Japan Media Arts Festival, interview with File organizers in Japan,Tokyo.
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Ms Paula PERISSINOTTO (Left) and Mr. Ricardo BARRETO (Right) |
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FILE - The International Festival of Electronic Language is a non-profit cultural organization established in 2000, the purpose of which is to disseminate and develop the arts, technology and scientific research by means of exhibitions, debates, and lectures. The festival promotes a yearly meeting in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, for international arts and new-media professionals.
http://www.file.org.br/ |
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FILE, which this year celebrates its 7th anniversary, holds an international media arts festival in Brazil every year, through which it is able to introduce a number of excellent media art works that transcend both genre and national boundaries. MsPaula PERISSINOTTO and Mr. Ricardo BARRETO, the founding members and current directors of FILE, told us about the motivations behind the establishment of FILE and their vision for the future. |
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 ―― First of all, can you tell us what motivated you to establish FILE? |
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Well, we are first and foremost artists and once we discovered the potential of the internet for ourselves, we began to create art using it. That was the beginning of the idea to organize an original event where artists could present their work on the internet. When we first proposed the idea of an international event on the website, we received a very positive response from the art community. Since we started the FILE website in 2000, we have been exhibiting art online using a new website designs every year. In 2003 we had to simplify the website design to cope with the constantly increasing amount of data and the need to make viewing more convenient. The center of our activities is the website, but we also organize events, such as festivals and symposiums. From 2004, we have been using gallery space to exhibit installation art. Things are gradually getting on track.
―― Did you have any difficulty in organizing a media arts festival in Brazil?
It was difficult in every aspect; we have no school of media arts in Brazil and therefore no art colleges to promote media arts or young people who are particularly interested the subject. Moreover, the art establishment was pretty much closed to the idea of a new area like media arts and since it was not established as a category of art we encountered some very basic difficulties.
The most difficult thing was successfully applying to organizations for grants to fund the festival. When you apply for a grant, you usually have to specify the type of event, such as visual arts, but there was no category for "media arts". Consequently, we were often forced to assign our project to a different category, but apparently the people who assessed these applications couldn't understand our proposal. We realized that in order to be successful we needed to educate people. I now believe that we have cultivated a new area of art in Brazil, as after seven years of our activities, it seems to me that the media arts scene in Brazil is changing, very slowly but definitely.
―― How many staff is work for FILE?
About 400...I'm joking (laugh). Actually, 8 people. I'm also often asked "Where are FILE's offices?", but the fact is we don't have an office either (laugh). We are all working through the internet from home, except for during the exhibition period; we hire temporary staff during that busy time. All 8 staff members are excellent workers; they each handle an incredible amount of work individually. We couldn't pay them a few years ago, but now we are able to; in fact, staff members used to have other jobs besides FILE work. I think the passion for the work and the joy of realization made it possible for them to work so hard. FILE has a very open atmosphere, so all the staff can enjoy working. Our work has no stability, but plenty of freedom and mobility; I believe that's the important thing. |
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―― What is the particular feature of FILE?
Compared with other media arts festivals, the most prominent characteristic of FILE is that the center of activity is online; indeed, the archive on the FILE website is from where the name "FILE" is derived. Our objective is to establish a massive online archive as an electronic manifestation.
As we still have no educational institution to study media arts in Brazil, we are trying to open a laboratory ourselves. Although there are some artists who belong to individual colleges, most of them work in isolation. There are no public funds or systems to provide financial help for art activities in Brazil, and, because of the various domestic and social problems, artists are forced to make their own way individually, rather than depending on the organs of government. By opening a lab, we will not only be able to support the activities of artists, but be able to facilitate connections between them and professionals from different areas. We have actually received some positive feedback to the idea of the lab; above all, we want it to motivate people. Our online archive is getting bigger, but the lab project looks like it will take some time to negotiate; it's still something of a dream, but we will make it reality. Encouragingly, we have heard that, in Japan, the media arts departments were founded at universities in a very short period.
―― I understand that FILE is emphasizing education. Can you tell us what kind of activities you are doing specifically?
Our intention is to disseminate new ideas through the annual festivals. We have also been holding symposia since 2002, which provide opportunities for artists and engineers to exchange ideas. Many participants have presented their ideas at the symposia; it is a fruitful place to give presentations.
What is more, we have embarked on a project called "FILE METRO", which is an attempt to draw wider social attention to media arts through exhibiting in public spaces, such as on the metro. It has proved to be a good way to bring people into contact with media arts; indeed, it has been so successful that we have plans to enlarge the project year by year, not as a part of the festival but as an independent effort; we will certainly keep actively working on it.
Other than those events, there are new categories being introduced one after another; "Hipersonica" which is a one day only event; "FILE GAME" the subject of which is a highly artistic game; "FILE Panoramas" which has, as a theme, pictures that can navigate people; and "Hypercinemactivity" which deals with interactive images. FILE is both comprehensive and opened up, that is its forte. The divisions are usually divided very clearly, such as the animation division or the installation division, but our activities act like bridges between categories. The internet network is expanding like a rhizome, as you know, and FILE has the same way of thinking; we show our interests in every direction, as a place of art experiment and a means of various expressions extending to different areas. We intend to establish each FILE category as an independent category in the future. |
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 ―― You have visited the Japan Media Arts Festival this year. What did you think of it? What do you think is the most significant feature of Japanese media arts? |
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We were very pleased to have the opportunity to experience Japanese media arts. The necessity of a lab to enrich the creative environment became quickly very clear to us and we were inspired to strive for greater innovation within our own work. We thought that the Japanese media artists were especially good at utilizing technology and it was also evident that they felt the relationship between art and technology to be very delicate and sophisticated. I believe that a sensibility like that is necessary for art, but it is not easy to actually achieve; although working on high technology is enjoyable, if you make too much of technology, you often lose the artistic nature. There should be poetry in art. By concentrating too much on technology, we sometimes fail to retain the poetry that is integral. I believe that the poetry is the most important aspect of any new area of art.
―― I have heard that you are going to invite Japanese media artists to FILE.
Yes, we are very interested in having Japanese artists join us. We want to be able to show the Japanese works exhibited at the Japan Media Arts Festival this year at FILE as well. We have successfully invited artists from abroad before in cooperation with foreign organizations and we hope to be able to gradually develop a similar relationship with Japan. We are very open to new artists, valuing not only established artists, but new ideas in and of themselves. If the work has its own characteristics, it won't matter if it is using high technology or low technology. The important thing is how you use your creativity being expressed through a new tool.
The idea of FILE was inspired by the internet network. Like the ever expanding network, FILE is very organic and going to grow more and more in the future. Please come visit us in Brazil.
Interview and words: KISHIDA Maya
Photograph: TAZUKE Manami | |
