Azimuth: Sound/Image Symposium Exploring the Human Sensorium through Art and New Technologies

Description

Prof Katarzyna Kosmala leads on key artistic collaboration with Tokyo Metropolitan University. Prof Kosmala co-curated together with Prof Kumiko Kushiyama (TMU) international exhibition in Tokyo in April 2016 and Glasgow in December 2016. The exhibition, Azimuth: Sound/Image, was held at the IA gallery, Tokyo Metropolitan University from 21 April to 28 April, and Miraikan National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo from 22 April to 24 April exploring the creative tension and interplay between Sound and Image. The works, many of which were created by UWS academics, experiment with narrative in sound and video art. Artists explore the possibilities, whether guided or enhanced, of narrative being altered or disrupted through the Sound and Image interface. For instance, in Ronald McMeekin’s Sine wave 1, 2016, Bruce Lee's voice paraphrasing the ancient I Ching, also known as Book of Changes, is manipulated and represented through a sine wave. The lost interview, of 1971, served as a modern reference to the ancient philosophy, and Lee was being a gateway to introducing ancient divination ideas to a wider audience in the West via his television appearance. Paul McGeechan’s Irresolute, 2016, was composed to signify a feeling of non-resolution. The work reflects the lack of resolute balance throughout the reoccurring experience. The work moves through slow stages and develops by adding atonal sounds to underlying drones. In conclusion, a melodic structure is added but once again does not truly resolve and leaves the listener with the lack of resolution. Featuring artists include Alison Bell, Alison Clifford with Graeme Truslove, Rachael Flynn, Tony Grace, Paul Holmes, Paul McGeechan, Ronald McMeekin, David Scott, Steven Sherlock, Verl Adams, Tetsuaki Baba, Paul Haimes, Yuki Kikutake, Toshihiro Konma, Kumiko Kushiyama. This exhibition is organised in association with a research project Engaging the Human Sensorium through Art and New Technologies funded by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation that builds on uses of digital technologies in contemporary art, creating opportunities for new knowledge, artistic, and technological exchange. This project also raises awareness of emergent methodologies used by artists and industry working with contemporary multisensory media in Japan, Scotland and beyond, providing new impetus for sustained cross-sectoral developments. In 2012, Professor Katarzyna Kosmala of UWS attended the 16th Japan Media Arts Festival to promote her research monograph Imagining Masculinities, accompanied by PhD researcher Emilia Sosnowska, investigating Interactive Device Art. This visit laid the foundation for co-operation between Tokyo Metropolitan University's IDEEA Lab and UWS. Professor Katarzyna Kosmala, a key member of the curatorial team of this exhibition and project leader. The Exhibition and the Symposium, Exploring the Human Sensorium through Art and New Technologies, held on 22 April at TMU officially launched the newly signed cross-institutional co-operative partnership between the School of Media, Culture and Society at University of the West of Scotland and the Faculty of System Design at Tokyo Metropolitan University.

Period	21 Apr 2016 → 28 Apr 2016
Event title	The exhibition, Azimuth: Sound/Image and associated programme of events
Event type	Conference
Location	Tokyo, Japan, JapanShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International