Daniel Bisig／At the age of about 20 I started to work in 3D computer graphics. At that time I was heavily influenced by surrealist art and therefore tried to create computer renderings of dreamlike and absurd virtual realities. Some of the resulting works have been shown in group exhibitions in Switzerland.

UNEMI Tatsuo／I was perhaps 15 years old when I first became aware that I was “creating something.” I remember that I had been doing still-life painting, sketching, wood print, etc… for my art classes. Up until then, I had been assuming that realistic depictions were the best way to prove my skill as an artist, but I came to realize that the advantage of experimental drawing methods was their potential to surprise the viewer. Railway models were also one of my childhood hobbies, and, during that period, I also started to design and make my own carriages, rather than use the existing models.

Daniel Bisig／Currently, my work follows along two separate lines. On one hand, I'm creating short experimental video works through a predominantly manual (albeit computer based) process of video editing, post-processing and soundtrack composition. On the other hand, I create works of interactive software art that employ ideas and methods from artificial life and artificial intelligence and which are highly autonomous. Both approaches result in the creation of artworks whose visual and acoustic appearance is continuously shifting and which mimick some of the qualities of complex physical or very simple biological processes. I feel that both the manual process of peeling away layers of appearance from raw video material, which I employ when creating video films, as well as the synthetic approach of writing software that simulates physical and biological processes and behaviors represent equally interesting strategies for exploring the boundaries between the living and non-living.

UNEMI Tatsuo／I suppose that, if I have to describe something as a tool, it would be the Mac computers and peripheral devices that I use, as they provide me with a systematic environment suitable for creating programs that deal with digital images and sounds.

Daniel Bisig／At the moment I'm very fascinated by the idea of partially moving my works into the physical domain. In particular, I would like to tightly integrate software and physical processes into artworks that mimick some of the properties of biological organisms and that transform users' interactions into something that's intimately part of it's physical existence and behavior. With this respect, I'm currently looking into “smart materials” that possess both the capabilities of sensing and actuation and thereby aid me in blurring the line between hardware, software, interface and display.

UNEMI Tatsuo／I would wish for an environment in which I could materialize my ideas as easily as possible; is that too ordinary?

Daniel Bisig／As I have briefly outlined in Q2, I'm very interested in exploring the boundaries between living and non-living systems. At this boundary, behavior and morphology, reaction and intentionality become indistinguishable. Here, the distinction between an inner “self “and an outer “other” is very delicate and continuously disrupted. It is these properties that highlight fundamental questions about human self-awareness such as permanence and transientness, individuality and collectivity, autonomy and dependency. In my works, I'm trying to find an algorithmic and aesthetic language to explore these issues.

UNEMI Tatsuo／It is “astonishment.” I am seeking art that is capable of astonishing and exciting even the artist who produced it. In order to create such work, I have been utilizing artificial life form, generative method and interactive technologies; interlacing my conceptual ideas with them, intending that they will be a trigger for people to reconsider the human cognitive functions and the social recognition.

Daniel Bisig／When developing software for my installations, I intentionally work on a level that is very remote from the final appearance of the artwork. Because of this working style, I always reach a point at which I struggle hard to understand the interrelationships between my conceptual ideas, the source code, and the system's behavior and feedback. This point is both very fruitful and critical in that it initiates an iterative process of conceptual revision, experimentation and surprise, which my either lead to an increasingly satisfying outcome or the abandonment of the project.

UNEMI Tatsuo／To create something nobody else can create and that can be enjoyed casually by as many people as possible. I am currently working on developing a system that will work on contemporary machines and that is capable of generating the most complicated information quicker than any other. My partner, Daniel BISIG, is extremely skilled at programming and we are able to help each other through exchanging information.

Daniel Bisig／I personally believe, that an artwork belongs to media art, if experimentation with technology formed an important part of the artist's conceptual reflection throughout the process of developing the artwork. According to this point of view, I consider my software art to be media art.

UNEMI Tatsuo／I think that “digital art” or “electronic art” are more suitable terms than “media art” to specifically describe my work, but it is “media art” in the broadest sense. In my opinion, “media art” differs from the "traditional fine arts" by providing a greater degree of freedom for the artist in relation to his or her art and the audience. Furthermore, there is a greater likelihood that the ability to recreate the work will be lost, as available technologies are changing so quickly.

Daniel Bisig／As most artists who work in the field of generative or algorithmic art, I consider myself a designer of situations, within which I set processes in motion. The artworks develops autonomously in a space of possibilities. Each artwork therefore represents a combination of my personal decisions and style and the artworks own capabilities and drives. I'm always looking forward to the point where the artworks stops being a direct product of my endeavors but rather becomes an equal counterpart with whom either I or a visitor struggles or collaborates in order to influence it's further development.

UNEMI Tatsuo／I would like many people to enjoy my work.

Daniel Bisig／Any result that matches my initial expectations is a disappointment.

UNEMI Tatsuo／“To contribute to world peace, education and culture” and “To bring peace, courage and hope to those that I meet.”

Daniel Bisig／I very much like to watch any form of activity that involves propagating reactions and changing configurations. Examples of such activities range from such simple physical systems as trickling water drops to the collective behavior of people such as pedestrian movements at crossings.

UNEMI Tatsuo／When I am taking my dog for a walk, when I am intoning sutra, and, of course, after I have encountered a masterpiece.

Daniel Bisig／I would like to move away from pure software development towards designing physical systems that combine ideas and technologies from pervasive computing,swarm robotics and multi-modal/tangible human-machine interaction. Metaphorically speaking, I envision a person playing in a sand box in which the sand at times passively adapts to the person's activities but occasionally starts to aggregate by itself into intricate structures that propagate and transform it's prior shapes. Do develop systems that resemble (however crudely) the capability of such a sand box would be my visionary goal.

UNEMI Tatsuo／I think there are more fields in the New Media (e.g. materials, data processing mechanics, social systems, and so on), which have not yet been employed for artistic purposes. It is my intension to exploit these fields and, at the same time, learn about cutting edge science and technologies, ultimately creating a place in which science and art can be mutually stimulated.

Daniel Bisig／During my training as a biologist, I've been very impressed by phenomena that happen at the cellular level. Biological growth or an immune response are examples of an amazingly complex orchestration of a huge number of very simple elements (the cells). Later on, I became influenced by research conducted at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Zurich, which is led by Prof. Dr. Rolf Pfeifer. Among other things, this laboratory builds robots that possess very limited cognitive capabilities but nevertheless exhibit diverse behaviors because of their morphological properties and their interactions with the environment. At the age of about 25 I became very interested in experimental film, in particular structural-materialist films by such film-makers as Peter Kubelka, Martin Arnold or the German group Schmelzdahin. I've been very inspired by the way these artists work with the materiality of the medium film itself. The equality of conceptual and technical experiment and their mutual interference which is so apparent in these films has influenced my own artistic activities.

UNEMI Tatsuo／
・Jazz Music
It made me realize the balance between types and free style, as well as the thrill of conformance in real time.

・ICHIKAWA Atsunobu
He was a mentor of mine when I was at university who showed me how to perceive the underlying truth of things through a composed perception of system science.

・IKEDA Daisaku
The honorary president of Soka Gakkai International (SGI). I have learnt a lot from his attitude towards people and his zeal for world peace, rather than simply from his thoughts.

・YOKOO Tadanori
Three words that describe his work are “unconventionality”, “beauty”, and “adventure.”

・Karl SIMS
Every aspect of his work is cool. I admire his presentation of artificial life.