NEWS

Featured on Artinfo, Sep 19, 2012

The Experience Machine

A view of the installation “What a Loving, and Beautiful World” by Japanese calligrapher Sisyu and teamLabby Sonia Kolesnikov-Jessop, ARTINFOPublished: September 19, 2012Rather than being the sole creators of a work of art, new media artists often offer audiences the opportunity to interact with and contribute to their artworks."What a Loving, and Beautiful World" by Japanese calligrapher Sisyu and teamLab is such a piece where slowly falling kanji (the Chinese characters used in Japan) for words like ‘rain,’ ‘flower’ and ‘butterfly’ transform when touched by a viewer’s shadow to become the image of the word they represent while a corresponding sound is heard. This interactive animation installation, which combines projections with motion sensors in a darkened room, is a completely immersive experience, set — as the title suggests — in a beautiful world where rainbows appear after rain showers and butterflies snuggle up to flowers. It is also a very ephemeral experience which constantly changes. As in the natural world there are no identical moments thanks to 22 kanji falling randomly and interacting differently depending on how they meet (for example the butterflies flying toward flowers will change their course if a fire suddenly appears in front of them).The work is part of “The Experience Machine,” an exhibition dedicated to New Media at Ikkan Art Gallery, which include a selection of works by nine international artists: Bea Camacho, John Gerrard, John F. Simon Jr., Jim Campbell, Morimura Yasumasa, Sisyu+teamLab, Vuk Ćosić, Ben Rubin and Miao Xiaochun.The exhibition seeks to explore the historical differences between Western and Asian art practices of portraying the world — i.e. the use of perspective and geometry in composition vs. the flat, perspective-free approach of traditional Chinese and Japanese paintings — as well as to explore how new media artists use technology to create new interpretations of space. Of particular note is Jim Campbell’s “Home Movie” (2006) installation, which uses widely spaced strings of individual LED lights hanging like a curtain to project back onto the wall found footage of old home movies. The LEDs are facing the wall, creating an image on its surface, but also partially blocking that low resolution image. The overall effect is ethereal.“The Experience Machine” runs till October 27 at Ikkan Art Gallery

EXHIBITION

THE EXPERIENCE MACHINE

Featured on LuxArtAsia, Sep 19, 2012

The Experience Machine @ Ikkan Art Gallery

POSTED BY SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP ON 19 – SEPRather than being the sole creators of a work of art, new media artists often offer audiences the opportunity to interact with and contribute to their artworks. “What a Loving, and Beautiful World” by Japanese calligrapher Sisyu and teamLab is such a piece where slowly falling kanji (the Chinese characters used in Japan) for words like ‘rain,’ ‘flower’ and ‘butterfly’ transform when touched by a viewer’s shadow to become the image of the word they represent while a corresponding sound is heard.This interactive animation installation, which combines projections with motion sensors in a darkened room, is a completely immersive experience, set — as the title suggests — in a beautiful world where rainbows appear after rain showers and butterflies snuggle up to flowers. It is also a very ephemeral experience which constantly changes. As in the natural world there are no identical moments thanks to 22 kanji falling randomly and interacting differently depending on how they meet (for example the butterflies flying toward flowers will change their course if a fire suddenly appears in front of them).The work is part of “The Experience Machine,” an exhibition dedicated to New Media at Ikkan Art Gallery, which include a selection of works by nine international artists: Bea Camacho, John Gerrard, John F. Simon Jr., Jim Campbell, Morimura Yasumasa, SISYU+teamLab, Vuk Ćosić, Ben Rubin and Miao Xiaochun.

EXHIBITION

THE EXPERIENCE MACHINE

Featured on BLOUINARTINFO, Sep 19, 2012

The Experience Machine at Ikkan Art International

Rather than being the sole creators of a work of art, new media artists often offer audiences the opportunity to interact with and contribute to their art works.（Excerpt from the text）

WORK

What a Loving, and Beautiful World

Featured on Roppongi Future Talks, Sep 19, 2012

How would you turn Roppongi into an area of Design & Art?

Toshiyuki Inoko did not show up at the appointed time on the day of the interview. We asked him what had happened when he finally arrived, and he told us he had been looking everywhere for the interview room. He added that he always gets lost in Roppongi buildings. Inoko is the standard-bearer of next generation digital art. In 2001, while a student at the University of Tokyo, Inoko set up teamLab Inc., a group of ultra-technologists, with the aim to rejuvenate Japan. He is continuing to take up the challenge of creating new expressions in the digital domain. Inoko is constantly giving thought to the values of Japanese culture and the things that have impact on the post-Internet society. We asked him his views on the future of Roppongi.

Featured on The Business Times, Sep 7, 2012

The future of art

Businesses must “look like art” if they want to succeed beyond their wildest dreams. So believes Toshiyuki Inoko, the crystal ball-gazing co-founder of Japan’s most famous digital solutions company, teamLab.Regarded as a minor visionary among computer geeks, he says that companies must learn to be more “intuitive and artistic” in their approach towards doing business because the sophisticated customers of tomorrow expect an “elegant, artistic” experience when they purchase the company’s product or service.To illustrate his point, Inoko pits Bill Gates against Steve Jobs: “In the 1980s, Bill Gates created Microsoft. Their products were cheap, good and efficient for their time. But most people didn’t really like Microsoft. They didn’t feel much love for the products.Along came Steve Jobs, a computer whiz and art lover who passionately studied calligraphy in university, was a great champion of digital arts, and used his mastery of typography and design to help create some of the most iconic machines of our time – the Apple computer, the iPod, the iPad and the iPhone.“Jobs understood the importance of harmony between design and function. And buyers of Apple products remain fans for a long time,” says Inoko.“In future, the most logical and cost-effective business solutions may no longer be the best. And the Bill Gates of the world may slowly become obsolete.”Speaking through a translator, Inoko is in Singapore for an exhibition of futuristic artworks at Ikkan Art Gallery at Helutrans.Titled The Experience Machine, the exhibition showcases more than a dozen slick and cutting- edge digital artworks such as video art and animation installation.Inoko’s digital company teamLab created two of the artworks on display: One is a stunning interactive animation room where kanji characters float on the walls.When you touch the various characters, such as wind or butterfly, they explode into beautiful visual representations, allowing you to create your own dreamscape through the combination of various words. Titled What A Loving and Beautiful World, the work is priced at $79,500.Inoko’s teamLab creates digital solutions for various companies – from cool video walls for fashion houses to a slick search-functionality for a popular ticketing website.The works by the other artists at the exhibition are equally compelling. Ben Rubin’s witty Something Is Boiling (priced at $37,500) displays a blurry electronic Campbell soup tin revolving on strips of LED lights, a playful homage to Andy Warhol’s iconic Campbell’s Soup Cans.John Gerard’s fascinating landscape “portrait” Dust Storm (priced at $100,000) is a computer-animated image constructed from thousands of still photographs. Using Realtime 3D, the portrait changes from morning to night as a landscape would in real-life, and allows the viewer to get a 360 degree-view of the vista by rotating the monitor.Many of the works offer a glimpse into the future of art, entertainment and advertising.The Experience Machine exhibition is on from Sept 13 to Oct 27 at the Ikkan Art Gallery at #01-05, Artspace @Helutrans, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road (directly opposite the road from the old Tanjong Pagar Railway Station).*Get The Business Times for more stories.

EXHIBITION

THE EXPERIENCE MACHINE

Featured on Plush, Sep 12, 2012

The brave new world of digital art

Art meets digital in an avant garde art exhibition that opens on Thursday, Sept 13, for a month.The collection of 15 original artworks by nine world renowned avant-garde artists is being displayed at the 9,500 sq ft Ikkan Art Gallery at Tanjong Pagar Distripark, which is located opposite the old Malayan Railway station.One of the eye-catching artworks at the exhibition, titled “The Experience Machine”, is the photo-realistic “The Last Judgment in Cyberspace” by Chinese artist, Miao Xiaochun.The painting, which reaches almost to the ceiling, shows a crowd of mannequins posing amidst a sepia sea of clouds.“Doesn’t this look familiar to you?” asked gallery owner Ikkan Sanada, pointing to the title of the huge artwork.As its name suggests, the composition and motifs are reproduced from Michelangelo’s universally recognised painting, “The Last Judgment” – except that Miao has added digital elements to it.He scanned his body in 3D and replaced all the human motifs with these images. As a result, the original one-dimensional painting was transformed into a 3D one with the resultant illusion of the bodies being constantly in motion.On top of this, Miao changed the point of view of the drawing, making it appear as if he could spin the world around like in a computer game.Commented gallery owner Sanada: “He added new and different perspectives into the art, which makes the audience feel like they are one of the mannequins in the artwork.”It has been almost a year that the 61-year-old Sanada moved his art gallery from New York to Singapore, assured of the rising demand for art in Asia. Since then, the gallery has successfully held four exhibitions showcasing the works of world class contemporary artist, such as Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei, and international photographers.He said that his latest exhibition is his most experimental.“Personally, I do not want to copy what other galleries do,” he commented. “I would like to introduce the cutting edge of art which looks to the future.” Other works on display are digital installation art by the Japanese creative company teamLab and self-portraits by Yasumasa Morimura. Some of the works are exclusive to “The Experience Machine” exhibition.TeamLab consists of various skilled “ultra technologists”, who have been active in Tokyo since 2001. It is an unprecedented art group that includes traditional Japanese painters, digital programmers, architects and more. To join the team, one needs to be a geek. The team is now 300 strong, undertaking more than 30 projects simultaneously.The interactive animation installation, “What a Loving, and Beautiful World”, is the centerpiece of the exhibition. It is a “must-experience” artwork that’s a fusion of beauty and state-of-the-art technology.The collaboration between teamLab and famous Japanese female calligrapher Sisyu has won the Architecture, Art & Culture Award in 2012 at the international virtual reality “Laval Virtual” contest.Said Toshiyuki Inoko, 35, CEO of teamLab: “You and other people and the things around you are influencing each other. The work. ‘What a Loving’, enables you to feel this natural and precious relationship between yourself and others”.A ceiling projector irradiates four square dimensions with serene blue colour. The Chinese characters for natural objects, such as flower, bird, moon and tree, flow slowly down randomly. The moment the shadow of the audience’s head or hand touches the characters, the ink calligraphy changes into colourful animations of a butterfly flapping its wings or a firefly flitting around. A full moon embraces all this with an aura of tranquillity.Inoko’s objective is to lead the world’s visual art. The surprising, cutting-edge projects by teamLab has been widely talked about worldwide.TeamLab also produced a 19:25 minute animated feature, “Flower and Corpse Glitch”, exclusively for the exhibition. A digital narrative with the theme of showing great awe towards nature, it has already found a buyer even before the opening of the exhibition.Another avant garde artist whose work is being exhibited is Yasumasa Morimura. He has won fame and fans for his self portraits, in which he himself would appear as the painting’s protagonist.On display at the exhibition is his faithful reproduction of 17th Century Dutch painter Jan Vermeer’s masterpiece, “Girl with a Pearl Earring”.Morimura’s latest creation is a 4 minute 12 second motion video, “Vermeer Study: Looking back”, which provides a story line for mysterious painting, “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. It will be open to the public for the first time. The price tag: S$40,000 (excluding the LCD screen).Other exhibits include Cryptic LED art by Ben Rubin (USA) and geometric animation depicting objects in New York City by John F. Simon Jr (USA).The price range of the artworks that’s on display is between S$8,500 and S$150,000.The exhibition, which runs from Sept 13 to Oct 27, is open to the public as is the opening event on Sept 12 at 7pm.Visit the exhibit at Ikkan Art Gallery at Artspace@Helutrans, #01-05, Tanjong Pagar Distripark, 39 Keppel Road, Singapore 089065. For more details, visit their website at www.ikkan-art.com or email them at info@ikkan-art.com.

EXHIBITION

THE EXPERIENCE MACHINE

Featured on art plus, July 5, 2012

アートとテクノロジーを融合した藝術超未来

展覧作品はあらゆる分野のエキスパートを網羅しているチームラボ（teamLab）によるもので、情報社会におけるプロを集めたチームである。メンバーはプログラマー、エンジニア、建築家、Webデザイナー、グラフィックデザイナー、CGアニメーター、編集者、数学家及び芸術家などから構成される。各人自らの専門領域で才能を発揮して、またメンバー同士互いに融合したり、統合したりして現代社会型の藝術を創作している。藝術と商業が融合するとき、無限のビジネスチャンスや楽しみをもたらし、それは「電脳喫茶」という作品を見れば理解できる。それはゲームの世界のメイド喫茶をイメージしたもので、30組の天井から吊るし下げられているランプとスプリングベッドを媒体として互いにコミュニケーションが取れ、壁には多くのディスプレイが埋め込められていて、それは30万もの文字(単語)から構成されている。その中にはメイドの最新擬態語も含まれている。そしてデジタルメイドはレストランの状況により声を発する。吊るし下げられているランプを本物のメイドが叩きにいけば、デジタルメイドは様々な方法で手を打ち音ならす。それはランプがパソコンと連動しており、またスプリングベッド上での動きもデジタルメイドは反応する。店の中の舞台で本物のメイドが踊っていると、デジタルのメイドも連動して一緒に踊る。そうしてこの空間はデジタルとリアルが双方向的に連結し、人々に無限の楽しみをもたらし科学性を見せつける。未来では人々が買い物をしているときにも利便性をもたらしてくれる。ハンガーに架けられた衣服を手に取った時、ディスプレイにはモデルが試着している映像が出現し、極めて独特な相互体験を形成している。購買時により多くのエンターテイメント性や可能性を秘めることが出来る。　これは早乙女太一が自身の陰と剣で戦う芝居である。ライト効果のもと、陰と人物が対戦するときより一層際立ち、独特な感じがする。またこれは全米スーパーモデルショーの中でも使われている。ラストショーのとき、モデルが歩くTの字の舞台がまさにそれである。モデルが自身の陰と剣舞するように設計されている。ここでも(早乙女太一)がファッション業界に新しいトレンドと無限のビジネスチャンスをもたらしたことが分かり、またこの中には動態藝術と武術文化が融合したものも含まれている。藝術と科学が結合するときはどうか？「teamLabBody」は人体の関節の三次元的動作を分析した、世界で初めての人体解剖のサイトである。生々しい3Dの立体動画は、我々に人体の構造における細部を観察可能にし、小さいものは筋肉の緊縮までも観察することが可能である。またその中には全身の骨格や血管、神経や関節を可視化させ、人体運動および筋肉の状態を3D立体映像で我々の目の前に表示することに成功した。この科学的研究は医療の発展や医学部学生の勉強のためにもなる。これは大阪大学「整形外科運動器バイオマテリアル学」実験室の菅本一臣教授が制作と監修を務めた。これはとても特別な装置であり、登山家栗城史多がチョモランマに挑戦したとき、酸素ボンベがない状況下で「チームラボオキシメーター」を使い即時に血中の酸素濃度を自動的に測った。血中酸素濃度が正常値より低いとき、かれは頭痛の症状が見られる。この装置は過酷な地で生存する上で非常に重要な鍵となる。なぜなら「チームラボオキシメーター」は自動的に自身の状態をTwitterへ投稿し、これは家族や友人に自身の生存を確認させることができるからである。これは繋がりでもあり自身の無事をシェアするものであり、これは未来の登山家たちに安全に寄与した装置である。展示場でもこの装置を展示してあり、鑑賞者はすぐに自身の血中酸素濃度を測ることが出来、自動的にインターネット上に投稿してくれる。実に人に優しく、面白いものである。情報が発達した現代と藝術が相互に融合したとき、「Face touch」は独特なシステムと言えるだろう。訪問者がディスプレイの相手の顔をタッチしたとき、呼び出された人のパソコン画面上にメッセージが表れる、とても便利かつ実践的な装置である。このようなものを見ると、未来には更なる開発性及び無限の可能性を感じる。「グラフィティ@グーグル」はGoogleで画像収集するとき、ある検索キーワードが規則によりひっかかり、作者はその規則に基づき左右の画像の並べ方を計算した。またそれは検索したブラウザや言語によって変わってくる。そのためこの実験過程はとても苦しかった。なぜならGoogleの索引は永遠に変わらないというわけではないからだ。隣にいる作者の日記の中でも、成功した翌日にすぐ変わってしまい、最後に彼は全世界中で検索されたものの結果はブロック状で表示されることを発見し、この規則を発見して新しい藝術作品を作った。このインタラクティブなサイトも展示場で鑑賞者に新しい体験をもたらした。これはペインティングゲームが新しくリリースした、ユーザーは画面上で自由に絵を描くことが出来、またさまざまな道具も利用することができる。そのため唯一無二の独特な作品も作ることができる。このことからは将来web上でのペインティングはより簡単により多くの年代に適することが想像できる。文化が刷新するにつて、チームラボは絶えず開発し、しかし昔の日本人の空間認識やその理解は決して無視していない。「百年海図巻」は2009年から計算して100年間海面線が上昇するものであり、この3D作品による計算から地球温暖化の変遷を感じることができる。この環状型の作品は、水墨画の掛け軸のようだが、内容と音楽は現代風なアニメーションである。「花と屍　剥落」は日本の平面性絵画をパソコンを経由して3D立体視覚空間へ変換したものであり、また日本の空間認識は視点が近づくにつれ、より立体的に表現されやすい。また視点が遠い前提で空間全体を認識するには、空間は層として認識されやすい。つまり所謂超主観空間である。この三つの作品の共通性はすべて自然と文明の衝突、循環と共生を描いており、これはらすべて超主観空間を概念の基軸としている。この作品は我々に昔の日本人が環境空間に対する考え方や解釈を教えてくれる。展示場には18の作品があり、我々により藝術およびその他の分野との産物を体験させてくれる。このチームラボに様々な人材がいると知ったとき、開発されたものすべては無限の可能性を秘めており、将来の発展はより楽観的になる。しかし科学技術の背後には、人々が今後科学技術産品にのみ頼り、自分の殻に閉じこもってインターネットでのみ他人と関わることや、資源が枯渇し始めたこの時代、やはり電気量の問題を考える必要がある。これはただ始まりで、研究や改善は絶えず行われ、やがて本当の意味での藝術超未来が実現される。

EXHIBITION

teamLab exhibition "We are the Future"

Featured on SANKEI SHIMBUN CO.,LTD., June 6, 2012

台湾で日本発の「芸術超未来」展　アート目指すデジタル産業

EXHIBITION

teamLab exhibition "We are the Future"

Featured on TdAic, June 5, 2012

現代テクノロジーとアートの超未来：　チームラボ

　国立台湾美術館の要請により、日本東京で活躍しているteamLabが今年再度台湾に展覧会を開きに来ました。「We are the Future（藝術超未来）」をテーマにした今回のデジタルテクノロジー展覧会は、現在国立美術館デジタル方舟館及び竹林内ホールにて展示をしています。今回台湾digiarts.org.tw(數位藝術知識與創作流通平台)は特別にteamLab創設者・猪子寿之に独占インタビューをしました。彼の会社の紹介と、彼のアート、デザイン、テクノロジーと業界の融合に対する考え方について、聞いてきました。

EXHIBITION

teamLab exhibition “We are the Future” 360 degree cyclorama screen

Featured on No Man's Land, May 31, 2012