Perfume Technology presents “Reframe”

The production team of MANABE Daito and ISHIBASHI Motoi oversaw the interactive design, tech development, and video production of this live performance by the technopop group Perfume. As the title suggests, the theme is a restructuring of Perfume’s performances, which have stayed up-to-date with advances in technology. FUSION saw the members’ shadows warp in shape and size; Negai analyzed photos taken by fans and matched them to a music video; Mugenmirai featured drones and augmented reality technology for a video performance with complex depth. Perfume is concentrating the physical expression, memories, and technology cultivated in their work thus far and connecting them to something brand new. Stage director and choreographer MIKIKO has worked with Perfume for many years; she earned global praise for the flag handover ceremony during the closing ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games.
© Amuse, Inc. / UNIVERSAL MUSIC LLC / Nippon Hoso Kyokai (NHK) / NHK Enterprises, Inc. / ELEVENPLAY / Rhizomatiks

The Entertainment Division, with its tangle of various value axes, often sees great differences of opinion among its jury members. Yet the evaluations of this piece as a work of media art symbolizing 2018 were consistent. True to its name, Reframe did a fine job of establishing Perfume’s “now-ness” while drawing on the image they have built since their debut. Compared with art, which longs for eternity, entertainment pursues newness and pays no heed to growing old; that relationship mirrors the contrast between science and technology. This performance made the ties between entertainment and the cutting edge of technology crystal clear. While the techniques were superb, the setting hewed closely to existing performing-arts frameworks—yet that is precisely what this particular work required. The gently expanding wave of applause echoing throughout NHK Hall seemed to prove as much. (SATO Naoki)