“Handwritten pictures have much more information than programmed ones. It’s really interesting to think how I can connect those handwritten pictures with digital”, Iwai says.

Their first collaboration was the illustration for an event called ‘Kodomo Syuukan (Child Week)’ held at NTT-ICC, a media & art museum in Shibuya this past spring. The Installation was entitled ‘a sketch book where a pencil meets computer’, with which visitors could draw pictures and some objects with a ‘magic pencil’ (a tablet pen) which could be operated with a computer. By tracing the monitor as you like, you could make it rain and turn the record to enjoy visuals and sound. There was another version that you could change the shape of characters and make them dance as you like. Different from other interactive pieces, it seemed the installation made a silent instruction just like the BBKY’s illustrations gave people who played with the installation the space of their imagination.

They felt a lot of interest during the process resulting in many ideas.

“Even when we’re just chatting at a cafe, so many ideas to be realized come to mind.” “Rather than making a thorough investigation of something like a professional, I can’t help looking into the approach itself, not the completion”, Iwai says thinking about the process.

This exhibition gave us a glimpse of one end of their ideas that come up with one after another.

“Next year, I want to develop this exhibition more and more using various devices that allow visitors experience and make them happy…”. Iwai are looking at the next step of his endless ideas come from the collaboration with BBKY.

Toshio Iwai + BBKY “Happy Technology Lab”
Date: October 14th – 24th, 2000
Open: 11:00 – 21:00
Place: LAPNET SHIP
Address: 4F Foret Harajuku, 1-8-10 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Admission free
Tel: +81 (0)3 5411 3330
http://www.iamas.ac.jp/~iwai/happy/