Featured on International Symposium of Seoul Art Space GEUMCHEON, Oct 2011

An information society, Technology, Design, Art, Culture, and Industry

Making the borders between Technology, Art, and Design more Ambiguous. 　Before the information age, technology, design and art were clearly divided areas. However, the border has become blurred within the digital domain. For example, if we look at the interface of an I phone, it is difficult to define which parts are programming and which are the designer’s work. It turns out that both technology and design are concerned with the processing and relaying of information.
　Before digitalization it was necessary to have a physical substance for information to be transmitted through design or art. The situation changed with the digital age when information was released from the confines of having to be mediated through a physical substance, which in-turn necessitated the boundaries of design, art and technology. 
　In the information society people tend to become expert in one particular field and therefore it has become harder to create art on an individual basis, this is why TEAMLAB utilizes the skills of a group of artists and technicians. [1]　Competitive superiority = Region highly dependent on culture
　In informational society, another change has been taking place. The common speed which is verbalized domain becomes too fast. Therefore the region is no more the necessary condition in order to have an advantage in the competition. Before the information society, in case of iron-making technology, technological gap is caused by the country.　But the technological gap has been reduced IT can logicalize and verbalize. 
　However in domain where is highly depending on culture, can not explain verbally; for example, in domain such as “Cool, nice, interesting". This methodology is difficult to share. We think that really is where the advantage of developed countries. The differences are much more in region where heavily dependent on culture. As a result, it leads to competitive force. 
　In other word, we believe that the industry which rebuilds the region highly depended on culture with technology, and the developed countries with social infrastructure can get by in the world.　In the informational society, a change has been taking place. The speed at which the verbalized world can be shared has increased so dramatically that competition for a particular geopgraphical area is no longer an advantage. Before the information society, in the case of iron-making technology, a technological gap was caused by the country. But the technological gap has been reduced by IT’s ability to logicalize and verbalize.[2]
Japanese Culture and Japanese Spatial Recognition　So what is Japanese culture? What is behind Japanese culture? How do we grasp culture? How do we take in, understand and see the world? 
At TEAMLAB we believe that we may be able to find answers to some of these questions through making art and through the creative process. 
　Before the introduction of Western culture, the late Edo period (late 19th Century), Japan was a closed country to foreign commerce. During that time it is possible that people had a different way of seeing the world. Japanese painting lacked Western Perspective, and because of this it is often said that Japanese painting is flat. However, we propose that Japanese ancestors saw the world exactly as it is depicted in a classic Japanese print. When they looked at a Japanese painting they were able to see or feel the space in the painting, just as we see space and depth information in a modern day photograph. Considering this we at TEAMLAB began to wonder if Japanese didn’t have a different logic of space recognition to Western perspective.
TEAMLAB video production 　TEAMLAB has made a number of video works that attempt to recreate the recognition of space of our Japanese ancestors’ in 3 dimensions. We hope that in the process we may be able to discover a new mode of expression. 
　Example; the installation movie 100 YEARS SEA -Animation Diorama- [3]
　This work was created in a three dimensional computer space and the motion of the waves was computer generated.  Then we converted the animation so that it could be visualized inline with our ideas concerning Japanese spatial recognition – the hypothesis that, Japanese painting was founded on a different logic of spatial awareness to that of perspective.
　Producing video works using Japanese spatial awareness has advantages over perspective [4]. For example, the middle of a movie theater is often considered the best place to view the movie, the visual experience becoming impaired with distance from the screen. However, using Japanese spatial awareness, there is no focal point and there is no need to identify with the location of the viewers. Therefore, the viewers can freely walk around the exhibition space. 
　In addition it is not necessary to use a flat surface on which to project the image. In the case of the installation of “100 Years Sea", the work was exhibited on screens that were at 90 degrees to each other without damaging the installation experience. Perhaps this can be understood in relation to the tradition of painting on Japanese folding screens.　The work, "Life survives by the power of life" [5] was exhibited as part of  TEAMLAB’s “Live!" exhibition at Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki Gallery in Taipei in April of 2011, at the 54th “Future Pass" Venice Biennale, Hong Kong’s art fair “ART HK", and “VOLTA" Basel, Switzerland. This work also uses the concept of Japanese spatial recognition. When shown as a still image the work appears flat, just as a Japanese print, but during playback it appears to occupy a 3 dimensional space.
Japanese Subjective Space Description which supports “Narikiri" (Entering a Picture, or Visualizing a Picture from inside it)　Western perspective is drawn from the view point of the artist and recognition of space can be thought of as fan-like. If you were to try to see the view as if you were in the picture, narikiri, then what you see would change. (In the case of a portrait painting the person in the picture would look back at the artist or viewer / figure A) 
　However, the concept of the observing point in Yamato-e (Japanese painting) is weak, and the grasp of space is very different from that of perspective. If I draw a picture from the observation point of the person who is depicted in a Japanese painting, then the recognition of the space would almost be the same. [6]
　As mentioned above let’s assume that you are able to see the world as an ancient Japanese saw and recognized the world, as in Japanese paintings, and that you enter into a yamato-e picture. Unlike with a perspective painting the picture doesn’t change. Even though you become the character in the picture while viewing the picture, you can still keep watching it (Figure B). In the video game “Dragon Quest", the players enter into the character whilst watching and playing the game. It gives them enjoyment because they enter into the world of the character and experience the picture the world of Dragon Quest as if they were in it. That is the spatial representation of “Dragon Quest (Figure C) [7]. However, as mentioned above, with Western perspective a person cannot enter the picture in the same way. Therefore the player of the game only sees details like the hand, handle, and cockpit of the airplane. Japanese spatial recognition supports the notion of “pretend" and its recognition is highly subjective. This subjective awareness goes together well with the information society.

We believe that in the future when new industries emerge, if the industry and culture fit together well, then the strengths of the culture will be preserved for the benefit of the whole world.
 [1] We at TEAMLAB create teams of specialist among various fields who are able to transcend the boundaries of their own field of research. We attach importance to utilizing the discoveries that are made during the creative process for future projects.[2] We are Japanese and the topic is based on Japan, but it might share something in common with South East Asia.
[3] 100 YEARS SEA -Animation Diorama- TEAMLAB, 2009, Animation Installation, 10min 00sec(19m 200mm × 2m 400mm) & 100 years(16:9 × 5) *2 versions, sound: Hideaki Takahashi
[4] There are also disadvantages. Objective and physical size information is lost.
[5] Life survives by the power of life
[6] Some people would consider this idea ridiculous. However, perspective is also unnatural. The focus of the human eye is very narrow. The human eye does not clearly see detail like that of photographs and paintings of the

WORK What a Loving, and Beautiful World

Featured on STUDIO VOICE, Jul, 2012

About the exhibit works “LIFE SURVIVES BY THE POWER OF LIFE" at the exhibition of Venice Biennale. Toshiyuki Inoko(TeamLab) Interview

The Video work of teamLab "Life survives by the power of life" (a.k.a. “Live") has been created for their first solo exhibition in Taiwan. It has been exhibited until the end of November 27 as a few Japanese artists at the exhibition of Venice Biennale since June 2011.
This work that was exhibited with the works by Takashi Murakami and Kaikai Kiki in “Future Pass – From Asia to the World" is expressing Japanese calligraphy “生"(means “to live") as 3D. And it represents an overflowing life that following around the season by showing that vegetation sprout from the character.We asked Toshiyuki Inoko, who has done with the construction and reception party after the third day of the press review of Venice Biennale, about the background of how the work was created and the thoughts that was put in the work.History of "Gallery debut"– I think that it may be good to say that this year is the year of the art debut of teamLab because you have been through the solo exhibition at Kaikai Kiki Gallery in Taipei. Please tell us the history of how you made the commercial gallery debut.Inoko:　In the spring of this year, Mr. Katagiri, who works at Pixiv, brought me to Mr. Takashi Murakami’s company. I showed our work to him at that time, and he said, “This stuff is cool." And then in the flow, it got covered in the Kaikai Kiki Gallery in Taipei.
Mr. Murakami wrote the text about this flow in the PUBLIC-IMAGE.ORG. Please use that one. (Laugh)Because it was not aware of the video work of teamLab “to sell," our works has been created on the assumption that the installation by technicians and maintenance need. For instance, “100 years sea" one of our works is using a couple of projectors. Because the length of the movie time is 100 years, the setting up computers by technicians is needed to exhibit. In the other hands, our new work “LIVE" is our first work that we thought of the case that owners could have in their possession while we have been making. This is　our third time to exhibit this work. Taipei, Hong Kong, Venice. It will be Art Basel in Switzerland after here, and new offers are steadily coming now.
The Video work that represents raising the sea level of the earth as the animation of the ancient Japanese style. There are two patterns. One is showing all in 10 minutes, and another one is taking for the real time to show all which is 100 years.– The Video works of teamLab is mostly created by 3D based on paintings of the ancient Japanese style. What made you think to use calligraphy in this time?Inoko:　As the major premise, we thought it simply needed to be a thing owners could enjoy. To do this, we needed to remove the technical barrier and the works should have universality as well as a good viewing thing. Because of these reasons, we made this work have generality. It has the screen ratio of 16:9 that is able to use a projector to display or use a TV monitor.We have already made some “calligraphy works." But　we have a thought that it wasn’t properly presented much while we are in Asian cultural area. Japan has the culture that is always accompanied by illustrations, which is not like classified by art, literature, scroll paintings, or cartoon. There is always an illustration in scroll paintings. A western font requires objective beauty as a font, but calligraphy needs to know its background of who wrote this in what situation and what the person wrote to appreciate. Since the concept of the modern story called "calligrapher," it is the cultural character that has a story like Daishi Kobo wrote a point by throwing his brush.A character basically needs to be objective because it shares the meaning of letter with others as its rule. Japanese is the subjective from the beginning. We had written a character that depends on their emotion. I think it’s interesting. Japanese people are thinking that there is no absolute, like an objective justice or evil, in the back of their mind. There is no sense of the hundred-percent-evil in Hollywood. Because this background influences a character, I think it has become to have relatively loose rules. It is interesting because a character is to strongly reflect the mentality of the writer.It is similar to modern people who are writing messages with emoticons on their cellphone. For example, compares to “I am waiting ♡" and “I am waiting (T_T)", these are same sentences with different nuances. Of course, some people who don’t like these emoticons may not use them.
I think it is our Japanese mind putting on their subjectivity to objective character.Want to rebuild “Character" in digital form– Please explain the mentality of the character called “LIVE"Inoko:　I haven’t heard anything from Sisyu, so this is what I felt about. She and I are good friends. I think she gave me her thoughts that “want you to live strongly" because my way to live seems uncertain. This “生"(to live) added a period. There is a word says, “王に点を入れたら玉"(means if a period added to王(a king), it becomes玉(a ball)) in Japanese chess. I think that the reason a period is added is her thoughts that she wants me to live stronger. When we saw this at the first time, everyone simply thought it was good one because teamLab itself is a kind of survival group itself.When Murakami contacted to me, he told me that there was no time and it was fine to exhibit one of the past works. However, I wanted to make new one. At that time, the character was first one up as a motif.
While rotating the 3D character of the "LIVE", representing the four seasons to live.– Have you thought of taking a balance of other three video works: “Flower and Corpse", “100 years sea", and “Life is the light that shines in the darkness?"Inoko:　These are the works that exhibit at this time. First, “100 years sea" is the work that the sea level rises over 100 years. It has 10 minutes version. “Flower and Corpse" is representing the collision of nature and civilization. At last, these are two new works of calligraphy called “LIVE." Although it was coincidence, I felt the cause and effect of the earthquake and tsunami at this time. In face, the Taipei exhibition was postponed for one week after the earthquake. When I see the exhibition place after the construction is finished, I felt the cause and effect even though it was coincidence.– While it is a character itself, the character is three-dimensionally rotating. Is there a meaning of representing 3D?Inoko:　When I went to Taipei about 10 years ago, the interior of new design hotel at the time had calligraphy as a design work. I was very mortifying. While we have same Chinese character culture, Japan does not have obtained or is losing the culture. I want people to think Japan can rebuild the character to modern taste better and it would be cool if it can be a part of design.Now media is a paper. It means the character can be digital. I always have this theme that the character can be rebuilt in digital media and it needs to be shown as cool as it is.The character is a letter. Hieroglyph and emoticon. I think there was a meaning to the shallowness or depth because it was carved in stone and wood in orgin. Therefore, I want to show it as 3D. It is easy to know the trajectory, acceleration force, and depth if it is slowly rotating. But whatever the reason was, I want people to think, “this calligraphy is awesome."Japanese are originally information supremacy.– Among this exhibition of Venice, Takashi Murakami tweets “The evaluation of the difference between the tepid power is just building the future of the confusion. Bad things need to be rejected." How do you understand about it?Inoko:　It will be my own opinion. There were lots of Asian artists’ works in an exhibition beginning from Taiwan and China at this time. I think it means, “We are different from the context of the West. The high-quality works within the context of the East Asia could be better than the western one. But if we bring some bad works to Venice, people may think Context of East Asia is inferior to the context of the West." The reason representing our work to the digital way is I think that Japanese are originally Information principle rather than materialist. There is an episode, “Sen no Rikyu was entertained Hideyoshi by a flower of morning glory." Hideyoshi found value of Sen no Rikyu from the morning glory might wither tomorrow and became a sponsor. I think an ancient Japanese considered the information supremacy. However, Japan has lagged behind in the information society. I don’t like this.For instance, Oda Nobunaga made people free from the land and couldn’t forgive the landowner. So he burned out the territory of his own house after he moved out. In other words, he didn’t have no fixed value and found from added value only. He didn’t like to cling goods or places so he didn’t even build a barrier. Then GDP became 10 times and Creators like merchants, carpenters, and sword smiths came out to the front stage. In the meaning above, I chose digitalism because I want to represent the way only information society can do.– Did you feel something when you came to Venice Biennale with Kaikai Kiki at this time?Inoko:　If I say ultimately straight, it may be a hint for our future, suggestion of new value and representation, tip of the added value of future, or tip for new markets.To export the concept of the lolicon.– Did you feel something when you came to Venice Biennale with Kaikai Kiki at this time?Inoko:　Murakami was very popular. When we walk around Venice, Japanese came close to him and star

EXHIBITION Future Pass