- HYBRID - Living in Paradox -
Let me introduce the themed exhibit of ARS, which is another great feature of the festival along with the actual competition. I explained before that ARS initially began as an electronic music festival, but since 1987's "FREE SOUND", the festival runs with a particular theme each year.

The themes were introduced as a way of unifying the events and exhibitions that take place every year.
... Kiyoshi's eye AAL005

- The Boundaries of Photography and Painting -
We're heading into the second half of the 5th ARS. Following Atsuko are film director Toshi Ota, and painter Kiida Oikawa. Since meeting in 2000, the two have been creating very strange works that combine photography and paintings. The two talked non-stop while digital artworks blared at them in the exhibition space of Gallery Ef in Asakusa, a godown-like warehouse built in the late Edo era. The interview was very exciting, as the two seemed enthusiastic about ARS. It would be great if you could watch the clip 3 or 4 times and really get into their conversation.

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An overgrown garden appeared in Brookner House, a.k.a. the temple of music. I followed some bird-like sounds into the garden to find weird machines with their circuit boards in full view. This, it seems, was the artwork.

It's called Elf, and lives in this electronically engineered forest. In this world of hybridization, boundaries are crossed everyday, and new, unexplainable chemical reactions abound. This work implies that a world where technology and nature harmoniously coexist is not so far away. Elf lives off sunlight; it's operated by solar energy, meaning that these machines can essentially sing and fidget forever. Plus, they sleep at night. What a wholesome little hybrid.

Seeing the man-made gadgets among real trees as if it's the most natural thing in the world, I began to lose grip of what's fiction, and what's not. They really got me there. Elf was obviously the main attraction and it was exhibited accordingly, and in seeing it, I was again impressed by the high quality of ARS, and the talent of the artist. The way in which it shivered and fidgeted with regular intervals accentuated the calculated exactness of technology, and yet there was an unmistakable other-worldly creature-esque feel to it.

Enjoy this artwork.

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A cockroach controls a mobile robot. Yes, indeed, a hybrid. The two are not linked directly, but mediated by a ping pong ball. Basically, a cockroach with masking tape on its back is placed on the ping pong ball, and the robot moves in the same direction that the ball rolls. As you know, cockroaches tend to move towards the dark. Thus, an LED light is placed in front of the cockroach, and controls its movements by switching on whenever it tries to move to a darker spot.

That's all good, but the interpretation of "hybrid" seems a little too straightforward here, almost archaic. It's very simple and easy to understand. It's funny because without the "hybrid" thing, I kept thinking about how melancholic the roach looked and tried to imagine the situation from its perspective. By the way, the roach was a Madagascar. 5 Euros. You can buy them in Japan for 700 yen a pop. I don't have a problem with roaches, and I thought this one looked really cool with its huge armor.

The artist Garnet Hertz specializes in this sort of art. Frogs, worms, etc ... Those who are interested should check out his website. The first page is totally covered in text, I got a headache from just looking at it ... Garnet Hertz's Site http://www.conceptlab.com/

Enjoy this art work.

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When the audience blows air into a neat row of 12 paddle wheels, 12 electrical fans placed in front of them start turning. There is a sensor that detects wind in the middle of the paddle wheels. The strength of the wind doesn't matter. And even if you stop blowing, the sensor memorizes the wind pattern and refers to this repeatedly until someone new blows into the wheel.

This is a hybrid of technology and the environment. In our world, tiny things become really big, then really really big, without us even noticing. Simple text messages and emails, for example, race around the world through a tightly woven network.

We spend most of our waking day in the hybrid environment created by Mr. Communication and Miss. Technology. There was once a time when we were constantly reminded to sit at least 3 meters away from the TV screen, yet now, we're no further than 50cm from the interfaces of our computers. This leads to bad eyesight. Soon, glasses or contact lenses are needed. And voila, we become hybrids... Don't worry, I didn't actually mull over such deep thoughts when I saw this artwork, it just came to me later.

I recommend seeing this work with a girl you fancy. I was lucky enough to attend with the coordinator Mrs. Nomura's Czech friend Misha, who was absolutely stunning... I asked her to pose for our camera, and blew with all my might into the 12 wheels. The Czech lady's hair gently swayed with the breeze. And oh, her smile... I felt as if I was witnessing the birth of Venus! Thus, my ulterior motive created beauty... great installation, isn't it?

Enjoy this artwork.

This was exhibited in Linz's Central Station. I pushed my way through a crowd of people to find a kid sleeping under a blanket. The thing is, the blanket was wiggling and squiggling furiously. Apparently, the blanket tries to wrap around the sleeping person when they move, and this helps them sleep better... Wow, huh?

What was interesting is that they used a station as the exhibition space. The exhibit made you feel like you were at a stall which sold these bizarre "moving blankets", rather than an "exhibition space" as such. You could test the blanket out in the testing space, and if you liked it you could buy it on the spot.

Exhibitions that feature "fake" media artworks such as this are interesting, and they work. ARS took this particular work into the public realm because they saw its potential to attract people and engage with its environment. Very impressive.

Enjoy this artwork.

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