[spectre] Ogaki Biennale 2006 - Janken: The Power of Chance

[miki fukuda]

Ogaki Biennale 2006

Janken: The Power of Chance

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To the visitors of Ars Electronica,
You can find information about Ogaki Biennale 2006 at the  
electrolobby in the Brucknerhaus.
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http://www.iamas.ac.jp/biennale06



Ogaki Biennale 2006
Janken: The Power of Chance

 From the countries of Asia,
Summon the power of chance in media art to Ogaki

The 2nd Gifu Ogaki Biennale 2006 international media art festival  
will be held this forthcoming Friday October 6 to Sunday October 15.
The Biennale will be directed by media art curator and  
internationally active critic, Gunalan Nadarajan, and media  
aesthetics professor at the Institute for Advanced Media Arts and  
Sciences, Hiroshi Yoshioka. We present Janken as the universal theme  
at Biennale, reinterpreting the non-European game as a flexible and  
mythical idea.
This Biennale has two distinct features: First, it will be the first  
exhibition in Japan that focuses on Asian media artists from  
countries such as Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia,  
India, China and South Korea which have in recent years grown with  
rapid momentum, drawing global attention. Second, these exhibitions  
will be deployed throughout various places on the streets of Ogaki  
City, Gifu.
In addition to the works above, there will be artist talks, symposia,  
workshops, performances and exhibitions of artworks by artists from  
Japan and other countries, IAMAS (Institute of Advanced Media Arts  
and Sciences, International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences)  
students and graduates.
This will be an event full of fresh ideas and the latest information  
technology such as a unique stamp collecting activity developed  
specifically for the Biennale and sound events from a specially  
customized bus.


- Event Dates
Oct 6 [Fri] – Oct 15 [Sun], 2006
11: 00 - 19:00

- Venue
Throughout Ogaki City, Gifu, Japan


- Directors
Ganalan Nadarajan (Critic and Curator) + Hiroshi Yoshioka (Prof.  
IAMAS Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences)

- Theme
Janken: The Power of Chance

Janken is a game used to decide something no one wants to decide.  
Derived from the Buddhist term ryanken hoi, as the etymology suggests  
it is the act of invoking the will of the universe (hoi) for problems  
that cannot be concluded through human rational understanding  
(ryanken). Janken consists of a three-way deadlock of gu (rock),  
choki (scissors) and pa (paper). Differing from contemporary global  
economics where the strongest is the lone winner, in Janken there is  
no ultimate winner, rather it is based on the world-view that winning  
and losing circulates through the world.
The elements of ‘chance’ and ‘luck’ that intervene in  
rational ‘schedules’ and ‘planning.’ The unforeseen  
developments and serendipity in arts and sciences, and in our own  
lives. Ogaki Biennale 2006 takes up Janken, the familiar game where  
the power of ‘chance’ manifests directly, calling attention to the  
trichotomy at work (gu, choki and pa) that mythically symbolizes the  
fluid and cyclical structure of the world, in contrast to dichotomies  
such as coin tosses (heads / tails). Janken also serves to help us  
understand that cyclical structures are universal challenges in the  
natural environment, economic society, and all other realms with  
which we are close in contact.


- Exhibitions and Performances
Exhibitions and artwork displays by artists from Japan and around the  
world will be displayed using various areas in the city.

- Exhibitions and performances
Venzha Christ (Indonesia / media installation)
Tad Ermitaño (Philippines / video, media installation)
Seo Hyo Jung (South Korea / media installation)
Jamsen Law (China [Hong Kong] / video installation)
Zulkifle Mahmod (Singapore / sound performance)
Kamol Phaosavasdi (Thailand / video installation)
Raqs Media Collective  (India / Video installation)
Saso Sedlacek (Slovenia / media installation, Interactive public  
installation)
Marcia Vaitsman  Janken (Brazil, Germany / video installation)
Shinta Inoue +H.584 (Japan / Installation, Video)
Kazuki Saita+Soichiro Mihara+Hiroko Mugibayashi (Japan / Sound  
installation)
Nobuya Suzuki  (Japan / Media installation)
Masami Hirabayashi  (Japan / Web)
Hisako K. Yamakawa  (Japan / media installation)
dracom (Japan / Musical performance)
HANA JOSS+Takahiro Hayakawa (Indonesia+Japan / Visual Performance)
MOBIUM (Japan / Sound event)
Yoshihisa Suzuki (Japan / Sound workshop)


- Hosts
IAMAS, Gifu Prefecture, Ogaki City, Japan Center for Local Autonomy

- Admission
Free

- Please see the detail,
http://www.iamas.ac.jp/biennale06


- Inquiry
Center for Media Culture (CMC)
IAMAS
Institute of Advance Media Arts and Sciences / International Academy  
of Media Arts and Sciences
3-95 Ryoke-cho, Ogaki-shi, Gifu 503-0014 Japan
Tel: +81-(0)584-75-6606 / Fax: +81-(0)584-75-6604
E-mail: biennale06 at iamas.ac.jp
URL:  http://www.iamas.ac.jp/biennale06