[ISEA2010] Artist Statement: Ei Wada — Braun Tube Jazz Band

Artist Statement

Sound installation/Performance 2009

Through a process of trial and error while tinkering with Braun tube televisions, Ei Wada discovered their inner workings. He developed a playing technique using his hands as pseudo antennas and the televisions and PC-controlled video decks as musical instruments, or ‘light synthesizers’.

This project is part of the international cooperation Exchange Emergences between the Japan Media Arts Festival (JP) and the Coded Cultures Festival (AT).

  • Ei Wada (JP). After composing a number of musical pieces Ei Wada (1987) subsequently switched his attention to outmoded electrical appliances, interested in their supposed obsolescence. He modified and recontextualized them to be played as musical instruments. This work culminated in what is now the Open Reel Ensemble, a performance with Kimihiro Sato using remodelled reel-to-reel tape recorders, which was shown at the SIGGRAPH ASIA 2009 Art Gallery. His latest performance work, Braun Tube Jazz Band, won the Art Division Excellence Prize in the 13th Japan Media Arts Festival.

Full Text with images (PDF) p. 118-121