in 2010, was inspired by an American graffiti artist's desire to be able to "draw again" after his body was paralyzed due to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
A group of participants centered around a core of artists and engineers from all parts of the world developed a mechanism for drawing with the eyes using open-source software and available devices, the function of which they are continually revising. The exhibition showcases the achievements made in this project that is heavily influenced by new technologies and the philosophy of sharing technology and information, and offers visitors the opportunity to try the newest version, The EyeWriter 2.0. Furthermore, the exhibition includes new interactive installations by two artists, realized using eye-tracking software that is available as open-source software.

The Eyewriter from Evan Roth on Vimeo.

Exhibited works
"The EyeWriter"
Documentation
Next to panel displays and documentary/explanatory footage of The EyeWriter project, the exhibition includes a hands-on booth in which visitors can try The EyeWriter 2.0. After an initial calibration of the gaze tracking function, visitors can enjoy various features, such as writing graffiti or playing games with just their eyes. Through such displays facilitating the experience and understanding of The EyeWriter, the exhibition outlines the project at large, its social significance, and its continual development thanks to the sharing of technologies.

exonemo "EyeWalker"
new work (commissioned by YCAM） / installation
This work allows visitors to experience jumps of vision according to a changing line of sight. Monitors ("objects") fitted with video cameras are installed at various locations and in different angles inside the YCAM building, transmitting images of the facility's interior to a monitor in the user (visitor) booth. When the user spots and focuses on one of these "objects" on the monitor screen, the image instantly switches to live footage from the respective object, which again includes other objects that can be "selected".
Here The EyeWriter's software is used for identifying the object the user looks at on the monitor, and triggering a system selecting sources of live video transmission. Submerged in the images on the monitor in the user booth, the visitor's sense of vision wanders from one object to another, according to the focal point of his/her gaze. The work that stretches our sensation of being absorbed in visual information to the extreme, and creates the optical illusion of jumping from one real space to another. It disturbs relationship between the act of watching and the watching of the individual's own existence.

Semitra "eyeFont"
new work (commissioned by YCAM） / installation
In this work, a new interactive installation version of Semitra's "tFont/fTime"exhibition (2009) revolving around typeface design, visitors' eye movements are utilized for the creation of typefaces.
Visitors look at letters appearing on a monitor, and overwrite these with their own line of sight. The letters drawn this way are stored in a database, where they are archived for the duration of the exhibition. The act of drawing lines through eye movements is a novel kind of experience that combines inconvenience and a sensation of lacking proficiency and refinement. Although made under the control of consciousness, these letters are products of parts of the human body that cannot be controlled completely. The work and the myriad variations of letters created and accumulated in it showcases possible typeface designs made with the line of sight, whereas it will be particularly interesting to see to what extent basic proportions remain intact, and what gets distorted for the sake of new individual designs. "eyeFont" Archive Website: http://eyefont.semitra.com/

Related events
Symposium "The EyeWriter - Perspectives beyond development and sharing"
October 1 (Sat) 15:30-18:00 Admission free　
Panelists: Zach Lieberman, exonemo, Ryoji Tanaka (Semitra), Hideyuki Ando (Associate professor at Osaka University)
*interpretation available

YCAM Original Workshop "Eye2Eye"
October 1 (Sat), November 6 (Sun), December 4 (Sun)
13:00-15:00
*Full tour on each day; number of participants limited to 20 per tour (reservation required) Lecturer: YCAM Education staff
Target group: 4rd grade students and older
Fee: 500yen

Organized by: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with: Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Supported by: The Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan (FY 2011)
Corporate sponsor: Shiseido Co., Ltd.
Technical support: YCAM InterLab
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]

Curator: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)
Technical director: Takayuki Ito（YCAM InterLab）

LabACT vol.2Seiko Mikami "Eye-Tracking Informatics"

2010-12-31T15:00:00Z

Masterworks of media art reincarnated through joint development at YCAM
The visualized line of sight stimulates interactive communication with the virtual world.

The Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM] has launched the "LabACT" series of exhibitions showcasing from a broad point of view creative and social values generated through a dialogue between science and art. Following the currently showing "The EyeWriter", in the upcoming second installment artist Seiko Mikami is going to unveil her new installation titled "Eye-Tracking Informatics". This piece is a remake of one of Mikami's most representative works from the 1990s, in which two participants communicate and navigate within a three-dimensional virtual space through movements of their own visualized lines of sight, updated and enhanced at YCAM by reflecting the latest technological trends. This rather exquisite yet at once dynamic reincarnation in terms of imagery, sound, hardware and other aspects, presents an opportunity for visitors to enjoy a totally new form of spatial sculpting by means of eye-based communication and visualized traces of the eyes' movements ]]> An experience of haptic communication as generated by the visualized line of sigh

In her artistic work, Seiko Mikami is consistently pursuing the connection between information society and the human body as a central theme. In "Molecular Informatics", one of her most well-known works made in 1996, the eye movements of participants wearing eye control devices are visualized as sequences of molecules in a virtual space, resulting in three-dimensional shapes drawn "with the eyes". At a time when eye control technology itself was still new and uncommon, this attempt to introduce such technology into the realm of art had a major impact on the international art scene as soon as it was unveiled, and was subsequently showcased around the world in repeatedly upgraded versions. However, as it was not developed to correspond with the rapidly advancing information technology, the work as such was not publicly exhibited for several years. This exhibition presents "Eye-Tracking Informatics", a technically updated and enhanced remake of this distinguished work of media art.

Seiko Mikami "Eye-Tracking Informatics"

Based on the ideas of "observing the act of observation" and "consciously and unconsciously established lines of vision", this installation generates traces of two participants' respective lines of sight. The participants experience an almost "haptic" kind of communication based on their own visualized lines of sight in a three-dimensional virtual space. In this process, their respective lines of vision enact a complex, organic architectural construct that could be considered as "bioarchitecture".
In this remake, the implementation of the open-source project "The EyeWriter ver 2.0" made it possible to utilize eye control technology wi thout wearing any device, and to navigate unrestrictedly within the naked eye's broad ﬁeld of view. Thanks to the contributions of such noted artists as evala and Norimichi Hirakawa (collaborating as guest programmers), elements of imagery, sound and interactivity of the original work were updated to such an extent that this new version can be regarded as a completely new piece of art.

Organized by: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with: Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Cooperat ion: Tama Art Universi ty Media Art Lab., NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC]
Corporate sponsors: Color Kinetics Japan Incorporated
Co-developed with: YCAM InterLab
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]
Sound Programming: evala
Visual Programming: Norimichi Hirakawa
Curator: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)
Technical director: Takayuki Ito（YCAM InterLab)

Seiko Mikami new installation "Desire of Codes"

2010-04-14T15:20:22Z

From perceiving cells to the coded individual.

We are pleased to announce the opening of the "Desire of Codes" exhibition introducing a brand new installation piece by Seiko Mikami at YCAM. Mikami chose "information society and the human body" as the central theme of her artistic endeavors since the 1980s, and stepped into the spotlight of the international art scene after introducing computing technologies to her critical and provocative examinations of technology and art in the '90s.
Next to the presentation of a new co-production by Seiko Mikami and YCAM that forms the centerpiece of this exhibition, the "surveillance society and human desires" themed event encompasses also a display of Takashi Ikegami's new installation incorporating aspects of brain science and complex system, as well as a revised version of "gravicells--gravity and resistance", a work on which Mikami collaborated with Sota Ichikawa.

Exhibition website: http://doc.ycam.jp/

- Exhibited work
Seiko Mikami "Desire of Codes" (new work / commissioned by YCAM)
- Related works
Takashi Ikegami "MTM [Mind Time Machine] " (new work / commissioned by YCAM)
Seiko Mikami + Sota Ichikawa "gravicells - gravity and resistance"(revised version / commissioned by YCAM)

]]> Seiko Mikami "Desire of Codes"(new work / commisioned by YCAM)

Large-scale installation at YCAM's theatre hall
The "individual" visitor in a double role as a subject of expression and observation

This interactive installation consisting of three parts is set up in YCAM's Studio A, a space that is normally used for theatre performances.
A large number of devices resembling tentacles with built-in small cameras are placed across a huge wall (Part 1), while six robotic "search arms" equipped with cameras and projectors are suspended from the ceiling (Part 2). Each device senses with insect-like wriggling movements the positions and movements of visitors, and turns toward detected persons in order to observe their actions. In addition, a giant round-shaped screen that looks like an insect's compound eye is installed in the back of the exhibition space (Part 3). Visual data transmitted from each camera, along with footage recorded by surveillance cameras installed at various places around the world, are stored in a central database, and ultimately projected in complex images mixing elements of past and present, the venue itself and points around the globe, onto the screen. The compound eye visualizes a new reality in which fragmentary aspects of space and time are recombined, while the visitor's position as a subject of expression and surveillance at once indicates the new appearances of human corporeality and desire.

detail of the work：http://doc.ycam.jp/work/

Production support: Ryota Kuwakubo, Norimichi Hirakawa, Sota Ichikawa, TAKEGAHARASEKKEI

Organized by Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Grants from THE ASAHI SHIMBUN FOUNDATION
Corporate sponsors: AD Science Co., Microvision, Inc.
Cooperation: Tama Art University Media Art Lab.; The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Department of General Systems Studies Ikegami lab; ATAK; DGN co., ltd.; Perfektron LLC.
Co-developed with YCAM InterLab
Produced by Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]
Design: METAPHOR
Curator: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)

Takashi Ikegami "MTM [Mind Time Machine]"

2010-04-14T15:20:21Z

Takashi Ikegami "MTM [Mind Time Machine] " (new work / commissioned by YCAM)

For the new challenge of this exhibition, by way of extending the theme "Desire of Code" of Seiko MIkami, we at the same time present a new art installation "MTM [Mind Time Machine]" directed by a complex systems scientist, Takashi Ikegami. Ikegami is producing an interactive work of mind time processes from the viewpoint of a self-organizing, subjective timeline.
The concept of this work is based on the American brain physiologist Benjamin Libet's studies. Ikegami will reconstruct the subjective momentary "Now" by producing an optical landscape of human cognition that emulates the network of conscious, unconsciousness, and memory processes.
In this installation, MTM [Mind Time Machine], 15 cameras of 4 different types will shoot the actual movements of the audience as they enter the venue. Those images will be processed and evolved in real time by the programs that originally developed from the ideas of complex systems. The final output of the images will be projected onto the three big screens, which correspond to consciousness/unconsciousness/memory, and the corresponding sound images will be produced with the 3.2 channels.

detail of the work: http://doc.ycam.jp/relatedworks/index_en.html/

Production support: Motoi Ishibashi, evala, Yuta Ogai, Keiichiro Shibuya, Kenshu Shintsubo

Organized by Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Grants from THE ASAHI SHIMBUN FOUNDATION
Corporate sponsors: AD Science Co., Microvision, Inc.
Cooperation: Tama Art University Media Art Lab.; The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Department of General Systems Studies Ikegami lab; ATAK; DGN co., ltd.; Perfektron LLC.
Co-developed with YCAM InterLab
Produced by Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]
Design: METAPHOR
Curator: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)

Seiko Mikami ＋ Sota Ichikawa "gravicells - gravity and resistance" [revised version]

2010-04-14T15:20:20Z

Seiko Mikami + Sota Ichikawa
"gravicells - gravity and resistance"
(revised version / commissioned by YCAM)

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.

detail of the work: http://doc.ycam.jp/relatedworks/index_en.html/

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.

"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

Organized by Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Grants from THE ASAHI SHIMBUN FOUNDATION
Corporate sponsors: AD Science Co., Microvision, Inc.
Cooperation: Tama Art University Media Art Lab.; The University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Department of General Systems Studies Ikegami lab; ATAK; DGN co., ltd.; Perfektron LLC.
Co-developed with YCAM InterLab
Produced by Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]
Design: METAPHOR
Curator: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)

Fujiko Nakaya + Shiro Takataninew installation "CLOUD FOREST"

2010-04-14T15:20:07Z

"artistic environmental spheres" formed by fog, light and sound
Large-scale project unveiled simultaneously in three public spaces in and around YCAM

The upcoming CLOUD FOREST exhibition at the Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM] presents examples of newly discovered environmental creation, realized with an "artistic environments" themed fusion of artistic expression and information technology. Currently on show in three different public spaces in and around YCAM will be a large-scale collaborative project featuring "fog sculptures" by Fujiko Nakaya, an artist whose works have gained much attention at various occasions in Japan and overseas, along with the original light and sound art of Shiro Takatani.
These commissioned installations conceived in-residence at YCAM combine artificial fog, sunlight and sound, orchestrating with the help of originally developed devices and responding to changing weather conditions a variety of impressive sceneries. Visitors can experience transformations in their perception as they interact with artworks incorporating information technology while walking in the fog in the patios or surrounding park. While introducing and reevaluating foresighted art and science projects originally presented at the EXPO'70 Osaka, which eventually inspired this new project, the exhibition anticipates the future of environmental creation, "informational spheres" of tomorrow, and possible creative quests through art.

Related events
■Opening events
Demonstrative Performance
August 7 (sat) 19:00 - 20:00
Venue: Foyer, Patios Admission free
Artists: Fujiko Nakaya, Shiro Takatani, softpad (Takuya Minami, Tomohiro Ueshiba, Hiroshi Toyama) In addition to Fujiko Nakaya and Shiro Takatani, the members of Kyoto-based art/design collective softpad, who took charge of the sound design for this exhibition, participate in a special experimental live performance incorporating the fog, light and sound installations in the patios and foyer.

Artist Talk
August 8 (san) 14:00-16:00
Venue: Studio B Admission free
Guests: Fujiko Nakaya, Shiro Takatani　Moderator: Akira Asada
Artists involved in this exhibition appear as special guests in a casual talk session that gives them the opportunity to introduce their works. Moderator will be Akira Asada, a specialist in the field who is familiar with each artist's endeavors to date. While referring to the work of E.A.T. at the 1970 Osaka Expo's Pepsi Pavilion, which inspired this project in the first place, the artists will look back at such trailblazing achievements as Nakaya's "fog sculptures" and David Tudor's soundscapes originally presented at the Expo, and discuss the developments and prospects now, four decades later.
* There will be guided gallery tours offered during the period of the exhibition. Please check the exhibition website for more information on additional event.]]>
CLOUD FOREST
― Prospects of art-inspired new environmental creation

Rather than addressing "environmental" issues only from an ecological point of view, this "artistic environmental spheres" themed exhibition focuses on the mutual relationships between natural, social, mental and informational environments. Aiming to provide a stage for such diverse aspects of the subject matter to function as interfaces for each other, CLOUD FOREST pursues a contemporary form of environmental creation triggered off by transformations in human perception. The shifting perceptual experience of interacting with artworks incorporating information technology and YCAM's architectural characteristics makes the visitor aware of spatial transfigurations, and ultimately commands ideas related to "environments" of the future.

Fujiko Nakaya "Fog Sculpture #47773" Pepsi Pavilion Commissioned by Experiments in Art and Technology (EXPO' 70, Osaka, Japan 1970) photo: ©Takeyoshi Tanuma

■"Environment" as an art form
This exhibition is based on a definition of "environment" as a compound of mutually generative, penetrative and reflective areas. While there have been various movements in the past that proposed environments as stages for or components of art, such as land art or earth art, this exhibition aims to explore the creative aspects of media art for possible new forms of "environments". Think of it as an attempt to generate with the help of information technology open environments embracing multiple interlinked, mutually "environmental spheres". In this day and age, the concept of "environments" manifested through spatial transformations is surely going to write its own quiet yet forceful story.

■40 years after the EXPO'70 Osaka: E.A.T. reinterpreted from a contemporary point of view
　E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology) attracted worldwide attention when the American experimental collective presented their work in the Pepsi Pavilion at the EXPO'70 Osaka. At this huge international event, the group of collaborating artists and scientists presented the astonishing results of their pioneering exploration of the relationship between environment and art, driven by the participating artists' innovative ideas. Considering the 40 years between then and the present day as a fundamental period of transition from the material productivity-based viewpoints of progressive science to invisible information capitalism, this exhibition attempts a critical review of the ideas and accomplishments of E.A.T. By interpreting such forward-thinking approaches of art and science with an eye on contemporary information society and perspectives of environmental creation, we aim to disclose a contemporary form of reality and its new environmental components.

"Island Eye Island Ear" Project by Experiments in Art & Technology (Knavelskar Island, Sweden 1974) photo：Fujiko Nakaya

■"Environments" emerging out of human perception and networking technology
This exhibition couples the "fog sculptures" of Fujiko Nakaya with the creative ideas of the late David Tudor, who was in charge of interactive sound when Nakaya's works were first introduced at the EXPO'70 Osaka's Pepsi Pavilion. The "fog sculptures" take on a variety of appearances at the main venues in and around YCAM, shown alongside a new installation piece incorporating Tudor's original concept of soundscapes based on environmental reverberation. Altogether, the displays can be considered as a collaborative attempt of new environmental creation, undertaken by Fujiko Nakaya together with the YCAM staff and such post-Expo generation artists as Shiro Takatani. These works utilizing information technology to incorporate in various ways transformations of both natural surroundings and human perception communicate a sensory idea of critical, totally new "spheres of artistic environments".

Fujiko Nakaya "GREENLAND GLACIAL MORAINE GARDEN" (Nakaya Ukichiro Museum of Snow and Ice,Kaga City, Japan 1994) 　photo：Rokuro Yoshida

"CLOUD FOREST"
The exhibition's title, "CLOUD FOREST" is borrowed from the name of a subtropical forestal area that is characterized by a frequent formation of mist about the canopy level. It is a place that can be considered as a peculiar zone of active interpenetration right in the middle between wild nature and the realm of human society.
At the same time, the title is a reference to David Tudor's sound installation/performance piece "Rainforest". Approaching the laws of nature by means of cutting-edge technology, this exhibition pays deep homage also to the innovativeness of the "Island Eye Island Ear" project that Fujiko Nakaya conceived with Jacqueline Monnier back in the 1970s.

"Environmental spheres" in three installations

Patios　　... Interfaces of fog, light and sound
The entirely glass-walled patios - high open spaces that allow wind, rain and sunlight to fall in - are intermediate places combining/connecting the outside (natural environment) with the inside (artificial environment). This exhibition includes large-scale installations involving artificial fog, light (reflected sunlight) and sound, which transform the Center's two patios into interfaces between two different types of environments.
Influenced by the surrounding interior and exterior environments, the artificial fog that is emitted in varying intervals from multiple directions forms convections of various modes and configurations. In addition, a special mirror device is used to redirect sunbeams into the fog. As optical effects will vary significantly according to the fog's configuration, meteorological conditions, and the position of the sun, the displays will continue to take on different appearances depending on the time, position and angle. As locations, sizes, and positions of installed apparatus are different in both patios, visitors can appreciate two completely different installations. Furthermore, special sound systems installed inside the exhibition spaces allows visitors to perceive the soundscapes locally while walking through the fog. Also visible from outside the glass walls are subtle motions of fog and light that one normally doesn't see in the open nature.

"CLOUD FOREST"［Patio］（YCAM 2010）

Foyer　　... Soundscape defined by an intense mixture of sound and light
Exhibited in the foyer, a place flooded with natural light from the patios on both sides, is Shiro Takatani's large-scale installation based on reflections of sound and light [Sound Designed by Takuya Minami (softpad)]. Nine specially built sonic devices - two-meter-high rotary square poles fitted with four superdirective speakers each - are arranged in a grid pattern on the floor in the center of the exhibition space. While the poles rotate at varying speed, all of the 36 speakers emit alternately synchronous and asynchronous superdirective sounds to weave complex sonic carpets. Next to field recordings of natural environmental sounds, the installation uses audio sources prepared by David Tudor for the EXPO'70 Osaka. These components will form a densely complex acoustic environment while echoing in complicated patterns from the venue's walls and stairs. Visitors can look forward to enjoying an absolutely unique spatial experience in a setting bathed in a mix of artificial and natural light.

Central Park　　...Fog sculptures" flowing and merging with the environment
Fujiko Nakaya's "fog sculptures" are exhibited in wide outdoor spaces. Like in the patios, clouds of artificial fog will be generated also in the central park in front of YCAM. Due to rapidly changing wind conditions, here the fog clusters will move in instantaneously shifting patterns. While marveling at these massive formations of fog quite different from the sceneries in the patios, the visitor can witness how these "fog sculptures" flow and merge with the environment.

"CLOUD FOREST"［Central Park］（YCAM 2010）

* Also on display are photographs and video footage of previous works related to this exhibition (Fujiko Nakaya & David Tudor, EXPO'70 Osaka "Pepsi Pavilion", etc.)

Organized by Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Grants from THE ASAHI SHIMBUN FOUNDATION
Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan in the fiscal 2010
Co-developed with YCAM InterLab
Produced by Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]

Sound Design & Graphic Design Takuya Minami (softpad)
Programming: Ken Furudate

Curator: Kazunao Abe (YCAM)

"polarm [mirrored]" Opening Event: International symposium "Decennial environmental observations in art"

2010-04-14T15:20:06Z

As a special event held as part of the festivities commemorating 150 Years of Friendship between Germany and Japan, this symposium is led by the artists and curators involved in this exhibition, together with a number of invited intellectuals from Germany and Japan. The artists discuss via a scientific standpoint supposed future developments and possibilities of modeling invisible data into visual or acoustic works of media technology-based art, and explore new ways of perceiving the environment while referencing Nikola Tesla's and other historical achievements, as well as current endeavors in the field.

International symposium - 150 Jahre Freundschaft Deutschland-Japan
"Decennial environmental observations in art"
November 13 (sat) 13:00-16:00
Guests: Carsten Nicolai, Marko Peljhan, Andreas Broeckmann (Director of the Dortmunder U) , etc.
Moderator: Yukiko Shikata (Guest curator), Kazunao Abe (YCAM)
* interpretation available
Co-sponsor: Goethe-Institut Japan in Osaka

Carsten Nicolai + Marko Peljhan new installation "polarm [mirrored]"

2010-04-14T15:20:06Z

* Exhibition website http://polar-m.ycam.jp/

Decennial environmental observations in art focusing on a global informational network's polar areas
The "polar" project centers on fixed-point observations of the earth's natural and informational environment from an artist's position. The previous polar I, presented in Tokyo in 2000, introduced a network-based original search engine, developed in order to observe the earth as an environment based on a variety of information. The updating process was translated into images and sounds exhibited in an audio-visual installation. The following ten years have seen significant developments in information technology, which have in turn triggered repeated massive changes in human sensibility and perception. While considering unreachable places on the earth as more or less non-existent, we are directly confronted with an extensive invisible world of information and other data. The aim of this second installment is to establish an original platform for investigations into the diverse environments that surround us in the year 2010. By searching specific information, visitors can proactively explore uncharted polar areas, and discover their meanings. Two of the world's leading artists get together again to highlight current natural and informational environments, and propose methods for us to apply for their research.
(In-residence production period: late October - early November)

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13 December, 2011 OPENING EVENTS

■150 Jahre Freundschaft Deutschland-Japan
International symposium "Decennial environmental observations in art"
13 December(sat) 13:00-16:00 Admission free
Guests: Carsten Nicolai, Marko Peljhan, Andreas Broeckmann (Director of the Dortmunder U)
Moderator: Yukiko Shikata(Guest curator), Kazunao Abe(YCAM)
* interpretation available

■YCAM sound tectonics #8
"raster-noton evening"
13 December(sat) 19:00 start（18:30 open）
Live: cyclo.(Carsten Nicolai & Ryoji Ikeda), byetone(Olaf Bender), Nibo Guest: Christopher Willits
Admission: Advanced tickets ¥3,000 / "any" members & special discounts ¥2,700
Tickets at the door: ¥3,500
Ticket information desk: +81-83-920-6111 (10:00-19:00/closed on Tuesdays (the following day if Tuesday is a national holiday)
* Reserve Ticket(YCAM ticket information desk):
http://www.ycfcp.or.jp/ticket_en.html
* All tickets are to be paid at the venue on the day of the event.

polar: environmental observations in art
Initiated by Carsten Nicolai and Marko Peljhan, polar is being considered as a very special project. While the title refers to polarity and polar regions in its original meaning, polar^m adds to this the earth's electromagnetic fields, radiation and magnetic poles as connectors between real and informational spaces. Another notion contained in the project title is the aim to explore the environment as an unknown polar zone via long-term observation of earth and data environments from an artistic point of view. In this project, macroscopic and microscopic invisible relationships hidden in the environment in which we live are exquisitely translated into a mix of images and sounds using cutting-edge media technology, to propose a new awareness and perception of the actuality of our ceaselessly transforming environment.

From polar (2000) to polar^m (2010)
Ten years on from the polar installation in 2000, polar^m raises the question how the mechanisms of no longer clearly definable human existence work in an age when the massive progress and penetration of information technology has brought along fluctuating environmental spheres. what does all the innovation and exploration of technology beyond our imagination aim to get closer to? this exhibition closes up on the phenomenon of "radiation" as a method of environmental exploration that is deeply rooted in physical nature. the installation landscape depicts the process of environmental creation from a viewpoint based on the earth's radiation and electromagnetic ecosystems.

Environmental spheres defined by radiation
Along with two cube-shaped structures placed symmetrically on the left and right side, there are objects/observatoria installed in the exhibition space: a set of geiger counters, a radiation generator, HF radio receivers and a cloud chamber (device for visualizing radiation). Various forms of exposure to radioactive rays - including the visitor's experience of the installation itself - detected with this setup trigger minute motion graphics and a wide frequency range of sounds, which ultimately cause a transformation of the entire exhibition space. Along with his or her own individual spatial experience of the installation, each visitor will face the exhibition's central question: Why are there two corresponding cubes placed in the room?

Organized by: Yamaguchi City Foundation for Cultural Promotion
In association with: Yamaguchi City, Yamaguchi City Board of Education
Grants from: Ministry of Culture Republic of Slovenia, University of California Institute of Research in the Arts
Corporate sponsor: SHISEIDO
Production support: Media Arts and Technology program University of California Santa Barbara、ZAVOD PROJEKT ATOL
Equipment support: JAPAN SYNCHROTORON RADIATION RESEARCH INSTITUTE(JASRI)
Technical support: YCAM InterLab
Produced by: Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media [YCAM]

International symposium - 150 Jahre Freundschaft Deutschland-Japan
Co-sponsor: Goethe-Institut Japan in Osaka

YCAM sound tectonics #8 "raster-noton evening"
Supported by the Agency for Cultural Affairs Government of Japan in the fiscal 2010

Curators: Yukiko Shikata(Guest curator), Kazunao Abe(YCAM)

Lecture + Dance Demonstration

2009-05-07T08:12:43Z

This is one particularly noteworthy event held as part of this time's exhibition. The artist himself gives a dance demonstration in the same exhibition space where the "Phantom Exhibition" is on view, so visitors will have the unique opportunity to witness how Paxton's ﬂesh-and-blood movement overlap with those on the screens.