TOKYO LIGHTS 2024
Archive 2023 Sep.RED
2023 Event Overview
「TOKYO LIGHTS 2023 Sep.RED」
Date: Friday, September 8 to Sunday, September 10, 2023
Location: Meiji Memorial Picture Gallery and Rubber-ball Baseball Grounds at Meijijingu Gaien
GALLERY
1minute Projection Mapping Competition
「 1minute Projection Mapping Competition 」
2023 Award-winning works
Theme『LINK』
* Title of the work, Name of the team, Country and region in order
Grand Prize (Tokyo Government Prize)
「Legacy Links」
Vali Chincișan（Romania）
Second Prize (TOKYO LIGHTS Prize)
「Touch」
Elektrick.me（Bulgaria）
Jury Special Prize
「Human」
Ari Dykier（Poland）
Tokyo Tokyo Prize
「Umbra」
Resorb（Germany）
Audience Prize
「A Neon Owl Symphony」
Clockwork（Poland）
2023 Finalists
「Symbiosis」
VPM Creative Lab（Spain）
「Universe」
Kuan-Wen Liu（Taiwan）
「Respiro」
Julia Set Lab（Italy）
「GRADATION」
CINERHYTHM（Japan）
「Eco-nnections: Flow」
George Berlin Studios（USA）
「見えざる縁 -Miezaru Enishi-」
DecideKit（Thailand）
「千 -SEN-」
BBCDesign（Japan）
「The World In Your Hands」
Christopher Harrisson（UK）
「Merge」
nullpixel（Mexico）
「AEON」
Adam Zeke（Hungary）
「Contrasting concurrences」
MOTION HOUSE THAILAND（Thailand）
「Ties」
Kurbas Production（Ukraine）
「Entropy」
DotNDash Studio（China）
「Mashtab」
Alexander Dzhezus（Lithuania）
「Mythropy」
PHOTINO（Japan）
Invited Works
「reshape」
László Zsolt Bordos（Hungary）
The title ”reshape" marks the possibility to change the appearance of a building by projecting images on it. The moving images can virtually reshape the forms by using light, in this case projectors. The projection can transform the way we see the bulding, it can change the way we experience the shape of the architecture, bringing new interpretations and new context. As light can modulate space, the projection shapes the building. And to increase the experience I created audio-reactive animations, in order to trigger both senses of the audience: auditive and visual, at the same time.
「Eudaimonia」
AVA Animation & Visual Arts（Canada）
In this world we are all linked, every action has a reaction. Every human being, plant, or object serves a purpose, and we all depend and influence each other in invisible ways. “Eudaimonia” is happiness, but not the kind obtained by avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure, but rather the one that comes from consciously trying to be better each day. The sense of joy that comes from living life with a “good spirit”, by working daily on doing our best, no matter the circumstances, leading us to the highest and most lasting form of personal and collective happiness.
With this theme, we tried to imagine how our invisible connections could look like, a complex puzzle of mechanisms and dominoes. We tried to visualize how a good action can spark a mesmerizing chain reaction of positive consequences, how happiness can be contagious and change the colors of the world. We try to materialize gardens of joy and the shapes of the future that humans could build together for a greater good.
Meet the “1minute Projection Mapping Competition” Judges
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Video creator, scenographer, creative director, event planner
Michiyuki Ishita
(Representative, Projection Mapping Association of Japan / CEO, Colors Creation Co., Ltd.)
Ishita is an artist who perceives images as light and creates spatial effects on both the national and international stage. He established the Projection Mapping Association of Japan in 2011 and has been involved in one of the world’s largest international projection mapping competitions and many unique projects. A creative director and producer with an artist’s perspective, Ishita has produced a number of distinctive projects, and is a leading international expert in projection mapping invited to produce, lecture, and serve as a judge at festivals overseas and for national government projects. -
Creative director
Kenji Kohashi
Kohashi serves as the creative director of ULTRA JAPAN and general producer of STAR ISLAND. His spectacular, 500-drone night show, “CONTACT,” won the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award, JACE Event Award’s top prize. He was named as the show director for the closing ceremony at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and as the event planning producer for the Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai. Kohashi is also involved in regional and urban development.
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CEO and Producer, HEART CATCH Inc.
Mariko Nishimura
Starting out on her career path as an IT engineer at IBM Japan, Nishimura joined creative company Bascule Inc. as a producer in 2011 after working as a field marketing manager at Adobe Systems Co., Ltd. A Cannes Lion Gold Award winner, she co-founded HEART CATCH Inc. in 2014 and HEART CATCH LA Inc. in Los Angeles (USA) in 2020.
Leveraging the experience gained throughout her technical and creative career, Nishimura has been involved in the design of a number of proposals for new projects for companies and local governments. -
Director, artistic director
Julien Pavillard
Pavillard is the director of events for the City of Lyon, and has served as the director and artistic director for the Fête des Lumières since 2020. Pavillard launched the Congo Bleu agency where he is engaged in a number of international and cultural events for lighting and video projection in areas around the world, including Tokyo, Brussels, Moscow and Geneva.
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Creative director, producer, curator, consultant
Gill Minervini
Minervini has over 30 years of experience in directing festivals and a number of large-scale events and programs, such as Dark Mofo, the Adelaide Festival, Chinese New Year Festival, and Art & About Sydney, an international public art festival. Appointed as the festival director of Vivid Sydney in March 2021, she directed the festivals in 2022 and 2023, with this year’s event the largest and most successful ever, attracting a record 3.4 million visitors.
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3D mapping artist, light artist
László Zsolt Bordos
A Hungarian artist born in Romania, Bordos has produced works using projection mapping since 2000. He is recognized as one of this genre’s pioneers with the use of abstract 3D animations and projection mapping creations that embody an unprecedented level of expression. In 2020 and 2021, he co-founded the Art Of Light Organization (ALO) and initiated a Light Art Manifesto. Bordos also serves as a member on the main board of the International Kepes Society.
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Visual artist
AVA Animation & Visual Arts Inc.
Based in Toronto, Canada, this animation studio believes in “delivering joy, experiences, and journeys to people.”
The studio is engaged in integrated production that utilizes both their creative and technical knowledge, with clients around the globe, including international tourism associations, advertising agencies, theme parks, light festivals, and a diverse range of other events.
Shaped by the belief that art can transform spaces and events and stimulate the economy, their creations continue to serve as spaces where people can experience joy as part of the local community.
Festival of Light Area
Theme for September RED
This year’s Festival of Light will be held in September and November using Japan’s traditional fall colors of crimson and indigo blue. September’s theme is “TOKYO RED,” underlying the month’s crimson color. This color scheme, which brings to mind festivals and autumn leaves, will add a colorful touch to the stage with staging suggestive of the U.S. Academy Awards.
- IMMERSIVE GATE Artist : MPLUSPLUS
- Visitors will be welcomed to the festival by two massive, radiant gates standing two meters high and eight meters deep. This, together with motion graphics at TOKYO LIGHTS and 3DCG images produced under different themes for September and November, will create an immersive, otherworldly experience. The Festival of Light begins the moment you step through the gates.
- LINK TOWER Artist : MPLUSPLUS
- This installation, created by Minoru Fujimoto from MPLUSPLUS, is rooted in the theme of “light connecting a divided world.” An expression of Tokyo’s skyscrapers and sweeping subway lines, this tower of light stands tall as a symbol of the Festival of Light area. Extending out from the stage, light awakens hope and the imagination of the audience.
- PERFORMANCE Artist : M++DANCERS , Choreographer: SHIRASU
- Ten performers will use MPLUSPLUS’s original LED ribbons, masks, umbrellas, flags and other illuminated items in a dance performance on the stage of LINK TOWER. This dance performance is a masterpiece, evolving with the times and experiencing a further awakening with modern technology.
- IMMERSIVE WALL Artist : THINK AND SENSE / Ikenobo
- With a giant wall standing 15-meters wide on two sides and four meters high, this immersive space produced by Shuhei Matsuyama from THINK AND SENSE uses AI-based technology to generate 3D images with point cloud data, creating an expression of tradition and nature. In September, the entire space will be used to create an experience for visitors through a link with ikebana pieces by the head of Ikenobo around the theme of the Chrysanthemum Festival.
- PLAY GROUND Artist : diplo / PRISM
- This space uses a combination of laser sensors and projection mapping to generate a diverse range of interactions. Patterns are created in the footsteps of people’s movements, and colors of images change, creating an enjoyable experience. The smooth, green barrier-free space serves as a nighttime playground for people of all ages.