Programmed to coincide with The Conquest of Imperfection, the first major UK exhibition of Japanese media artist Masaki Fujihata’s acclaimed interactive work. This talk explores Japanese moving image and media art and the embrace and manipulation of technology across varying generations of Japanese artists.

Video Poem, 1970-75/2018 Collection of Shigeko Kubota Video Art Foundation Installation view at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2021 Photography Kenji Morita © Estate of Shigeko Kubota.
Video Poem, 1970-75/2018 Collection of Shigeko Kubota Video Art Foundation Installation view at Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo, 2021 Photography Kenji Morita © Estate of Shigeko Kubota.

With references ranging from the 1960s to today, the talk highlighted the work of key practitioners such as Shigeko Kubota and those artists whose work across performance, sculpture, and moving image conflates the physical world and its life on screen through new media and video installation.

Tatsuo Miyajima, Pile up Life no. 1 - Katrina (2008). © Lisson Gallery & SCAI the BATHHOUSE. Courtesy of the artist
Tatsuo Miyajima, Pile up Life no. 1 – Katrina (2008). © Lisson Gallery & SCAI the BATHHOUSE. Courtesy of the artist

Research funded by Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and held in the collection of the Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong.

Special thanks to Kathy Rae Huffman