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No.1 Yoichiro Kawaguchi |
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| How did this "dark period" give birth to the GROWTH MODEL? |
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| Eiichi Idehara, design manager at the research institute, said "Why don't you express some of the unique characteristics of Tanegashima since you are from there?" From there I arrived at the helical structure of an ammonite. I am interested in the mechanism of the spiral shape. When I was child, I often collected shells and observed their structure at a rocky beach in Tanegashima. Also, the Milky Way which brightens on clear star-filled nights, is actually a spiral shape. I went back to my origins and thought of the mystery of the logical regularity which can be seen in these spirals.The geometrical helix of ammonite was the source for the GROWTH MODEL. |
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The ammonite, the source for the GROWTH MODEL |
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| It was good because I found a form by thinking of my own way of life rather than making a geometric form using CG simply because I found computers interesting. If I had not returned to my starting point, which is Tanegashima, I would not be what I am now. It was very good for me to arrive at the ammonite but it was not a good research theme for a MITI research institute. At the research institute they research industrial design. Design for use in tools and products. There is no connection between geometric form self-multiplying animation and social benefits. People were like: "Why would we need this beautiful ammonite helix? (laughs)." For that reason, I researched the GROWTH MODEL while hiding from other people. After everyone went home, I sneakily did my research (laughs). |
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| Even in that situation you continued to research. You had a lot of spirit. |
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| I was very uncertain. Mentally it was a time of patience really. My classmates from graduate school became assistants or lecturers and moved to other universities. But I was doing strange things, being careful not to be seen by anybody (laughs). I was very scared because I could not see my future. |
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| From this situation, when did the GROWTH MODEL move into the mainstream? |
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In 1978, both the research institute and my graduate school moved to Tsukuba. Professor Idehara who took care of me a lot decided at the time to move to Hokkaido. He invited me to go to Hokkaido with him but I turned him down because Hokkaido is too cold for me to live because I am from Tanegashima (laughs).
After I turned down his offer I was worried because there was no place where I could go. Then, by chance I received an invitation to be a lecturer at a technical college in Tokyo that wanted to have a course in CG. I did not want to do it, but I had no other options, so I started to lecture once a week as a part-time employee. Again by chance the technical college received information on SIGGRAPH* and I had the opportunity to visit. At that time there were almost no participants from Japan. It was a great turning point for me.
When I went to SIGGRAPH, I saw that CG involved processing on a plane not by drawing in lines, and that it used color and shade. It was a culture shock. At the moment I saw that, there was a very sudden change inside my head. I thought, "I can't waste any more time worrying." Then I asked the school to buy a small machine that could do processing on a plane. After that, I did all-nighters in that small research space and added color to the GROWTH MODEL.
As a result, it was a good idea that I went to that technical college (laughs). I had an opportunity to go to SIGGRAPH earlier than anybody else. And I found out what people abroad had been doing 10 years earlier.
In 1981, I submitted a paper to SIGGRAPH and it was approved! The next year, in 1982, I presented the paper at a conference in Boston and it was highly evaluated overseas. From that year, I received many invitations from abroad to lecture, and such offers have continued up to now.
It was a great change to come out of the "dark period" to make a sudden international debut.
I had many opportunities and good fortune but it was also good to do something far removed from the latest trends. Some people even put me down, saying: "What is that good for?" (laughs). It has been a real roller coaster ride. |
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| Just as in the name GROWTH MODEL, the concept of growth is a major theme in your works. |
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| It comes from the natural environment in Tanegashima, which is located in the subtropical Black Current that is linked to the Philippines, Taiwan and Okinawa. So, I always had an image that sea creatures floated in from the south. In addition, Tanegashima is a relay point for migratory birds. Various kinds of migratory birds come through there. There are creatures that come via the sea and birds that fly there. In that environment, since I was a child I have thought that creatures are constantly moving so evolution is inevitable. My dream was to be an ecologist and discover unknown colorful creatures in the remotest parts of the Amazon. |
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| An ecologist dreaming about space (laughs). |
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| Adventures to tropical jungles, adventures into space, and the creatures who may be there--these are things that overlapped in my head. I chose CG to express the images in my head more exactly. It is a dream to search for life on far-distant planets. |
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| The vivid colors of your works come from your dreams of adventure. |
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| Yes. These colors are very much influenced by actual creatures in Tanegashima. I think I have developed a strong tendency to observe things closely. In the ocean around Tanegashima, there were a lot of coral reefs with many colorful fish. In the mountains and fields, there were many bright red hibiscus flowers and vivid great orange tips fluttering. In the bush by the river, there were small red birds known as Ryukyu Robin and beautiful insects. |
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| When you were a child, did you run around the hills and fields? |
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| Yes, yes. I remember childhood like a kind of heaven. The nature of Tanegashima itself was a treasure house. When I was small, I fought with a moray eel on a rocky beach. It was strong, so I battled hard. I remember this like it was yesterday. Also when I went deep into the mountain, I saw birds building and leaving their nests. In the silence, I relished the tension from the sounds made by the insects. When a person like myself was introduced to CG it was a connection between a very primitive thing and the latest technology. I maintained the wild idea that art is adventure and survival. |
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