Our October Members’ Viewing features documentation by artist and inventor Ko Nakajima of two of the major displays of global technology of the 1960s, Montreal’s Expo ‘67 and Osaka’s Expo ‘70 (also known as banpaku). His film, which splices together footage from both Osaka and Montreal, offers a rare comparative insight into the two events.

This January we present the second program in our series on image-processing in Japan and North America: a focus on the life of Ko Nakajima’s two commercial animation computers, the Animaker and the Aniputer, and their subsequent life among video artists in Canada. 

This December, we are proud to present the first in our series on image-processing on both sides of the Pacific: two works by Dan Sandin (and his collaborators), generously lent by the artist himself, alongside the 7-minute version of Nakajima's iconic Mt Fuji (1984).

This September, we present our second program in the ongoing series, Community of Images: Japanese Moving Image Artists in the US, 1960s-1970s. This month’s screening features three more works from the CCJ Viewing Library: the productions of the members of Video Earth, a video collective begun in 1971 under the organization of Ko Nakajima.

We are in for a treat this final month with three titles that showcase Nakajima’s varied interests in the early 1970s, from film experiments, his work with students of the Tokyo College of Photography, and collective video making. We are grateful to have access to ask Nakajima directly about these works.

In February, we dive into Nakajima’s work with technological manipulations using video synthesizers, including Scanimate and Animaker. Animaker was developed by Sony and Nakajima, and automatically takes frame-by-frame shots and performs effect processing. The Animaker became commercially available and sold about 100 units. American video artists such as Dan Sandin, Kit Fitzgerald, John Sanborn, and others are introduced in Japanese television program, alongside Ko Nakajima’s work.

In February, we dive into Nakajima’s work with technological manipulations using video synthesizers, including Scanimate and Animaker. Animaker was developed by Sony and Nakajima, and automatically takes frame-by-frame shots and performs effect processing. The Animaker became commercially available and sold about 100 units. American video artists such as Dan Sandin, Kit Fitzgerald, John Sanborn, and others are introduced in Japanese television program, alongside Ko Nakajima’s work.

Image: From The Rooms in the Photographs—Ko Nakajima’s Rooms, Photo by Yosuke Nakagawa. Courtesy of Keio University Art Center

Over the next four months, CCJ Monthly Members Viewing will focus on Ko Nakajima’s recently digitized titles, offered in partnership with Keio University Art Center. The presentations will be organized around themes: Study on My Life (January), technical experiments (February), documentary (March), and CATV work and collective Video Earth Tokyo (April).

Image: From The Rooms in the Photographs—Ko Nakajima’s Rooms, Photo by Yosuke Nakagawa. Courtesy of Keio University Art Center

XFR Collective, in collaboration with Collaborative Cataloging Japan (CCJ), is pleased to partner with WhiteBox Harlem to present a 2-day installation and screening event of works by Japanese video art pioneer, Ko Nakajima. Through a generous Creative Engagement grant from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, never-before-published video works by Nakajima have not only been preserved and made accessible for the study of Japanese video art history, but will be made available for public viewing in New York City for the first time.

CCJ is pleased to welcome two archivists from New York, John Klacsmann, Anthology Film Archive, and Peter Oleksik, The Museum of Modern Art, to conduct Collection Survey research and Professional Exchange program in Tokyo in February 2018.

「第二回コレクション・サーベー、プロフェッショナル・エクスチェンジ」を2018年２月に東京で開催します。今回はニューヨークの近代美術館、アンソロジー・フィルム・アーカイブから二名アーキビストを招聘し、以下の企画を実施します。