Two foreign female artists who were winners in the Art Division came on stage. Sonia CILLARI's Excellence Prize-winning piece, Se Mi Sei Vicino (If you are close to me) is an interactive art piece in which, when the performer is touched, the background screen changes images due to a sensor imbedded in the stage floor. Effie WU's Super Smile, the winner of the Encouragement Prize, is a video piece in which she herself performs. The audience is mesmerized and glued to her because she doesn't blink for even a split second, just fixing her gaze at the camera, acting out scenes of daily life, such as brushing her teeth or eating a piece of bread. The cameraman who filmed Super Smile is also participating in this symposium. With HARADA Daizaburo, Art Division Head of the Jury, acting as a chairman, the symposium was held in a cordial fashion from start to finish.

First, HARADA, chairman (head of the jury) described the situation surrounding this year's applications for entries in the Art Division.
"In the Japan Media Arts Festival, the division that received the most applications was the Art Division. This year, out of a total of 878 entries, 336 were from overseas. This goes to show that the Japan Media Arts Festival has matured into a very important event even among international competitions. Each of the five jury members were unique and freely expressed their individual views."

"Unfortunately, this year, there were no winners in the Still Image and Web genres. Jury member SATO Taku opined that there was not enough punch in the Still Image genre. Similarly, in the Web genre, I thought there were no outstanding pieces and felt that as an art expression, it had now reached a turning point, and so I look forward to better year next year."

© Envie de Tempête Productions

"In Visual Image, Interactive, and Installation, there were many entries and among them Jean-Gabriel PERIOT's piece, Nijuman no borei (200000 Phantoms), was selected the Grand Prize. It is a documentary with a very strong message, and there was unified deep respect that a non-Japanese person meticulously documented a film of what actually took place in the history in Japan (the atomic bombing of Hiroshima). The issue of atomic bombing is a real-time theme with continued relevance for us even today. There was debate whether this message of social relevance was too upfront, however, ultimately, all admitted it to be worthy of the Grand Prize."

© Sonia Cillari

Next, the two awardees introduced themselves and gave a presentation on their pieces.
The Excellence Prize honoree, Sonia CILLARI, is of Italian descent. Originally she was studying architecture but, since "the stance towards space and lifestyle was too static and objective, and therefore dissatisfying," she switched her field to electronic art.
 

CILLARI says, "The computer may be an impersonal, cold thing but if you give it your personal expression you can create something of beauty." She thought of triggering events with gestures or body movements instead of an instrument like a keyboard that has some constraints. For CILLARI using her body as a sort of interface was a natural thing. The piece attests to that. "The skin should not be an environment that isolates one from the outer world, but something that extends outside of our own boundary and reaches another." This work visualizes the reaction that takes place when people approach each other.

CILLARI: I think that life is a wonderful thing and art creation becomes much easier if we approach it as something closely connected with life.

© Effie Wu

WU is from Taiwan. Her work Super Smile is a video piece of strong impact. She didn't even blink once for the whole five minutes before the camera. And, what's more, it is a real performance, and not a virtual one.
"When her work at the Japan Media Arts Festival was introduced on TV, instead of saying that she had a nice smile," the commentator remarked, "that was scary," reports HARADA. To that, WU retorts back, "Oh, is that so? I thought I was being friendly!" She put in her initial years studying acting, and then moved to Berlin where she is now pursuing video art.

Super Smile is a self-portrait.
WU: In most of the self-portraits of classical paintings or photography, the main character is almost always looking straight into the camera and posing perfectly in impeccable attire. Since I do video, I wanted to use my body to express a moving self-portrait!

When I was watching a beauty pageant contest on TV, the girls all had a perfect smile in front of the camera. When something broke out and they forgot to smile, I found it quite amusing. I think I thought of this piece when I saw that.

Finally, there was a question and answer period for both of the award winners from the emcee and the audience.

- What are your thoughts on the relationship between technology and creating a work of art?

CILLARI: My opinion is that in media art, there seems to be a trend towards pursuing too much technology. I am using technology in this piece because it's necessary but if there is an idea that doesn't require technology I think that is probably a very good idea.

WU: My piece is done almost in one take through acting. I am mulling over the idea to continue in a similar way, and so I'm continuing to train myself physically. I want the viewers to wonder if what they see is me acting or something visually made-up!"
*Ms. WU's film compositions do not use special effects and are not artificially composed.

- Can the both of you tell us in which direction you plan to go from now?

CILLARI: I want to do something I've never done before, and in the style of a story. It will probably be some kind of love story.

WU: This year, after completing my master's course, I want to become an artist. I am already an artist but what I mean is that I want to make a livelihood creating works of art.

The sponsors of the Japan Media Arts Festival and members of the Cultural Affairs Agency offered their impressions and appreciation to the artists and touched on their works' commonality: The Power of the Body. There was a hearty round of applause with expectations for a bright future ahead and the symposium came to a close.