Open Space: in Transition at NTT ICC

Located in Nishi Shinjuku, NTT ICC is a free cultural space offered through Japan’s foremost communications company. Standing for InterCommunication Center, the NTT ICC’s goal is to connect art with science in a way that is accessible to the public.
Open Space 2018: “in transition” is the 13th installment running from June 2nd to March 10th, 2019. The exhibition focuses on ever-changing technology and its relationship with humans in the current age, featuring interactive artwork from both domestic and foreign artists.

Open Space: in Transition at NTT ICC

Open Space is a free exhibit inviting people of all ages to experience its art. They also host artist’s talks and gallery tours to increase arts education. Varying additional exhibitions also open throughout the year, next to the current year-long “in transition” exhibition. Here are some of the most popular exhibits from the current program.

02

MARSHMALLOW SCOPE

Created by Toshio Iwai, the “Marshmallow Scope” invites visitors to witness a distorted real-time video through the lens of a marshmallow like sculpture. It is then recorded and stored in a computer for future access. This art piece invites art viewers to become both the subjects and spectators of the work. “Marshmallow Scope” is the successor to Iwai’s earlier piece, “Another Time, Another Place” where he set up a camera in Antwerp’s Central Station and distorted the bodies in the video. With “Marshmallow Scope,” viewers not only watch the distorted live action but they can also participate in it.

Travel Guide

03

MARSHMALLOW MONITOR

Closely related to “Marshmallow Scope,” Iwai’s “Marshmallow Monitor” also films real-time video while distorting the subject. This time, the subject can see themselves in the monitor, acting as the art subject as well as the spectator. Iwai slows down the video speed, so that moving objects become distorted while still objects continue to stay stationary. This way, the subject can experience the art while simultaneously being the art.

04

JUGGLER

Gregory Barsamian’s “Juggler” was commissioned by NTT ICC themselves. Spectators watch multiple figures of a juggler consistently throwing various objects into the air and catching it, on repeat. The thrown object begins as a phone receiver, then turns into random articles when thrown into the air, and turned into a phone again as the juggler catches it. Strobe lights give the effigies a fragmented movement, similar to an early silent film or flip-book.

05

HIVE

Hive is NTT’s media archival department. The videos range from artist’s interviews to experimental short films dating back to 1997. Visitors are invited to peruse the entire archive, for free, inside of the center.

06

LIVES IN JAPAN

Installation view © UJINO,Courtesy of YAMAMOTO GENDAI Photo by Keizo Kioku

Created by Tokyo based artist Ujino, “Lives in Japan” is a video installation documenting post war lives in Japan. In the videos, Ujino attempts to find a correlation between Japanese and foreign domestic lives verging together. Ujino also has two other exhibits, “Radiowave Quarter” and “Plywood City Stories”.

07

THE OTHER IN YOU

“The Other in You” is the stand-out exhibit of “in transition”. The VR-based project invites viewers to individually become a part of the art. This exhibition was inspired by dancers and involves the viewer becoming one of the bodies carrying out the choreography. The exhibition space only invites one viewer at a time, so each person can have a minute of privacy with just themselves and their new reality.

NTT Intercommunication Center