A record number of visitors attended the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival held in The National Art Center, Tokyo, in February. The 12 day festival was launched in 1997, to promote the creation and development of media arts. This years festival received more than 2,500 works from 54 countries, about 180 award-winning works and jury-recommended works. The festival highlights four art divisions including media based art, entertainment, animation and manga.

This year, the festival included an ‘exhibition zone’, where award-winners and directors of festivals abroad, could take the stage and give talks. The space also featured screening shows of award-winning works and various symposiums.

The Twitter Plaza was opened this year. With a hashtag #JMAF2009, tweets were displayed in real time.

Among the Jury Recommend Works, BEARINGS GLOCKEN II (Kohsuke Kawase) was one of the works selected for the Art Division / Installation. It is a musical instrument that automatically plays a Glockenspiel (Metallophone) using a steel-ball for bearings that are considered to be the most perfect sphere on earth, producing a clear and pleasing sound to the ear.

There were some interactive works as well, including Belgium-born and Norway-based artist Lawrence Malstaf’s installation “Nemo Observatorium“, in which you enter a gigantic transparent cylinder that blows white particles. This installation was nominated for the Excellence Prize in the Art Division.

But it was Ei Wada who won the Excellence Prize, with his performance work “Braun Tube Jazz Band“. Using braun tube televisions, he performed live with the tube television musical instrument and VHS video decks as samplers. It was a stunning performance that began with a presentation of the concept.

The Grand Prize went to David Bowen’s “growth modeling device“, which was a kinetic installation based on the rate of growth for an onion. You can see the daily onion growth installed on the conveyor belt, as it scans and replicates nature. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exhibited with the device, but showcased the video of the production process.

Co-produced by Magico Nakamura, Masayoshi Nakamura, Masashi Kawamura, and Hal Kirkland, the music video work “Hibi no Neiro” won the Grand Prize of the Entertainment Division. The work was also selected for the digital film festival DOTMOV 2009.

The Grand Prize for the Manga Division went to Makoto Yukimura’s “VINLAND SAGA“. It was a great opportunity for fans to be able to see his original drawings and signature works.

There were some other related events held in parallel to the Japan Media Arts Festival, such as The 15th Student Computer Graphics Contest exhibition. One of those works was the Grand Prize winning work for the Installation Division “Urbanized Typeface : Shibuya08-09” by Takahiro Yamaguchi. He created “Shibuya font” using the database of trails running with a bike.

As the festival welcomed visitors, long queues began to form particularly around the interactive works as many audiences members listened to the symposium and watch various performances. The total number of visitors reached 63,000 which was the highest number so far among past festivals.

2009 [13th] Japan Media Arts Festival
Date: February 3rd – 14th, 2010
Place: The National Art Center, Tokyo
Organizer: Japan Media Arts Festival Executive Committee (Agency for Cultural Affairs / The National Art Center, Tokyo / CG-ARTS Society)

http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/english/festival/2009

Text: Kayo Tamura
Translation: Mariko Takei

Tags: Art, bunka, David Bowen, Design, hashtag, japan, japan art, japanese, Masashi Kawamura, media arts, plaza, Tokyo, twitter