An Expression
1985
An early representative work that generated sound in real time from image brightness.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Collected by MoMA. Collection record: Naoko Tosa, An Expression, 1985, Video (color, sound), 9 min., Department of Media and Performance. A related exhibition record appears in MoMA’s “New Video: Japan” (1986).
Video: An Expression
NEURO-BABY
1993-1995
An early interactive work exploring emotion recognition and artificial-life-like others.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Exhibition basis: invited to Ars Electronica 1993 “Artificial Life,” SIGGRAPH ’93, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography exhibition “A-Life world.” Scholarly basis: research reports from 1992–95, Visual Proceedings, and related Artificial Life literature.
Video: Neuro-Baby
Interactive Poem “MUSE”
1996–2017
A work integrating emotion recognition, speech recognition, and poetic generation.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Award basis: Grand Prize, L’Oréal Award, 1997. Exhibition basis: ISEA97. Scholarly basis: Interactive Poem System, publication in the Journal of the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers, and related papers and materials.
Video: Interactive Poem “MUSE”
Unconscious Flow
2000–2001
A work visualizing psychological synchrony through heartbeats and interpersonal distance.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Award and exhibition basis: accepted and recognized in the Interactive Art category at Ars Electronica 2000. Scholarly basis: a collaborative model with psychologists, as well as related papers from around 2000 and publication in CyberArts.
Video: Unconscious Flow
ZENetic Computer
2003–2004
Created during Tosa’s time at MIT. A work reconstructing sansui and Zen as an interactive system, and an important work that consciously foregrounds Japanese culture as its theme.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Production and institutional basis: developed while at MIT CAVS, with support from MIT, JST, and France Telecom R&D. Exhibition and scholarly basis: presentations at the MIT Museum and Kodaiji, as well as related papers including Information Visualization.
Video: ZENetic Computer
Awards: Nabi Digital Storytelling Competition of Intangible Heritage 第2位
Art Center Nabi / UNESCO公式後援
i.plot
2005
A research-oriented work envisioning context generation and future narrative.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Exhibition basis: SIGGRAPH 2005 Emerging Technologies (Los Angeles Convention Center). Scholarly basis: “Computing Inspiration: i.plot” (2005) and other papers on context generation and narrative research.
Video: i.plot
Sound of Ikebana
2014–
A representative work crystallizing Tosa’s long-running exploration of the relationship between sound and image.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Institutional basis: solo exhibition and exterior wall projection at ArtScience Museum (2013–14), and screening at Times Square, New York (2017). Scholarly and critical basis: continuously discussed and analyzed as a representative work addressing the relationship between sound and image, and the temporality and generativity of Japanese culture.
Video: Sound of Ikebana
UTSUROI
2015
A video work created by freezing ikebana with liquid nitrogen and filming the shattering process in high speed, visualizing the beauty of decay and the transient nature of things.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Production and exhibition basis: created in 2015 in collaboration with Mr.Ryuho Sasaoka, headmaster of Misyo-party in Ikebana world.
Video: UTSUROI
Genesis
2019–2020
A study of beauty capturing the nonlinear and chaotic motion of dry ice and fluid in a time domain invisible to the naked eye. A core work following Sound of Ikebana.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Institutional basis: permanently installed at HOTEL & MUSEUM ROYAL CLASSIC Osaka. Research basis: positioned as a study of beauty that visualizes the nonlinear and chaotic motion of dry ice and fluid in a time domain invisible to the naked eye.
Video: Genesis
Noh: Izutsu
2023
A 17-minute video performance work that merges the visual vocabulary of Noh Izutsu and Sound of Ikebana, presenting an unprecedented new form of yūgen as an emotional expression for the shite. A late core work in which Tosa’s expression of yūgen intersects with her long-standing research on sound, image, body, and time.
Notes (Exhibitions, Awards, Scholarly Basis)
Exhibition basis: “Zeami Noh: Izutsu” was presented at East Hawai‘i Cultural Center’s “Reconceptualizing Traditions in Japanese Theater” in 2023–2024. Critical and institutional basis: positioned as a work that connects the visual expression of Sound of Ikebana to the Noh play Izutsu and presents a new form of yūgen through the emotional expression of the shite.
Video: Dream of Dragon