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It's not really that unusual for design/art portals to organize creative conferences, like OFFF Festival, FITC, and My Favorite Conferencea and Design Edge of IdN. Now this trend has widened to the media art and web design business in Japan such as CBCNET's APMT and Hitspaper's HIGH5. The PUBLIC/IMAGE.LABEL has addressed a variety of cutting-edge artists of the age in PUBLIC-IMAGE.ORG since its reception, and finally decided to hold an unique creative conference "PUBLIC/IMAGE.METHOD".

It was, 2 years ago when PUBLIC/IMAGE was founded and started curating interesting artists with an original point of view and extensive network. The initiative's tag line was: "to make our public images our own". It has now established a strong position as one of the major art/design portals publish in Japanese.

Public/image.METHOD
PUBLIC/IMAGE.METHOD Session 1 "TEAM★LAB x Katsuki Tanaka"

The first session was Toshiyuki Inoko, a representative of TEAM★LAB with Katsuki Tanaka. TEAM★LAB pursues their original expressions widely on the Internet and through installations, obfuscating the border among technology, art, and design. Furthermore, Katsuki Tanaka is a comic artist, who sends his own world-view out by means of illustration.


In the Web field for instance, each update of Action Scpript allows the possibility of physical computing and Flash to spread more, and such technologies are still in the process of evolution. Inoko seeks after what kind of interest on the evolution of technology can provide with audience. In the collaboration project SKETCH PISTON 2 with Katsuki Tanaka, they realized "a possible tool in which anyone can be a cartoonist", generating Tanaka's humor in illustration and the latest technology in the web world. They provided us laughs and possiblities that "the time will come where anyone can create interesting things with creativity, even if they are not professionals." Not only artists but we all are granted special privileges to have a chance to create "interest with no name".


Public/image.METHOD
PUBLIC/IMAGE.METHOD Session 2 "FUGAHUM x Kazunari Tajima"

The next session is FUGAHUM x Kazunari Tajima. FUGAHUM, a fashion brand managed by Akiyoshi Mishima, an art director of ENLIGHTMENT, and fashion designer Asuka Yamamoto, looks at fashion from a conceptual point of view and shows artistic expression beyond the hedge of apparel. Kazunari Tajima is a world-wide photogpraher of fashion magazines and advertisements.

What these two showed us was definitely the professional METHOD. Tajima specifically talked about what conception and methodology he used when he shot the catalogue of the A/W collection of FUGAHUM, using the documentary film. There exists his profound thoughts and strong tastes. Tajima manipulates a variety of software absolutely as the necessary tools in his expression.

Both of them have their own ideas and methods. Unsurprisingly there were conflicts between the two. The catalog, however, was created between the miracle balance derived from them, and it plays a role more than just as a catalog but transcends to complete as a piece of art work, which was etched with a strong concept of FUGAHUM.


Public/image.METHOD
PUBLIC/IMAGE.METHOD Session 3 "I AM ROBOT AND PROUD x Daito Manabe"

The integration of music and interactive art could be so inspirational for the audience. The next session of I AM ROBOT AND PROUD well-known for the warm and confortable electro-pop sound, and Daito Manabe whose video of face music visualizers is gaining popularity on YouTube, draws a certain vibe with the experimental live comibining such beautiful music and interactive art.


In short, which is more interesting in terms of physical expression (other than musical factor), the live performance in which Beyonce sways her hips, or the one in which the keyboard is meekly played? In what is called electro music, as far as a musician making sound by controlling machines or keyboards, it can't be denied that there are less physical expressions.

But, suppose an electric music is integrated with interactive art. In the session of I AM ROBOT AND PROUD and Daito Manabe, the LED some audiences hold in their mouth reacted to the sound I AM ROBOT AND PROUD played, and they emitted different lights; that is visualization of sound. An unusual approach to one sound could give it another value, and we finally realized the strong impression of what we see with our eyes, or what affects our sense of sight.


Public/image.METHOD
PUBLIC/IMAGE.METHOD Session 4 "Koichiro Tsujikawa x Naoki Ito"

In the next session, Koichiro Tsujikawa, a visual artist working on various fields, such as art direction, MV, CM, and short movie, and Naoki Ito, in charge of plannning and designing in any media from CM and the Web to installation including LOVE DISTANCE, BIG SHADOW and UNIQLO MARCH, discussed the freedom of interactive art.

Though you may associate "interactive" with the words like freedom or instinctive, they did claim that to be interactive should be to put and include restrictions. Ito once thought why a haunted house was interesting, and Tsujikawa said that constant fast-fowards or fast-rewinds make the movie too boring.

These two episodes seem to have no relation, but there's one common conception in the sense of "restriction". Audience only feels what stirs their emotion because of restriction of arbitrary property or freedom. Also in the interactive business, getting this meaning wrong could project improper freedom, which leads to weaker impact of them. It is an unique idea that comes only from creators who study appeal power to users in practical works.


Public/image.METHOD
PUBLIC/IMAGE.METHOD Session 5 "Yugo Nakamura x Yoshiyuki Tomino"

The last session was with world-wide interactive designer Yugo Nakamura, and Yoshiyuki Tomino, the master of Japanese animation. These professionals who have poured over the function of movement in animation talked about what exists behind the movement.

In this peried when it's possible to create animation by yourself due to the development of various tools, Tomino sounded the alarm about how many people are swayed by the tools. The splendid creativity alone can make the works accepted by people, and his hysterical works such as Mobile Suit Gundam or Dunbine are no exception. And what supports the creativity is a talent for drawing, which must exist behind the movement.

Yugo Nakamura, who has so far expressed many kinds of movements through the Web as one of the pioneers, paid attention to the animal existence behind the movement. He said that it is the existence of anima what makes the movement affect people's feeling. The idea seems to be reflected in his latest works iida or UT ZOOM! as physical motion pictures.

Now that a multiple of digital motion's expressions became possible, the movement people instinctively feel good and the expression comes to the front. All the same, there are expressions that only the professionals could do and it needs two sensitive nerves to achive it.

The conference took place in a way where all 6 couples from different fields have each talked and seemed to result in great success, in terms of choice of artists, contents, and the conference style. This movement ought to spread all over Japan, and it is the mode people expect. What education and entertaiment will they provide us with next? Don't keep your eyes off from "PUBLIC/IMAGE.LABEL".


PUBLIC/IMAGE.METHOD
Date: May 16th, 2009
Place: Bellesalle Roppongi
Host: ANSWR INC.
Planning: PUBLIC/IMAGE.LABEL
Sponsor: ADOBE SYSTEMS
http://www.public-image.org


Text: Tatsuhiko Akutsu

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