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Screening Committee Chairman Comment |
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Yoichiro Kawaguchi
Screening Committee Chairman
(CG artist, Professor at the Graduate School, University of Tokyo) |
| Overall Evaluation |
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In looking at the award-winning works this time, I think one important point is how the creators interpreted space, light, texture, details, and the degree of fineness from their unique perspectives. The world of digital art involves not simply reproducing things beautifully, but the creators' original viewpoints, in other words, how they view the relationship between the structure of form and light in the course of temporal variation, as well as fineness and other factors. The award winners were creators who exhibited that kind of originality and who could also process their works well.
In digital art, if you are not careful, you will wind up with only similar works of a familiar type, but on the other hand, if you overcome difficulties and are able to express your individual way of viewing things in every aspect, I think it is possible to create attractive works of art.
In order to take digital art to its ultimate level, you need to get a thorough grasp of your own way of viewing things. |
| Review of Award-Winning Works |
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*Grand Prize
The manner of expression in the Grand-Prize-winning work "parties" by Miho Aoki that makes good use of the atmosphere of space was not seen before in other works. I think her use of light is extremely soft, and the atmosphere of the picture is fabulous. She expresses space really skillfully, in a way that only a person with knowledge of details--soft snow or cold ice--could achieve. Her work expresses a delicate atmosphere that we rarely get to savor in Japan, from a multifaceted viewpoint. Yet a closer look shows the objects themselves to be personified, and I think it is the way they appear to be living creatures that won the hearts of the Screening Committee members.
She brilliantly won the Grand Prize for the highly artistic level not seen in other works, both in terms of the method of processing the delicate lights and shadows on the screen and the humorous design used in expressing the objects.
*Excellence Award
The Excellence Award-winning work under the theme of "Banquet/Reception/Feast/Party/Festivities/Merrymaking/Revelry: " by kouyuu1217 completely fills the screen with colors unique to Asia, and is a successful work in terms of expressing the image of parties in a Japanese style. One would never see this sense of colors coming from Hollywood or New York, I think. The picture also shows extremely skillful finishing, spun like a thread with colors and three-dimensional shapes, with fine structuring down to the tiniest details.
The winning work under the theme of "Raise/Grow/Foster/Develop/Cultivate/Cherish: ," Tatsuya Uchida's "ikebana," has brought out a fascinating originality removed from everyday life by combining people and plants under that theme. It has also added the senses of light and shadow, brightness and darkness, as well as volume, through the use of pictorial techniques that made it stand out among the other entries.
In any case, the work does not rely simply on the usual techniques of reproducing objects, but combines diverse things, creating a world which matches the theme of "Raise/Grow/Foster/Develop/Cultivate/Cherish:," making it truly unique. Thus the work succeeded in establishing an original world, and was selected for an Excellence Award.
There were many works under the theme of "Raise/Grow/Foster/Develop/Cultivate/Cherish:" which showed extremely sophisticated expression of texture. Some had details that had been "fostered" using the most surprising objects, such as a pumpkin, while others described strange worlds such as a jungle inhabited by energetic plants which seems likely to foster Mononoke (spirit/god/monster of the natural world). One used plainer colors well, bringing out a depth reminiscent of an oil painting. I thought all of them were wonderful. Among them were works drawn in bright and delicate colors with a light air. In these ways, even though the theme was "Raise/Grow/Foster/Develop/Cultivate/Cherish:" many works showed maturity in details and drawing.
The winning work under the theme of "Dye/Color/Stain/Pigment: " was Zach Vitale Photography's "The Yolk's On You," which is a work structured with permutations and combinations amidst a screen filled with individually broken eggs. It was a completely new type of work unprecedented among DCA award-winning entries, providing a fresh image. It was a high-quality arrangement with a structure like a comic strip, conveying a sense of tension; more of a graphic design than a picture.
*Special Recognition Award
The dancing, musical world of Atsumi Kurotaki's "My Lovely Ladies" displays a really high degree of finish compared to the other entries. An extremely high level of mastery is evident in the finishing, but the theme itself is very youthful, giving the viewer a bright, humorous impression. It is complete and mature, but also lively, young, and fresh, and so it is very endearing.
In observing the details, the background is finished in a typical traditional Japanese fashion, and the manga-like appeal of the facial expressions and gestures of each character is expressed well. Their clothing is not so adult-like, having instead a youthful, urban air. By skillfully incorporating factors such as tradition along with youthfulness and fashion, the work tastefully explores profundities--which is one of its outstanding aspects. Looking at the picture overall, it conveys to us a dancing, musical, rhythmical feeling. This makes it a joy to view. It is a wonderful work.
*Special Encouragement Award
The work titled "Growth and Death" by Tetsuya Kakuta is basically entirely processed using computer graphics, and it is probably the most digitally structured work from the perspective of digital art. Conceptually, in terms of construction, environment and space, the decisive factor in its success was that the nuances of the theme of "Raise/Grow/Foster/Develop/Cultivate/Cherish:" were formatively processed with a focus on structure.
Okada Takashi's "Plant Girl" can really be considered digital art, as it was created using a visual method so that the more it is enlarged, the more details become visible. Also, from the aspect of details and fineness of texture, it can probably be considered one of the outstanding works among the entries. As for color expression itself, it is in a subdued monotone, but in terms of details of shapes, it has been very finely finished, and no matter how long one views it, the variety of things that have been blended in never cease to hold one's attention. In this sense, it is an outstanding work of art. |
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| Scenes of the judging process |
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| Yoichiro Kawaguchi, a Screening Committee Chairman |
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Nobumichi Tosa, member of the Screening Committee |
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| Saori Kanda, a Screening Committee member |
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High-quality prints of submitted works on display at the screening site |
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| All members of the Screening Committee exchanging opinions to narrow down the potential award-winning works |
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Final judgment is made by looking at the works on computer screens |
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| Members of the Screening Committee in front of the Grand Prize-winning work;
from left, Mr. Mayerson, Ms. Kanda, Mr. Kawaguchi, Mr. Tosa, Mr. Saitou
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