Japan Media Arts Festival Overseas Promotion

Creator's File - Art & Entertainment

Konel

Artist collective
Konel is a collective of artists, based in Nihonbashi, Kanazawa, and Shimokitazawa. Through the concept of "creation of possibility", the group's work crosses a variety of themes and media. Their work consistently focuses on the creation of the unknown images latent in each theme they address.
Major works include TOU - Breathing Wall (Kyoto Steam 2020 International Art Competition Launch Exhibition), which was created in collaboration with Aug Lab, a research and development organization at Panasonic, under the theme of creating new nature; and Cyber Wagashi (Media Ambition Tokyo 2020), which they joint-produced as part of the food tech project Open Meals. The group has also created a next-generation ritual for creating empathy titled 3753 (2022), and more.
BWTC
2022
BWTC is a work that reinterprets the multi-layered concept of value through radical thinking and dramatic fiction.
The brain is the most important organ in the human body as it controls all vital activities. On the other hand, the brain is still a private sanctuary within living organisms. Brain waves, one of the few sources of information about the brain, remain obscure, even though their existence was discovered in the early 20th century. The unknown can, however, be read as a treasure trove of possibilities. As an example, it is quite possible that in the future brain waves will comprise a body of information that will help us understand the thoughts and feelings of all living things, including human beings.
Based on the premise of brain waves as ecological information that can be traded on the market, this work is produced through the fictitious corporation BWTC. The exhibition space is set up as a brainwave purchasing center where viewers can experience selling brainwaves and receiving compensation. Through BWTC's unique algorithm, paintings generated from brainwaves are uniquely priced and sold for real money.
Through this work, the viewer is able to experience the reality of contemporary value, which in turn encourages discussion about the future of value in our society.
3753 The New Ceremony to Make Intimacy
2021
TOU The Breathing Wall
2020