corona Tokyo University of the Arts GEIDAI x GLOBAL FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS TUA The Graduate School of Global Arts Graduate School of Fine Arts Course of Global Art Practice TUA Admission Information

DEPARTMENT OF NEW MEDIA

Department/course summary

newmedia_img200901An Approach from the Viewpoint of Media
More than 150 years have passed since the invention of photography, during which output formats changed from copper plate to glass, and later to film, photographic paper, and finally, digital data. But while photographic media keep transforming, there has to be something that remains constant on the side of the creator. In reverse, the creator is certainly supposed to respond to such transformations with appropriate new approaches. As the technical hurdles get higher, the creator is in jeopardy of being left behind and ending up as a mere user. He has to make his own point, rather than accepting what he has been given. In these times, it seems to be an important quality to create from scratch what doesn’t yet exist.

The Characteristics of Digital Media
The computer has been affecting our daily lives on various levels. Introduced as practical tool, the question for us has to be where the aspects of convenience, practicality and potential lie in the computer as an instrument for expression, or in other words, a medium. It is possible to define the power of digital technology as the power to convert objects into numerical information. This means at once that the boundary between replica and original disappears, and that information can be distributed freely to any place in the world. Artists no longer need to fall back on paper or film to show their works around.
Furthermore, the focus on interfaces for manipulating information has triggered a shift in the relationship between creator and recipient from a one-way affair toward interactivity. There is still a lot to explore about such characteristic features, as there is new, still uncharted territory added with every act of creative expression.

Research through Creation
When there is a complete, predefined aesthetic, one may create works by simply following that theory, but in cases where artistic expression has to be formed within a relationship with others, it has become necessary to analyze the occurrences during the creation process from the viewpoint of media. In this sense, the creators and researchers that make up this department’s faculty aim to train creators, and at once develop techniques to intensify artistic expression. We pursue this through actual creative work and workshops, based on the four thematic pillars of expression through media, theoretics, media concepts, and design.

Curriculum

newmedia_img200902Curriculum (graduate education and research)
During the 1st year, first of all, by exploring a large panorama of different media to use, we foster our understanding of the specificities of each. That is why we focus on production through group work, and progress in the production process step by step, from discovering problems through discussion to solving them.

During the 2nd year, in preparation for the graduation production work (or graduation paper), we progressively build an eclectic project under the direction of a main supervisor, and by collaborating with fellow students from other specializations. At the end of each year, we organize a general exhibit event involving the whole Department, and thus create a contact point with the outside world.

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