ISTA 301 Blog #6: Nosaj Thing: "Eclipse/Blue", by Daito Manabe

For this blog, I am taking a look at a project from "The Creators Project" website (http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com), titled: Nosaj Thing: "Eclipse/Blue" by Daito Manabe.  This piece, by Japanese technology artist Manabe (2012), utilizes music by California based musical artist Nosaj Thing, with the minimalist electronica track "Eclipse/Blue" with vocals by Kazu Makino, playing over projection mapped, reactive graphics designed by artist Takcom and coreographer MIKIKO.  The project was premiered on November 27th 2012 on The Creator's Project website and on YouTube, with collaboration and support from the Creator's Project.

The main focus of the technology used in the graphics is reactivity to the live performance given by the two dancers present.  The idea was to create a dynamic performance, with multiple dimensions which according to Manabe, that would be able to offer larger and more emotive emphasis upon the movements of the dancers.  Utilizing Point Grey cameras, effectively higher quality and faster Kinect like systems, the motions of each dancer could be recorded by the system, and graphics could be made in real time to accompany the choreography.

The entire organization of the performance piece comes with purpose and symbolism as well. The main focus of the piece is centered around the idea of a solar eclipse, represented through the placement of one dancer (the sun) in front of the screen which displays the reactive graphics, and the other behind the screen as the moon.  Thus, the moon dancer appears as a shadow through the screen, whereas the sun dancer is lit up through the use of projection mapping, set to match the music as well as follow the dancer around the stage in real time.

The project itself was not simple to organize either, with a team of about 20 people and other groups collaborating under Manabe as Creative Director to prepare the technological and artistic aspects of "Eclipse/Blue", requiring a great deal of camera work, graphical work, and programming to capture the movement and translate it into visuals relative to the theme.

The style of the graphics accompanying the music and choreography, is primarily a geometric style, using a great deal of black and white contrast, while incorporating instances of vibrant color in portions of the song.  In terms that we have discussed in this class (ISTA 301: Computing and the Arts), the piece feels similar to the Cybernetic movement, relying on technology and interactivity to produce new medium art and performance art, with slight generativity in it due to parts of the graphical display relying on the movements that the dancers make, and capable of changing with different possible motions or small variances.  No two realizations of this piece could be exactly the same, since the big factor in what graphics are displayed is what the dancers do.


The piece once again is Nosaj Thing: "Eclipse/Blue" by Daito Manabe, a beautiful performance art of dance, reactive graphics and projection mapping, summing up into a remarkable visual experience and technological feat all in one.

                                                            ~~~Nathaniel Hendrix~~~

Links: (video below, both on the creator's project website and on YouTube)

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/gallery/eclipseblue#.Um1zFfmshcY

Japanese artist and producer Daito Manabe teamed up with California-based m

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/witness-daito-manabes-surreal-dance-experience-for-nosaj-things-eclipseblue-exclusive-video-premiere