3rd Pictoplasma Conference and Festival
Berlin, Germany
19.03. - 21.03.2009
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http://festival.pictoplasma.com/
http://pictoplasma.com/
http://pictopia.festival.pictoplasma.com/speakers/wktokyolab
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PICTOPLASMA and The House of Culture Berlin invited W+K TOKYO LAB to lecture and do a video installation at this years festival - PICTOPIA - in Berlin from March 18-21. During this time of year, Pictoplasma transforms Berlin into a kind of Lollapalooza for character design and animation. Sounds promising.
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W+K TOKYO LAB LECTURE
+CRUZ and Shane Lester
March 21 | SATURDAY | 12.00hr
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W+K TOKYO LAB VIDEO INSTALLATION
CHARACTERSCOPE SHOWDOWN PARTY
March 21 | SATURDAY | 23.00hr
we come on at midnight
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TOKYO.TEN : BERLIN EXHIBITION
NEUROTITAN GALLERY
March 17th – April 11th

Opening : March 17th at 12hr
Hours : Mon-Sat 12-20h and Sun 14-19h

Neurotitan Im Haus Schwarzenberg
Rosenthaler Str. 39
10178 Berlin
www.neurotitan.de
+ 49 177 52 11117

Coinciding with the Pictoplasma Character Walk, we will have a small exhibition at Neurotitan Gallery, where our work and products will be on display. We cant make it for the opening night on March 17th at 12hr, but we hope to see some of you there in the coming days.

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In spring 2009, Pictoplasma and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt will host the PICTOPIA festival, the world’s first ever large-scale presentation and celebration of reduced and abstract character design and art.

In March and April, Berlin will be transformed into a character biotope and a meeting point for an international scene of designers, artists, producers and an interested public. At the heart of the festival is an exhibition which explores the huge diversity of the character universe, where artists remix and sample, condense the surreal and uncanny, inflate all proportions and stage bizarre rituals to introduce their characters into contemporary culture.

The festival programme also features the long-awaited 3rd Pictoplasma Conference which, since its inception in 2004, has set the standard for a playful yet concentrated approach to the subject. For the first time, scientific light will be shed on the character phenomenon in a symposium, which brings together experts from the fields of art history, cultural studies, robotics and media theory.

The Pictoplasma Animation Festival will put the characters in motion, steering well clear of the mainstream. And the Character Walk will lead visitors through 20 galleries and project rooms throughout Berlin-Mitte and deeper into the visual worlds of individual artists.

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3rd PICTOPLASMA CONFERENCE
MARCH 19 - 21 2009

The unique Pictoplasma Conference on contemporary character design and art returns for its 3rd edition to bring together makers from around the world. Presentations by 18 outstanding designers, artists and animation film makers, such as Klaus Haapaniemi (FIN), James Jarvis (UK), Boris Hoppek (DE/ES), Faiyaz Jafri (NL/USA) and W+KTokyoLab (JP). Animation screenings show focussed selections of motion graphics, short films and music videos and open workshops actively integrate the attendees and call for participation. A series of performances, VJ-parties, installations and interventions will further add to the programme.

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1st PICTOPLASMA SYMPOSIUM
MARCH 19 - 21 2009

For the first time, a symposium discusses the cultural implications of the phenomenon from an academic perspective. With contributions by Christoph Bartneck (information design, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven/NL), Cindy Lisica (art theory, University of the Arts in London/UK), Geoffrey Long (media theory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge /USA), Ken Belson (New York Times / USA), Klaus-Peter Köpping (ethnology, Universität Heidelberg/DE), Ragnhild Tronstad (theory of performance, theatre and media, Universität Oslo/NOR) and Verena Kuni (art and media theory, Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Universität Frankfurt/DE).

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CHARACTER WALK BERLIN
MARCH 17 - 22 2009

As the official opening event to the Pictoplasma Conference, the Character Walk is a guided tour through over twenty galleries and project spaces in Berlin, showcasing different positions of artists working in the genre of reduced figuration. The exhibitions will include the wooden figures of the Argentinean artist Juan Pablo Cambariere, a media installation by Swiss designer François Chalet and new paintings by Dutch multi-talent Fons Schiedon. Additionally, performances and installations in nightclubs and other venues in Berlin celebrate the “Characters in Rhythm.”

check out his flickr photos…
caesars flickr photos

For peeps in the socal area, next month will be your chance to see the Tokyo.Ten exhibition we did in Tokyo at the launch of the Book+DVD, including prints of all 42 artworks from the book, visual remixes of our past releases, and projection of our video works. Of course you’ll also be able to buy your copy of Tokyo.Ten there too and maybe even some of our previous CD+DVD albums. The LA exhibition will be hosted by Nucleus gallery in Alhambra, and there will be an opening party starting 7pm on November 1st DJed by WOOG, Nanopaul, and myself.

Bruce and Anthony from W+K were interviewed over at Moonlinx about the Lab’s Tokyo.Ten project, and live show that we presented this July at Liquid Room. Crescent, who is also featured in the interview, was one of our technology partners for Tokyo.Ten live who kindly lent us their expertise in real-time motion capture, making for some impressive live visuals.

Our friends at Flux in LA will be having a screening at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles on September 20th, and will be including Tokyo Lab’s latest video for Jemapur, Maledict Car, in the program. Info on the screening is below, and you can RSVP and see more info here. If you are in LA, admission is free, so don’t hesitate to check out this event!

Flux Screening Series
September 20, 2008
8:00 pm screening, 10:00 pm after-party

Hammer Museum
Billy Wilder Theater
10899 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310.443.7000

W+K Tokyo Lab, work shop + book signing
Tues. 7/22 20:00-21:00
Place: Aoyama Book Center Roppongi