A selection
of works by the latest cohort of graduates from Tokyo University of the Arts’ (Geidai) MA in Animation will once
again screen at Nippon
Connection. The works will be
presented by Yuichi Matsumoto (松本祐一 , b. 1975 / twitter) assistant professor in the Geidai Graduate
School of Film and New Media. Matsumoto
is a sound programmer and composer who has collaborated with other artists and musicians
such as Masato
Hatanaka. Born in Yokohama, Matsumoto
started off in the field of power electronics research and development with a
degree from Ibaraki University, but he later studied music composition at IAMAS
(International Academy of Media Art and Science) under the tutelage of Kazuko Hayakawa and Masahiro Mina. Matsumoto won the top award at the Toru
Takemitsu Composition Awards in 2008 for his work “What do you think about the dropping
of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?”
The competition judge that year was the American composer Steve Reich
Matsumoto is known from his Enquête-Art / アンケート・アート (Questionnaire
or Survey Art) in which he uses surveys to gather opinions from many people and
then presents the results in a musical work.
You can learn more on his website: enquete-art
or his YouTube channel. In
addition to presenting this programme of Geidai graduate works, Matsumoto will
host a workshop for kids called “Paint Your Own Music” where children
can use a device that he invested to covert their drawings into music. Learn more here.
Here are the graduate films that will
appear at Nippon Connection. The descriptions are those of the artists themselves with minor spelling and grammar revisions for clarity:
A4 Microcosm
by Haruka
SHIMIZU / 清水はるか,
2018, 2:22 min.
“Microorganisms increase, gather and
change to a A4 paper. You [can] feel. . . sign[s] of life [on] the paper.”
FLUFFICTION
モフモフィクション / Mofumo Fikushon
by Yoshiki
IMAZU / 今津良樹,
2018, 6:40 min.
“Discover [a]
world populated by. . . mysteriously charming imaginary creatures.
They have adorably fluffy bodies and are becoming an ever more common sight in
daily life.”
Live or Let Live
花とラルバ / Hana to Rabuba
by Yoko
ASANO / 浅野陽子,
2018, 8:48 min.
“There's a pet caterpillar named Larva
in my class. I don't like bugs but Larva is sweet and we become friends. But
one day, I am faced with a horrible choice.”
Dance to Life
毎日は踊りたいことだらけ / Mainichi wa Odoritai koto
darake
by Haruka
HIRAMATSU / 平松悠,
2018, 2:22 min.
“For her, dance is life. And life is dance. Every tingle in her heart gets her swinging to
the beat.”
The Red Bridge is Falling Down
あかばしは落ちた / Akabashi wa Ochita
by Daiki
MORINAGA / 森永大貴,
2018, 7:28 min.
“Everyone crosses the Red Bridge and
yet no one likes him. One day, he falls into the deep valley.”
today plus one
あしたから / ashita kara
by Yumeno
HASHI / 星夢乃,
2018, 2:04 min.
“We go to sleep in hopes [of] a better tomorrow. The moment of truth nears
as our eyes slowly open to the new day...”
Typhoon No.14
たいふう14ごう / Taifū 14 Gō
by Akino
FUKUJI / 福地明乃,
2018, 6:56 min.
“Okinawa [feels]
ominous right before the arrival of a typhoon. At first, Anri is excited by the
unusual turn of events, but gradually she becomes fearful of the threatening
typhoon. Then, her big sister tells her that typhoons have an eye...”
The Body Swap Center
性格変更スクール / Seikaku Henkō Sukūru
by Kazuki
SEKIGUCHI / 関口和希, 2018, 8:35 min.
“Mimi is fed up with her pathetic
self. One day she walks along looking at the ground like usual when she notices
a suspicious flyer.”
The Pearl Remains
真珠草 / Shunju kusa
by Suyo
YAMAZAKI / 山崎スヨ,
2018, 2:37 min.
“A woman traces her memories through a
pearl ring and comes upon her mother gazing at the same ring. But her memories
soon lose their outline and become enclosed within the pearl.”
Jinxes
わたしルール / Watashi Rūru
by Yuki
MAEHATA / 前畑侑紀,
2018, 2:47 min.
“A girl heading home from school is
met with a bigger version of herself [posing] arbitrary challenges with
unspeakable consequences. The little girl tries to keep up but suddenly the
stakes are raised.”
gals
女友だち / Onna tomodachi
by Caori
MURATA / 村田香織,
2018, 2:10 min.
“Reminiscing [about]
the days I spent with an old friend, facing up to the narrow but deep gap that
lies between us.”
fruits
くだもの / kudamono
by Takahiro
SHIBATA / しばたたかひろ,
2018, 2:23 min.
“At some point, children diverge from
the ideal path set forth for them by adults. The trigger is usually a trivial
incident.”
Take Me Home
by Nozomi
KOYASU / 子安のぞみ,
2018, 5:37 min.
“Brothers eating dinner, a girl
watering the plants, a boy awakening in the night… daily
scenery from the house where they all lived at one point or another.”
Quest of the Battling Gods
怪獣神話 / Kaijū Shinwa
by Yosuke
TANI / 谷耀介,
2018, 13:18 min.
“In the moments before death, one of
the Battling Gods recalls his defeat in a magnificent fight. That battle
transcended meta worlds, time and parallel universes as the Battling God faced
off with another of his kind. All living creatures celebrate their fight with
cries of joy.”
Date and Location:
Saturday,
June 2, 17:30 Naxoshalle Kino
Catherine
Munroe Hotes
