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Shigeki Hayashi creates ceramics that look like they were machine-made of plastics or PVCs. A closer examination reveals that they have all gone through kilns where their outcome is dictated by heat in excess of 1,200Oc.
I like his melting batman faces (ok, kind of batman) from 2003 but the artist's latest works are exhibited in Kansai, in Japan, Jun 17-Jul 23. More fun for Bat-maniacs: Fat Bat, by Virginie Barré (on flickr) and Mark Newport's stunning knitted Batman costume. Via Kansai Scene. |
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loopScape, by Ryota Kuwakubo, is a game for 2 players with wireless controllers. It is a very classic shooting game. But instead of battling on a flat screen, you have to run around the cylindrical LED screen to follow your spaceship. Another consequence of having a 360° is that once your missile is fired, it will fly round and round until it hits something: hopefully it will hit your opponent's rocket but you might also get shot down by your own missile if the enemy manages to avoid it.
Related: 3D video game. loopScape --together with Unreflective Mirror, by Masaki Fujihata, A-Volve by Sommerer/Mignonneau, FragMental by exonemo, and works by five other artists-- is part of the Art & Technology Zone, an exhibition area where one can investigate the dialogue between technology and art. The show opens on June 6 and runs until September 9, at ICC, Tokyo. Other "products" and installation by Kuwakubo: Delay Phone, PLX -parallax of the game, R/V: Robots That Mediate Human-Human Interaction, Duper/looper, fluid, extra!, Bit-Hike, VideoBulb and BitMan, Heaven Seed. |
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Currently watching the videos of the kings of the Shibuya-kei movement: Pizzicato Five, an '80s and '90s Japanese pop group known for their go-go kitsch compositions, which sometimes sound like "new" releases from the late 1960s. In loop: Playboy Playgirl.
More Jpop clips. |
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With Invisible - The Shadow Chaser, players have to sense and capture "ghosts" with a vacuum cleaner. "Invisible" goblins sneak around, but you can only see their shadows.
The system allows "hunters" to feel the presence of 3D virtual objects using only indirect information such as the shadows and sounds of goblins instead of direct images. When the goblins move, players can hear their footsteps. The volume of the sound changes depending on the goblins' position on the floor. When players capture goblins, they hear the goblins' scream and vacuuming sounds.
Players can also get a haptic sense of capture. When they catch a goblin, small motors in the hose of the device vibrate sequentially from the nozzle toward the handle. Then a large vibrating motor in the backpack presents a sense that the captured goblin is struggling. At the same time, water is moved from a tank on the ground to another in the backpack, so players feel the weight of the captured goblins. The projector displays a 3D object's existence and behavior. Developed by the Nara Institute of Science and Technology. Images 1, 2 and 3 (thanks Konomi.) Presented at Laval Virtual, (via Yahoo.) |
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Ibuki, by Masaru Tabei and Yasuno Miyauchi, is a sound installation that allows visitors to hear the sound of a silent inanimate object through bone conduction, thereby encouraging the visitors to rethink meanings of everyday objects which they normally don't pay attantion to.
Ibuki is a Japanese word for lively breath/sign of presence. Things exist and they change. If changes are caused by physical activities, we could possibly hear the sound of such activities from anything that exists in the world. While you are still wondering whether this is true, you may already be putting your chin on top of a large egg-shaped object. Thanks to the bone-conduction technology, your jawbone is part of the communication channel allowing the object to "tell" you something. Bone-conduction technology has long been used in hearing aids and other products for the hearing impaired, as well as in military headsets. Recently, several commercial companies have been developing products aimed at the general public, using this technology. For example, a cell phone handset that lets users listen by pressing it against their jaws is for sale in Japan; and, a while ago, NTT DoCoMo showed Yubiwa, a ring-shaped mobile phone handset that uses the user's finger to transmit sound into her ear . Is Ibuki suggesting a new communication modality in the 21st century, when technologies increasingly blur the boundaries between physical objects and digital communication media? (Not sure how I can silently say things through my bones though. ) "Ibuki -- Presence in a Sigh--" was shown at Intercollage Computer Music Concert 2005 that took place in Gifu around the end of last year. thanks regine! |
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Myriads of glowing dots wavering in the darkness -- one might feel as if she could visually sense the air moving, or as if she was immersed in the endless conversation with a formless matter whose meanings constantly emerge and disappear. Yasuaki Onishi, a young artist in Osaka, has explored the fascinating interplay of darkness, fluorescence, and shapes through his works using lo-tech materials: fluorescent paint, paper, knitting wool, plastic bags, fans, black light, etc.
What Onishi intends to create is "something that restricts visitors' visual perception and thereby stimulate their imagination." When he was making an iron sculpture in college, he took artistic photographs of sparks made by a grinder. Then, he went on to explore the potential of light in flat surfaces and 3D spaces.
It was a couple of years ago when he first made animated 3D forms using black light and fluorescent paint. Actually, one may not call them 3D forms: they occupy 3D spaces, however, don't have clearly perceptible shapes. His works were featured at several exhibitions in Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo last year, including "Art Exhibition Daft Punkism" where three people showed different art works inspired by Daft Punk album "Robot Rock." Related website: thanks, regine! |
