Photos by: Io Nishimura (Social venue), Masatoshi Mori (Main Venue)
Contents
Participating Scientists and Artists
What we did
History - timeline
Looking at the numbers
Participant surveys (n=68)
Feedback from scientists and artists (n=18)
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The Fundamentalz Program hosted the Fundamentalz Fest (2021-2023) in December 2023 to showcase the work of pairs of scientists and artists who are still currently in the process of exchanging ideas. It was the third time such an event had been organized as Fest or Fest-mini.
The Fundamentalz Program is a voluntary community made up of scientists and artists participating in the program, and members from the Public Relations Work Group in Cooperation with Adjacent Fields, under the Japan Association for Communications in Science and Technology (JACST). JACST is an independent organization of 300 public relations professionals from about 130 research institutes and universities in science and technology throughout Japan.
Below we report on the background, activities, and results so far.
Event summary
Title: Fundamentalz Fest (2021 - 2023)
Time & date: 10AM to 5PM, 16th -27th December, 2023
Venue: Komaba Campus, The University of Tokyo (Komaba 3-8-1, Meguro, Tokyo)
Main venue: The University of Tokyo Komaba Museum
Social venue: The University of Tokyo Komaba Multi-purpose Hall
Admission: Free
Host: Fundamentalz Program
Co-hosts: The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Arts and Science and College of Arts and Sciences Komaba Museum, the Japan Association of Communication for Science and Technology (JACST) Public Relations Work Group in Cooperation with Adjacent Fields, the University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI)Funding: Arts Council Tokyo (Arts & Culture Creations funding), Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial FoundationSupport from: Tokyo Zokei UniversitySponsor: Mira Tuku
Scientist and Artists list
Every March since 2021, the Fundamentalz Program invites new members to join. This exhibition showcases all the work from present and past members.
Scientists
Miho Ishigaki (Astronomy / National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Assistant Professor)
Mutsuo Ishikawa (Medical Engineering / Toin University of Yokohama Medical Engineering Lecturer)
Tomohiro Ishizu (Neuroaesthetics / Kansai University Professor)
Toshiaki Ichinose (Urban environmental studies / National Institute for Environmental Studies Senior Principal Investigator)
Tatsuki Kuwagaki (Geometry and Algebraic Analysis / Kyoto University Associate Professor)
Kazuto Saiki (Planetary geometry / Ritsumeikan University Professor)
Tatsuya Daikoku (Neuroscience and Computational Musicology / The University of Tokyo Project Lecturer)
Kentaro Terada (Space and planetary chemistry / Osaka University Professor)
Shuichiro Tomita (Developmental biology / National Agriculture and Food Research Organization Group Leader)
Hiraku Nakajima (Geometric representation theory / The University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe Professor)
Ryo Namba (Theoretical cosmology / RIKEN Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences Program Senior Researcher)
Tatsuki Hayama (Mathematics and graphics programming / Senshu University Associate Professor)
Mayumi Fukunaga (Environmental Sociology / The University of Tokyo Associate Professor)
Michiru Makuuchi (Cognitive neuroscience / National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities Director)
Taketoshi Minato (Surface Interface Science / Institute for Molecular Science Principal Investigator)
Takeo Yamawaki (Development of cosmetics ingredients / Shiseido Researcher)
Hannes Raebiger (Material Physics / Yokohama National University Associate Professor)
Artists
Shin Asato (Contemporary Art, installation)
Midori Arai (Painting)
Akiko Iijima (Installation)
Yuki Ideguchi (Painting)
Ushio (Contemporary Art)
Yuiga Otsuki (Photography)
Takumi Kato (Painting technique, tempera painting)
Chihiro Kabata (Painting, installation)
Ken Kitano (Photography)
Hyoyun Kim (Painting, installation)
Azu Kimura (Three-dimensional, drawing, plants)
Mayumi Kuronuma (Installation (lace threading))
Kenichi Sawazaki (Film, project based art)
Aoi Suwa (Installation)
Hirayama Yoshiya (Installation)
Kumi Hiroi (Mixed media, installation)
Koji Maekawa (Drawing, Project)
Yuki Miyoshi (Interaction Installation)
Masatoshi Mori (Photography)
Ami Yamasaki (Performance, Installation)
Kazuaki Yamane (Installation)
Yuki Yamamoto (Painting)
Yu Yoshida (Three dimensional, Photography, Overlay technique)
Shisa Yoshimi (Abstract Art)
Life is a Poem (Upcycle Art)
Nerhol (Sculpting, Photography)
Saki Furuya (Hole)
Background and Mission
Before we go into the background, let us consider the mission of this program.
Fundamentalz Program Mission:
Fundamentalz is the name given to scientists working at the cutting edge of their field, and modern artists, working to find universality.
(1) We provide an environment that allows for a diverse range of Fundamentalz to exchange opinions
(2) Recognizing the importance of reaching over what is in front of our eyes and finding universality, and sharing that with us (society)
Succeeding the Fundamentalz Fest-mini 2022 concept:
Although it looks like an exhibition, it is not intended to be an exhibition, but rather a festival. Here, we showcase the multiple aspects in multiple mediums, including art, science, fusion of art and science, and other finished exhibits, interactive materials and models, the people involved, and discussions everyone has at the exhibition.
So now we move onto...
Lessons learned from past events and future challenges:
In our first year of showcasing the program's exchange process, we hosted an exhibition on a train station platform in central Tokyo. We sought for a space that was both inviting, and easy to visit, which led us to the public space of a station platform.
In the second year of opening the exchange process, members of the public were invited to a small theater, where scientists and artists presented their outputs of the exchange process, in order to let visitors engage in dialogue with its creators.
This program does not require scientists and artists to produce a certain result by a designated deadline. Efforts devoted to interaction are given a higher priority over presentation preparation, but this can make it difficult for visitors to understand the exhibit on its own. For that reason, and learning from the challenges of the first exhibition, we decided to host this event in a small theater that allowed us to set up exhibitions in a flexible space over a short period of time, and make sure that people could give a presentation with their objects.
This year, the third time we opened the exchange process to the public, we built upon the success of our second year event, and hosted an exhibition inside a small theater space for visitors to interact with the presentations by scientists and artists, and its creators directly. We also set up another exhibition space in a university museum to showcase the exhibits from scientist and artist pairs who have been involved in this program for several years. This museum commits to the exhibition of both science and art, and values the working process as an essential element of organizing exhibitions.
Unlike a regular exhibition, in which a curator develops a theme, collects the art pieces, and plans how to present them, our exhibition at the museum supports the interaction between scientists and artists, which as a result produces a diverse range of artwork. One of the main goals of this event was to create a unique opportunity where scientists, artists, and a third person who has had no interaction with the pair until this moment, can meet one another in some form of common ground.
The challenge of this exhibition was to present the artworks as they were, with pairs involved in the exchange process to stand in the foreground, rather than having a third party, or curator that has not been involved in the exchange process to take the initiative and organize the artwork into a strong presentation themselves. An equally challenging task was how to keep the visitors focused despite the wide range of information that the works have as their background.
In the first Fundamentalz Fest-mini 2021, we found a lack of signage and explanations made it difficult for visitors to interpret the work. However, providing too much information can be intimidating. To learn from our past challenges, this year we decided to have a single area for the exchange, shorten the presentation times per pair, and have everyone listen to everyone else's presentations in the closed part of the event.
PR efforts
Also, unlike previous process exhibitions where we promoted the event to a small audience, this year's exhibition was widely publicized given that we had more artwork to showcase. We also created a handout with detailed information of the works showcased that would allow everyone to understand what they would see at the venue.
What we did
The main venue (Komaba Museum) was divided into three sections. The exhibition order generally followed the sequence of events established during the creation of the Metaverse version of Fundamentalz Fest-mini 2022, and adjusted accordingly following feedback from exhibitors, to try and create an environment everyone was satisfied with. Word limits were established on captions, and these too were edited by all exhibitors. Exhibitor profiles were printed on handouts.
As practice for the event, we re-released video content from past exchange presentations, and Fundamentalz Fest-mini 2022 and the Metaverse adapted Fundamentalz Fest mini2022+1, which was completed in May 2023.
Prior to the event, we were informed by art critic and art researcher Takuya Nakao, that the “Large Glass” artwork by French painter and sculptor Marcel Duchamp, which is on permanent display at the Komaba Museum, the event’s venue, would be celebrating its 100th birthday. We took the opportunity to celebrate this by organizing a special event “Delaying Made of Glass” that explored the connection between the Duchamp artwork and the event’s artworks, which could be read at the venue. This event was approved and run by NFT Sales.
Posters were made and sent to 200 research institutes and art galleries across the country. A press release was made and sent out to science journalists, an online media specializing in art.
One month after the exhibition, a collection of video records of the event was uploaded online for a limited time, making it possible for more people to experience the exchange.
PRE-EVENT
Re-release archive videos: Video records of past exchanges between scientists and artists were made public for a limited time.
Re-release Metaverse: The metaverse-adapted Fundamentalz Fest-mini 2022 that was held during December 2022, was made public for a limited time.
MAIN VENUE (Komaba Museum, The University of Tokyo) An exhibition of work by 16 scientist and artist pairs, as well as three individual pieces. Handouts were also available.
SOCIAL VENUE (Multi-purpose Hall, Komaba campus, The University of Tokyo) An exhibition of materials, objects and artwork by 8 pairs of scientists and artists. Visitors were able to exchange opinions with exhibitors, and handouts were also available. Oral presentations were run here (closed door event).
OTHER EVENTS
“Drawing Scenarios” workshop with Hiraku Nakajima and Koji Maekawa
Textbook by art critic and art researcher Takuya Nakao, regarding the “Large Glass” artwork by French painter and sculptor Marcel Duchamp.
NFT Sales showing their participation in Fundamentalz Fest (2021 - 2023)
ONLINE EVENTS
Video recording of the closed door event at the Social Venue (article 3 above) was uploaded to our YouTube channel for one month during February 2024.
History - timeline
To allow our scientists and artists to deepen their interaction with one another during preparations for the exhibit, the overall schedule was organized to allow a lot of flexibility. All information regarding the presentations, planning, and exhibition layout were shared with participants beforehand to ensure everyone could voice their opinions, and that this remained a cooperative project.
Also, to ensure participants on both sides could interact with one another in a safe environment, the organizers built and managed an interactive platform based on an online chat service “Discord”, where frequent salons were hosted to allow participants to connect with their work partners and others from other groups.
*[ ] Other events FZ organizes within the program.
Jan 18 Main venue finalized
[Jan 25 Fundamentalz Room event]
Feb 4 Invitations sent out to participants for upcoming main venue check
Feb 21 Trip to check main venue
[Feb 22 Fundamentalz Room event]
March 2 Notification sent out to inform participants of the upcoming exhibition plan deadline
[March 25 Fundamentalz Park event]
April 4 Fundamentalz exhibition date finalized
April 19 Fundamentalz Program report presentation from the previous year, and information for current year
[April 26 Fundamentalz Room event]
May 31 Deadline for main venue exhibition plan submissions
[May 31 Fundamentalz Room event]
[June 24 Fundamentalz Park event]
[July 8-9 Fundamentalz Bazaar event]
August 15 Final deadline for main venue exhibition plan
[August 30 Fundamentalz Room event]
[September 30 Fundamentalz Park event]
October 1 Begin promoting using Facebook and Twitter
October 7 Main venue exhibition layout discussion
October 15 Deadline for exhibition poster information. Deadline for Social venue exhibitors to sign up.
October 20 Check venue
October 24 Call for Special Event participants
October 31 Deadline for exhibition poster information. Final deadline for Social venue exhibitor plan and oral presentations. Deadline for opinions on preview showing, and public viewing of archive videos.
[October 31 Fundamentalz Room event]
November 1 Special Event participant meeting. Follow up hearings on this topic were carried out individually from here onwards.
November 8 Finalize main venue floor plan
November 14 Finalize interactive program and floor plan. Begin public registrations.
November 15 Information session on exhibition logistics
November 16 Flier distribution begins. Press release issued.
November 17 Fundamentalz Fest Mini 2022 video and Metaverse video are released for public viewing again.
November 20 Meeting on Worksheet
November 24 Begin promoting using Instagram
[November 29 Fundamentalz Room event]
December 1 Equipment arrives at main venue
December 4 Preparations for exhibition begin
December 4 – 5, 9 Main venue exhibition builders arrive
December 8 Main venue entrance signs are printed
December 9 Main venue sign is printed
December 10 Main venue main panels are printed
December 11 Main venue captions, entrance panel, information panels are put in place. Main venue corner panels and information panels are printed.
December 12 Main venue handouts are printed
December 13 main venue information panels are printed
December 14 NFT badges completed
December 15 Main venue’s entrance decorations finished. Preview showing. NFT sales begin.
December 16 Main venue exhibition opening. Main venue supplemental information panels made and set up
December 18 Special Event cards printed. Social venue design completed.
December 23 Social venue sign and entrance panel completed
December 24 Social venue handouts completed. Exhibits printed. Social venue blueprint finalized.
December 25 Social venue preparations completed
December 26 Social venue opening
December 29 Main venue and social venue cleared out. NFT Sales finished.
December 31 Fundamentalz Fest 2022 video and Metaverse video public viewing finished
(2024) January 10 Exhibit transportation completed
[January 31 Fundamentalz Room event]
February 1 Video records of social venue private oral presentations made public viewing
[February 28 Fundamentalz Room event]
February 29 Public viewing finished
[March 30 Fundamentalz Park event]
Outputs and Feedbacks
1. Looking at the numbers
Participants: 44 (17 scientists, 27 artists)
Visitors: 820 (survey responses: 68) at main venue, 68 (survey responses: 20) at social venue
Social media* followers:
YouTube: 1,010 (+100)
Facebook: 194 (+8)
Twitter: 252 (+20)
Instagram: 250 (+59)
Posts on social media:
Facebook: 50
Twitter: 70
Instagram: 12
Website**: About 3,900 page views
NFT Sales: 3
* As of 29/02/2024, numbers in brackets refer to the same numbers recorded at the time the event was first promoted on 01/10/2023.
** Due to technical problems with the CMS during the exhibition, the page view count was set back to zero. This figure is what was recorded after the problem was resolved.
2. Participant surveys (n=68)
67% rated the exhibition as satisfactory, and 1% rated the exhibition as unsatisfactory. When asked where participants had learned about the exhibition, 38% said from someone they knew, and 30% said others (such as passing by the venue). When asked about their motivation for coming to the event, the most popular response was, “it looked somewhat interesting”, followed by “science communication”, and “interdisciplinary, academic research”. These accounted for about half of all responses. Visitor ages ranged from 20s to 60s and above, while teenager participation was low. Most popular occupations included about 30% for full time workers, followed by self-employed or university students at 16 to 17%, and then 8 to 9% for teachers and government workers.
About 62% of respondents said they were interested in a universal pursuit, 23% said the exhibition had changed their opinion about science, 19% answered it had changed their opinion about art, and 9% said it had changed their opinion on both subjects. Respondents rated their satisfaction to the availability of interactive exhibits they could touch, feel and smell.
3. Feedback from scientists and artists (n=18)
100% of the respondents answered they were satisfied with the exhibition, indicating a high level of satisfaction among exhibitors in general. Evaluation of the exhibition's management was also positive. While there was satisfaction from the perspective of promoting exchange, there is room for improving how we relay this message to the public and their understanding.
The respondents answered they were highly satisfied with the museum's planning, organization, and format, as well as each of the exhibits. Their opinions were divided regarding participation in the Special Event "Delayed Made of Glass".
Opinions about this event were divided depending on whether the respondent had participated in planning the project. Many respondents were "somewhat satisfied" with the format of the previews, and some were "somewhat satisfied" with the need for improvement.
Many respondents rated the preview showing as "somewhat satisfied", suggesting the need for improvement.
Generally positive responses were given to the planning, organization and format of the Social venue. However, many respondents thought visitor interaction and individual exhibits were “neither good nor bad”, suggesting room for improvement. However, because most of the exhibits were inside the museum, these responses may have been by visitors who had been visiting the Social venue.
There was positive feedback from exhibitors, who said they were able to deepen interaction with other artists and scientists, designing appropriate programs and venues for sharing them, and promoting ongoing interaction. However, they also commented on challenges such as reaching potential users, how to distribute information, and improving accessibility.
4. In the news
December 16: Mainichi Shimbun “A new world under construction at the University of Tokyo museum – a collaboration between artists and scientists”
Tokyo Art Beat
Results and Challenges
Visitor feedback indicates that overall, visitors experienced a variety of art pieces, despite a lack of a common theme, and showing artworks that are still in progress.
Because this event included an exhibition that was hosted inside a museum, compared to the previous year, it was easier to communicate the significance of prototype presentations at the Social venue.
We believe it was appropriate to open an exhibition that showcased under-construction work, as it was an opportunity to report on the progress of the last three years of a program with the goal to create something that is unrecognizable. The number of visitors recorded was the highest it has been to date. However, the challenge remains to effectively communicate the purpose of this program to individuals who are not interested in either science or art. The format of this event was at an art exhibition, but it was important to include elements of science. In the future, it would be important to retain this idea of providing a non-traditional space to fulfill the mission of the program.
There was criticism concerning how the exhibition was publicized. This was because although the exhibition style was an art exhibition, its contents did not follow a traditional art exhibition, making it difficult for some visitors to understand. In the future, it may be appropriate to not focus on explaining the meaning of the program when it is publicized, but perhaps adapt a traditional art exhibition poster and select important pieces of information regarding the program.
On this occasion, we cooperated with "ジブンジンブン (Jibunjinbun)", an organization that aims to encourage people to think of humanity as their own personal business, to create a worksheet for visitors to fill out and provide a perspective of the exhibition. However, the number of worksheets filled out was small. It is possible that few people knew about the worksheet. In the future, we will need to improve our communication with visitors about such activities.
Support for the program in NFT form was not very successful. We should consider this as a form of communication with visitors.
Finally, the Fundamentalz Program is always looking for new scientists, artists, and others who are interested in participating. We hope that scientists and artists will consider applying for future open calls. If you are flexible and willing to take on new challenges and explore new horizons, we would like to hear from you. We are sure that you will find something inspiring along the way.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the following people for their contributions:
Noboru Abe
Shin Ando
Midori Arai
Kazunori Endo
Toshihisa Fujiwara
Asako Hasegawa
Tomiyoshi Haruyama
Kanako Iriguchi
Satoru Kaneko
Shinji Kajitani
Ken Kitano
Hideyuki Kume
Yukiko Kuwayama
Koji Maekawa
Jujiro Maki
Yuki Miyoshi
mol^3
Masatoshi Mori
Takuya Nakao
Io Nishimura
Kazuyo Okada
Kumi Omori
Katsuya Orimo
Aisa Sakaguchi
Masahiro Satsuka
Naoko Suzuki
Jiro Takai
Maki Utsunomiya
Ryo Watanabe
Takako Yamaguchi
Yuki Yamamoto
Koji Yoshiizumi
Arts Council Tokyo
MIRATUKU
The Institute of Art, Okutama
Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial Foundation
The University of Tokyo Komaba Museum Staff members
The University of Tokyo Komaba Museum Student volunteers
Artists and Scientists who have taken part in this program
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