“Art Patents”— Exhibition Celebrating a New Book Publication |
Reviews |
Written by Kae ISHII |
Published: May 24 2010 |
“An exhibition to celebrate the issue of an art book of 740 pages, priced at 10,000 yen (+ tax), which is compiled with all the details for claiming patents are ‘Art’, from inventing and obtaining them to selling them”. (Source: http://www.3331.jp/schedule/000004.html)
(left)fig. 1 Domestic patent document, No. 2968209 After entering the venue, we first noticed that there were a number of handouts which had been used for proofreading pasted all over the walls [fig.3]. It was said that they had been pasted voluntarily by children visiting the exhibition. These handouts made me appreciate the great difficulty involved in editing a book consisting of no less than 740 pages. At the entrance to the venue, there was one sample copy of “Art Patents” together with postcards especially prepared to be used for ordering the book. Several old Mac PCs were displayed to the viewers’ right, making us conscious of their strong presence. In this space, we were allowed to operate Digital Nendo. How did this 3D software, Digital Nendo, for which Nakazawa finally applied for a patent, come about? What did he actually intend to convey by calling the act of filing patent applications to do with this software ‘art’ and then compiling these into a book? Nakazawa developed Digital Nendo in 1996 based on an idea he conceived in 1991. At the time of developing the software, he was working as an illustrator using 2D paint software and calling his own creating style “Silly CG (Baka CG)”.*3 The name “Silly CG” comes from the jagged lines partly appearing on PC screens, such as outlines of images, when using PC software. Generally, most of us view these jagged lines negatively since they are often found on the surfaces of low-resolution pictures, but Nakazawa was willing to use them. He considered that they correspond to one of characteristics of painting materials, including paints [fig. 4]. In addition, he perceived jagged lines as a reflection of one of the failures in PCs and developed his theory that “Silly CG means creations which are technically poor, but valued because of their good sense”. (left)fig. 3 View from the exhibition “Art Patents” (2010) The entire story above concerns the birth of Digital Nendo and how “Art Patents” were named. The key to understanding this exhibition and its book, “Art Patents”, is to focus on Nakazawa’s assertion that “inventing materials is art”. He is consistent in his belief in that, after inventing the Digital Nendo software, he did not create and present works made using software. Instead, he published the book entitled “Art Patents” in which he compiled the facts concerning his being granted patents as evidence of his invention and all the relevant materials. According to Nakazawa’s claim, records regarding his invention should be considered much more important than any other of his creative activities developed after this invention. Indeed, patents prove the invention, but artistic aspects of the invention cannot come to be widely known unless the inventor claims that the invention should be deemed as art. “Art Patents” can thus be called a summarization of Nakazawa’s Art Patents project in which he placed his invention of materials as an act of proving the nature of his art. “Art Patents” is a thick A4-sized book of 740 pages. Obviously, even if we do not read the whole book through, we can recognize at a glance that the book was not made to cater to the wishes of its readers. The book includes a vast amount of material. Particularly, it is quite maddening to note that no less than 1,450 of the faxes sent between Nakazawa and a patent attorney’s office have been micro-copied and included in this book. Nonetheless, carefully checking the contents of the book, we can also find there are various kinds of records, such as those of lectures, interviews and presentations. One ideal method of dealing with this book would therefore be to first find some part with which we have some familiarity, and then gradually grasp the whole concept of the book by taking enough time to read through that part thoroughly. Specifically I recommend you start reading the book from the section entitled “3331 First Power Point” ( from p. 125), in which Nakazawa presents us with a brief description of the total contents of the book with illustrations.*5 Nakazawa has obtained patents not only for 3D software, but for a 3D printer as well. He has also conceived of an idea for a 3D display, though this has not been patented yet. Both the printer and the display have not been commercialized yet and the software is not ready for the latest PCs. Development and improvement of these products are obviously important issues in the future. I eagerly await others’ cooperation in these areas. (left)fig. 5 image from "Art Patent", p647 Notes
Related exhibition “Art Patents”— Exhibition Celebrating a New Book Publication |
Last Updated on November 12 2015 |