Technologies Expanding the Boundary of Expression

This is the third year of the Festival Platform Award,
newly established in the 23rd Festival. With predetermined platforms and video concepts, the Festival
Platform Award is unique among the other awards at
the Japan Media Arts Festival.
This year’s theme was “Sharing a New World: Reflecting the Current State of Our World.” We sought
works that will allow viewers to intimately feel the
connection between the world and themselves by realistically depicting the current state of the world as it
takes the first steps toward a sustainable future.
Although the total number of entries increased from
the previous year, opportunities to go out to watch
something with other people have still been significantly
decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic persisting
from the last year. Possibly because of such circumstances, unfortunately, there are many entries that were
simply diverted from two-dimensional videos for personal screens.
The two Award-winning Works propose ways to
utilize the features of facilities and equipment, have
themes that are consistent with the entry requirements,
and demonstrate the creator’s unique perspective on
the world in an attractive manner.
The Geo-Cosmos spherical display is a unique
platform for multiple uses, and can be viewed from the
side or below. Fully recognizing such characteristics,
the award-winner, Path of Noise (r, theta, phi), portrays
people’s connections and separations by using images
that appear beautiful from every angle.
Dome Theater is a platform that can lively project full-dome images, as if surrounding the viewers.
The award winner, Dear Virus successfully prompts a
heartwarming feel by constructing analog paintings in
a digital space. I look forward to seeing how it will be
creatively restructured for the Dome Theater, including
guiding the viewer’s line of sight.
Uses of the new platforms such as Geo-Cosmos and
the Dome Theater are yet to be developed. I expect to
see more and more ambitious works.