The 17th Japan Media Arts Festival

A media arts festival with “current” art that connects memories and opens our eyes.

Passing the registration desk and walking through the entrance, an exhibition space without any partitions appears. The 17th Japan Media Arts Festival Exhibition of Award - Winning Works, Courtesy of Japan media Arts Festival Secretariat

The Japan Media Arts Festival, held this year for the 17th time since it began in 1997, received more submissions than it has in the past with 4,347 works from 84 countries (and regions). Art, Entertainment, Animation, and Manga are the four divisions that are awarded a Grand Prize, Excellence Awards, New Face Awards, and Jury Selections. The festival also organized exhibitions, screenings, and talks at four venues including Tokyo Midtown, Cinem@rt Roppongi, and the National Art Center, Tokyo (the main venue).

Exhibition view of Carsten Nicolai’s "crt mgn" © 2013 Carsten Nicolai. All Rights reserved.

Ice Hills Hotel in Toubetsu 2014

A mysterious world below freezing made out of ice and snow.

Photo: Hiroki Onishi

In February when Japan welcomed its coldest period, the Ice Hills Hotel opened up on a hill covered with snow in Hokkaido. The hotel has been surprising visitors from all over the world with its elements, including a building built with ice and snow, the Royce Ice Bar reception building, and a fun experience below freezing with art, restaurants with locally-grown ingredients, a snowmobile and a sleigh.

Creative Hokkaido meets Taipei

"Creativity" - a dispatch from Hokkaido to Asia

Photo: Takumi Yamamoto

"Creative Hokkaido meets Taipei" was an event promoted by "Creative Hokkaido" - a project which aims to introduce the creative spirit of Hokkaido to audiences in Japan and abroad - and run by H.P. France in Taipei during NEW CITY ART FAIR. Following up from last year's event, the tie-in took place from the 7 to 10 November 2013.

NEW CITY ART FAIR: Creative Hokkaido booth. Photo courtesy of Clark Gallery + SHIFT

Clark Gallery + SHIFT handled the creative direction of this project. Galleries located in Sapporo and who had previously partaken on Art Fair Sapporo, namely Gallery MONMA, SYMBIOSIS and Hanaagura, participated in the event. Works by Leo Fujisawa, Midori Kambara, Takuya Yonezawa, Masayuki Shinoki, Toshihiko Shibuya, Takanori Isago, Wabisabi were on exhibition. Though the exhibition's goal was primarily to promote art made in Hokkaido, the artworks succeeded in connecting with audiences and sales were strong.

LIVING WITH ART

Machinaka Art × Odori Bisse – Odori Bisse turns into an art gallery!

Using the concept “Incorporate art into daily life - Enjoy ‘buying art’” as its theme, Machinaka Art and Odori Bisse held the event “LIVING WITH ART” from November 1st till the 21st at Odori Bisse, an iconic commercial complex in Sapporo. At this well-attended exhibition, 63 pieces of artwork by 20 artists, with an average price tag of 9,800 yen, were on sale.

Machinaka Art is an art project based around the Sapporo area. Working together with a number of different galleries, its aim is to inspire a more creative city environment – an environment where contemporary art is shown to the public in cafes, beauty salons and hotels. The “LIVING WITH ART” exhibition displayed and sold Giglee Prints by
Machinaka Art artists as “Machinaka Art Editions” (Collaborated with Re-Ambitious). Participating artists signed their limited edition works that were sold during the event. Five different types of picture frames were sold separately as well, so patrons were able to mix and match them with the artwork they had purchased.

Art Fair Sapporo 2013

Sapporo host the first International Art Fair in Sapporo.

Do you need skills to “read art?” There is the term “art literacy,” but compared to “information literacy,” the necessity may be more vague.

On November 23rd and 24th, Art Fair Sapporo 2013 was held at the Cross Hotel Sapporo. It was an international contemporary art trade fair which had not been seen in Sapporo before. 20 galleries from inside and outside Japan gathered in Sapporo to exhibit and sell their selection of artists’ works. From famous masters to very new talents, more than 200 groups of contemporary artists’ works were proudly introduced. People could visit the venue for free and look around with explanations by professional galleries. If they found any attractive work they could also bargain for it.

With continuous crowds, both days had many visitors. Introduced on the various media and SNS, a wide variety of people; from art world people such as collectors and students to general the residents of Hokkaido came to this event for 2 days.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Galerie Perrotin / 25 years

From famous names to younger or lesser known artists. The wonderful world of Emmanuel Perrotin collection.

After the huge success in 2012 of Fantastic, a major festival-like calendar of events spreading all over the metropolis, Lille 3000 is back in 2013 in the sole Tri Postal (familiarly called the Tri Po) in Lille.

"28 Millimètres: Women are Heroes, Action dans la Favela Morro da Providência, Favela de jour, Rio de Janeiro, Brésil", JR, 2008, © JR-ART.NET, Courtesy of Galerie Perrotin

DOTMOV FESTIVAL 2013

Screening start from November 2013 throughout 2014 around the world!

DOTMOV is a digital film festival organized by online magazine "SHIFT", aiming to discover unknown talented creators and provide an opportunity to show their works. We had a total of 206 works from 18 countries this year, and an excellent 20 works among them were selected by guest judges. All the selected works are also presented on the website. This year's festival will take place in several cities in Japan and overseas from November 2013 throughout 2014.

In addition to the general category like before, we called for entries to the“ELEKINESIS VA”MV (music video) category in collaboration with the event“Elekinesis”organized by the Sapporo based label “SenSe” which introduces creatives such as music and art in this year.“ELEKINESIS VA”MV category videos will be appear on the screening.

Hitoshi Kakizaki “Shape of Light”

Fascinating world of Uranium glass

What do you imagine upon hearing the term “glass installation?” There are many installation exhibitions in museums, but one which is composed of only glass is rare to see. Hitoshi Kakizaki’s “Shape of Light” was an ambitious exhibition which was filled with glass works at the Hongo Shin Memorial Museum of Sculpture, Sapporo. Seeing such varied experiments of expression, you will realize the many possibilities of glass and how it is able to take so many various forms.

Photo: Seiji Yamagishi. Courtesy of Hongo Shin Memorial Museum of Sculpure, Sapporo

The White Collection

Feel the slow passage of time created by nature through color change.

An installation titled “The White Collection” by Toshihiko Shibuya is now at the “Hayama Satellite” of Hongo Shin Memorial Museum of Sculpture, Sapporo.

© Toshihiko Shibuya

Kazuki Umezawa

“Extreme AR Image Core”

The “Extreme AR Image Core” exhibit is currently being held at Diesel Art Gallery in Shibuya, Tokyo by up and coming artist Kazuki Umezawa. He has been creating many unexpected new works by combining a vast number of motifs that he creates with countless pictures culled from the internet.

Umezawa introduced many of his new art works at this exhibit as well as inviting the AR3Bros. as a development team who do creative activities using a technology called “augmented reality” (AR). His pieces with AR embedded inside are expressed as three-dimensional pieces that can be appreciated when viewed through terminals at the venue that have been prepared and re-configured in their monitors. In conjunction with the exhibit, an interview was conducted with Kazuki Umezawa about his past activities and future developments.

Photo by Tetsuomi SUKEDA

First of all, please tell us about the circumstances under which you decided to do this “Extreme AR Image Core” exhibit at the Diesel Art Gallery and/or the points that you were focused on for this exhibit.

Taki Products

To create products worthy of promotion.

Advertising design company Taki Corporation sells design products such as colorful and a unique styled notebook and a rolled picture book on the website as a brand, named "Taki Products".

The young designers around twenties can relate to people's want and needs on the productrs, thus, Taki Products are created to bridge relationships between people.

#000, A Sheet Of Paper, Sometimes A Hanger (Not for selling)

Restaurang AG

Meat kingdom.

Johan Jureskog is Chef Creative Director of AG, responsible for winning 2 years consecutively Best Meat Restaurant in Sweden. Not an easy task, a status that he has established thanks to pursuing his own believe. He is known as “The Butcher” on his collaboration for channel TV4 in Sweden. He plans to have his own TV show but Johan also works on a different direction with his other restaurant Rolfs Kök (Rolf’s Kitchen) where he can offer grounded rustic food. The secret for the successful formula in AG is due to two main factors: the network that Johan has concocted to be able to offer the best meat possible from different parts of the world every week. So in this spirit you will find marbled meat, entrecôte Wagyu, on the bone Clubsteak or Black Angus from Spain, Finland, Sweden, U.S, Australia or Scotland for instance. Then, the second factor is his drying aged system, a special refrigerator where they can put meat up to 80 days, giving a pungent flavor and unique touch to the meat.

Osma Harvilahti

"Photography allows to me to do fun things that could otherwise as ridiculous, absurd, dangerous, adventurous or forbidden."

Osma Harvilahti is a young photography based in Helsinki; he is currently making quite a big impact in the world with his name becoming well known. His clients include BBC (major British broadcaster), the world famous Marimekko brand and the other famous giant of Finland, Nokia. His background is a little different from other artists, he graduated from the University of Helsinki in Sociology and media while at the same time as making his name as a photographer. His work has been described as dreamlike and ethereal while his personality reflects a man with a lot of ambition, he is a rising star in Finland and is well on his way to becoming a rising star of the world.

Please introduce yourself and your work.

Miwonderland

Miwonderful gone astray into the world of mirror.


Photo: Miwa Yokoyama

The Rising Sun Rock Festival 2013 in EZO (RSR), the largest class outdoor music festival in Japan was held from August 16th till the dawn of the 18th, 2013 at Ishikari Bay New Port near Sapporo. The Clark Gallery + SHIFT was in charge of the creative direction of the official make up booth “Miwonderland” by a make smile artist Miwa Yokoyama (aka Miwonderful).

Photo: Akira Inoue

James Turrell: A Retrospective

The windows of perception.

Everyone when gets into a room on his own, first thing often is to flip the light on in order to light up the room and create volume in the space. For James Turrell the light is “the thing.” “What if light wasn’t the tool that enabled people to see something else but rather became the thing people look at?” It’s all about how you see the light and how you perceive it. His work consists in to manipulate shapes and colors in order to change the way your eye sees it. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is presenting his first major retrospective in nearly thirty years. The exhibition features approximately fifty works tracing five decades of the artist’s career. He plays with your perception, some people could walk out of the exhibition blessed… it’s like drugs.

James Turrell, Twilight Epiphany, 2012, A James Turrell Skyspace, The Suzanne Deal Booth Centennial Pavilion, Rice University, Houston, TX, © Florian Holzherr

David Bielander "Koi For Joy"

A creative talent who uses creative materials.

David Bielander was born in Switzerland and lives in Munich, he studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich. He is well known for using different materials and different processes for creating his work, in recent years he has won the Herbert Hofmann Prize and the Francois van den Bosch Prize. His recent exhibition in London was sponsored by the Embassy of Switzerland and was located in Gallery S O London. This gallery is based in Brick Lane, a street famous for Indian restaurants, markets as well as art related venues. It aims to stimulate perceptions of contemporary art and jewellery, as well as to highlight how the creativity process works. The gallery has two different areas; a large space in the back is reserved for temporary projects and exhibitions while the front of the gallery provides a perfect platform for displaying works of art.

David Bielander, Kraken, 2012, Candelabra, Cast Bronze, Limited ed.12

PALETTE 03: Gold & Silver

When is the right time to use gold and silver?

The book Gold & Silver, a sequel to Multicolour from the PALETTE series, was released from the Hong Kong based design publisher Victionary. It introduces a variety of design and art, including familiar items such as name cards and stationaries, advertisements, packaging and installations.

Ron Mueck Exhibition

The Fondation Cartier welcomes again Ron Mueck.

This exhibition, which is already a large success, is the second one by Australian born Ron Mueck at Parisian Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, after the artist’s 2005 spectacular show in the same place.

In addition to six recent sculptures, the show includes three other pieces especially produced for the occasion. A 45 minutes film by Gautier Deblonde follows the creating process of these works, right in the heart of the artist’s London studio.

Ron Mueck began his career as a creative director and puppet creator for an Australian children's television program and for the cinema. He then opened his own company in London, concentrating on photo-realistic props and animatronics. This led him to the creation of silicone and fiberglass realistic sculptures, so meticulously detailed that they become disturbingly alive. The figures seem so real that, at first glance, they would almost be indistinguishable from an actual person, except for their surprising scale. Ron Mueck’s creatures are always smaller or bigger than life, a choice which accentuates the feeling of strangeness one feels when confronted to them.

Couple under an umbrella, Ron Mueck, 2013 © Thomas Salva / Lumento for the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain

Shu Saito Exhibition "A View from Yesterday"

"Now" is on top of the continuum of the past.

The colorful installations welcome us in the entrance, lobby, lounge, and guest rooms at the hotel. Each works depicted by soft colors seem to remind us nostalgic landscape, the sound of the wind and even the smells. Various landscapes in our dull memories... Here are the scenery of everyday life. Things that expressed in these works are not special, unusual things, but the familiar things around us.

Gagosian Gallery Hong Kong

A leading international contemporary art gallery comes to Asia!

Gagosian Gallery is a leading international contemporary art gallery with twelve exhibition spaces in New York, Los Angeles, London, Rome, Athens, Paris, Geneva and Hong Kong. Established by Larry Gagosian in 1980, Gagosian is widely considered as the most powerful international art gallery for modern and contemporary art, and in January 2011, it opened its eleventh location, and its first space in Asia, in Hong Kong.

Installation view of Damien Hirst: Forgotten Promises at Gagosian Gallery Hong Kong, 2011. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.