Happy New Year! The two weeks from the end of the year to the New Year flew by in the blink of an eye, but they were incredibly eventful and meaningful. There’s so much I’d like to share that my thoughts have been overflowing, and it’s been difficult to organize them all. So, I’ve decided to add a little more to an article I had previously written and send it your way this time.
In this issue, I would like to share my experience from a video projection event I participated in early last month. For those of you who subscribe to this newsletter, you may already know that I live on Long Island, New York. My workplace, Stony Brook University, is located roughly in the center of this peninsula, near towns like Stony Brook and Setauket. The event I participated in was an art projection event organized by Gallery North, a well-known gallery in the area. This project was tied to Giving Tuesday and was held in connection with a one-day fundraising campaign.
By the way, do you know about Giving Tuesday? Giving Tuesday is a movement that began in 2012, initiated by the New York-based charity organization 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation. In the United States, it is observed on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, which falls on the fourth Thursday of November each year. This movement, known as "a day for taking action for others," celebrates generosity, collaboration, and acts of kindness, and it has now gained global recognition.
Examples of key activities include the following:
Making a donation
Bringing a smile to someone's face
Helping neighbors or strangers
Sharing your belongings with people in need
Donating surplus food to food banks or local organizations
This movement aims to establish an international "day of giving" before the Christmas season, promoting values distinct from commercial events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. (Source: Wikipedia)
ところで皆さん、Giving Tuesday（ギビングチューズデー）をご存じですか？ Giving Tuesdayは、2012年にニューヨークの慈善団体92nd Street Yと国連基金によって始められた運動です。アメリカでは毎年、11月第4木曜日の感謝祭（Thanksgiving）の後の火曜日が、慈善活動を促す日として位置づけられています。この運動は「人のために行動する日」として、寄付や協力、寛大な行動を讃えることを目的とし、現在では世界中に広がりを見せています。
Gallery North is located in the middle of Long Island, NY
Gallery North seems to have been publicly soliciting for this art projection event for some time. Last year, I noticed the call too late, so this time I decided to give it a try for the first time. As it turned out, most of the participating artists were local. This might be because only those who could attend meetings at the event venue were eligible to apply.
This time, I did not propose a specific idea when applying. This is because most of my recent installation works are what are called "site-specific" or "site-adjusted," created in response to the given location. Therefore, instead of submitting a video work for projection, I included several examples of my past works as reference. My application essentially stated, "As an artist who creates works like these, I would like to create something tailored to this location. If the quality of my work aligns with the standards you are looking for, I would appreciate the opportunity to participate."
After a while, I was fortunately accepted to participate, so I decided to challenge myself to try something new or something I had been hesitant to do before, finding meaning in this opportunity. My goal this time was to attempt projection mapping, a technique I had known about technically but had never publicly presented. I saw this as a chance to practice and take on the challenge.
I have long been interested in large-scale video projection works, and one of the artists who has influenced me is Krzysztof Wodiczko. He is a Polish artist known for creating large-scale slide and video projections on architectural facades and monuments. His works address themes such as war, conflict, trauma, and memory, and they invite a reconsideration of collective memory and history in public spaces. Wodiczko has carried out over 80 public projection projects worldwide and is also known as a professor of art, design, and public spaces at Harvard University. His projection works are highly regarded for visually expressing social and political issues, providing the audience with new perspectives.
Wodiczko also exhibited a work titled "Hiroshima" in 1999, featuring the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome as its backdrop. When foreign artists come to Japan to express themselves, it allows for a direct confrontation with difficult truths and expressions that are often hard to face in Japan. For example, this work includes "testimonies concerning the tragedy, seldom mentioned in Japan, of Korean slave workers killed by the A-bomb." (Source: https://www.krzysztofwodiczko.com/public-projections#/new-gallery-4/). The documentary film about the making of the work conveys the importance of the entire process, including how the project brought these testimonies to light.
Born and raised in Japan, I do not actively follow any specific religion, but I believe that I have unconsciously absorbed Shinto-ism, Japan's indigenous belief system. Shinto is a religion unique to Japan, where it is believed that gods (kami) reside in nature, ancestors, and all living things, including plants and animals. Here are some of its key characteristics:
Nature Worship: Mountains, rivers, forests, stones, and other natural elements are considered sacred, and they are revered through festivals and prayers.
Ancestor Worship: Ancestors are respected as gods, and their spirits are honored through practices such as visiting graves and participating in events like Obon.
Polytheism: It is believed that there are countless gods (the "eight million gods"), and rather than focusing on a single deity, Shinto practitioners revere a variety of gods.
Shrines: Shrines are the central places of Shinto, where gods are enshrined. Across Japan, there are many shrines, with famous ones such as Ise Jingu and Izumo Taisha known internationally.
Shinto has maintained its uniqueness while integrating with other religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, and Christianity. In particular, it was briefly promoted as a national policy during the Meiji period under the system of State Shinto. However, today, it is primarily practiced as a personal belief system and regional traditional events. (Source: Grok AI response on Shinto)
Because the concepts and customs of Shinto have naturally become a part of me, I am deeply impressed by Krzysztof Wodiczko's large-scale video projections on buildings, which have a powerful impact as if the buildings themselves are speaking out. Additionally, the works I created in my twenties, where inanimate objects seemed to possess a sense of purpose or intention, can also be traced back to the Shinto-ism deep within me.
By the way, there is a slight difference between video projection works and the recent concept of projection mapping from a technical standpoint. Video projection works are limited to projecting a pre-made video, whereas projection mapping involves projecting images onto buildings or objects in accordance with their shape, adding 3D effects and special effects. However, nowadays, both are often grouped under the term "projection mapping." Using projection mapping software like MadMapper, you can align and map the finished video onto a building in real-time. In my personal experience, around 2014, when I attended the NYU ITP Summer Camp, I received permission to project an image onto a building across from a university building in Manhattan. The surface of the building was almost flat, so I used techniques I learned there, such as fitting the image into window frames, which I applied when projecting onto windows, doors, and walls of houses this time. The technical details would take too long to explain, so I'll leave that out.
And the resulting work is the one in the video below. (Please be aware that this video contains scenes that may evoke a large-scale fire.) そして、出来上がったのは下のビデオにある作品です。 (この映像には大規模な火災を連想させるシーンがあります。ご注意ください。)
Unbound Eternal Cycle by Takafumi Ide
Duration: 3’10” (No sound) (a silhouette crossed through the projection in this documentation video.) Medium: Krita, AfterEffects, Luma AI, Wacom Tablet, Linux, Mac Date: December 3, 2024 Place: Gallery North (https://gallerynorth.org/)
I previously made a comment about this work, somewhat unintentionally? I spoke about it as though it were a monologue in Japanese on X. The audio is linked below, so please feel free to listen.
My heartfelt condolences go out to all those affected by the recent devastating wildfire on the West Coast of the United State. I sincerely hope that the victims, their families, and those forced into evacuation can return to peaceful lives as soon as possible. I noticed that some of the imagery in this projection video bears an uncanny resemblance to the footage of the wildfire that has been circulating in the media, and I hesitated to update this post because of that. However, in light of the immense damage caused by the ongoing natural disasters from last year to this year, and the persistent wars that plague our world, I felt the need to organize my thoughts and reflect on my own purpose. I felt compelled to express something through my work. In this chaotic world, I hope that my work can provide viewers with an opportunity to reflect. While wishing for a peaceful future free from disasters and war, I hope that, through this work, the thoughts of each individual will expand and connect.
