Faculty ｜ Department of New Media

It goes without saying that the parents of photography are the natural sciences and painting. However, contrary to what one might expect, film owes its birth not to photography but literature and music. Though photography and film are often bundled into the single word “image” due to having the camera in common, their differing parentage is the reason we somehow feel awkward treating them as one. Rather than congregating with photo artists and researchers here in the Department of New Media, my preference is to look for new colleagues to embark with on a journey to meet those parents – natural science, painting, literature and music; or their relatives, social science and technology. No matter the form of media we each hold in our hands, I believe media to be the best tool for meeting those new colleagues, for taking home the results of those encounters, and expressing them for the future.

In the Media Technology Department, we proactively in corpor at e the latest technology for video production and presentation. It is a fascinating field, where the aim to develop technology useful for production, and the search for forms of expression that apply to this technology coexist. The constant evolution of devices in cluding production tools, sensors, and actuators, and services like the web and other communication tools, means that students will require a keen interest in the latest technologies. They will also need to have a critical viewpoint, and keep in mind how these tools can change society. Most essential will be a firm focus on offering new experiences through the production and exhibitions of media-based imagery.

The overwhelming dominance of transnational capital and standardized communication that have resulted from globalization seem to have deprived our lives of texture. In order to regain this texture, we need to ask some fundamental questions:
When did the world become like it is now? What position can critical art take in the context of a world inevitably influenced by the internet and globalism? In preparing critical art to answer these questions, we may find hope in media expression, because media have condensed technology, memory and history, all of which have the potential to expand the possibilities of humanity.
Things expressed by media include: the feel of conversations, the reality of scent, sounds in nature, ripples on water, admiration for the divine, communication by metaphor, and poetic ethics in life. Herein we find the poetry of those who pursue new directions in critical art, in the hope of retrieving the texture of life.

Our activities are based on the question: “What is drama?” and mainly focus on audience/seating theories. Theater has been developing its form and qualities as a people-gathering activity since ancient times. In fact, the word “theater (theatre, theater or teatro …) ” originates from the Greek, “theatron,” meaning “the space for the audience” in a theater facility. Our quest for the audience or seating form, through theater-based contemplation, relates to the question of our own very existence. Such explorations also lead us to explore styles of community and methods of communication. Thus, the theater has developed a profound relationship with cities and countries. Moreover, theater is not limited to the stage: by liberating theater from stage production, we open up broader possibilities. From both theoretical and practical viewpoints, we aim to find ways to expand the possibilities of theater, by returning to its roots.

I practice “project creation” activities with diverse artists.I endeavor to realize these activities as exhibitions involving both space and time grounded in fieldwork that directly confronts concrete subjects including people, flora and fauna, objects and land. Description and expression utilizing time-based media are essential to these activities. Time-based media is an important expressive form within contemporary art, and it is common knowledge that many people are involved across fields and specializations. Contemporary art will undoubtedly continue to be concerned with questions about what kinds of moving-image space to create based on any and all ideas. Graduate school in the arts can be thought of as a place for learning, as well as an institution for bringing forth expressions and activities that are yet unknown. I want to join everyone here in opening up new experiences through creating a place for independent artistic research and creation that stands apart from museums and art centers.