Apologies for the shocking lack of posting activity recently, but I’ve been on holiday in Japan. And guess what: the internet access there is surprisingly limited. Wireless: forget it. Internet cafés: if you ask, they look at you like they’ve seen a ghost. Because wifi is sooooo 2004-5-6, sir. Everybody over there is on their mobiles, surfing the worldwide wap web. Interesting. 

Anyway, Japan is a crazy, beautiful, funny place with lots going on. And they have good beer. So I’ll try to filter the creative info in my head into a few posts over the next few days. 

The first pleasant surprise came straight when we arrived. 

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Reading the words “audio-visual” and “experiment” in the same sentence always makes me a bit cynical and respond with a sentence that includes the words “moving” and “wallpaper”. But the Advanced Beauty project, conceived and curated by London-based digital design studio Universal Everything is well worth a look.

One: because they’re setting creative parameters to their artists. Technical as well as creative. And in my opinion, limitations are always a good thing in an art-type project like this. 

Two: because they’ve created their own platform. Where normally this kind of work would end up in festivals like onedotzero and, if they’re lucky, on a DVD that sells a few copies in the ICA to fellow artists and some agency creative directors, these guys have taken it in their own hands and distribute the work through a podcast. This way, they must reach people that they wouldn’t reach normally. And the DVD will follow later, which I guess will make them some money. 

And three: because I think some of the work is actually quite good. Especially the film by UV & Minivegas, which put a smile on my face. I’m actually looking forward to seeing the rest of the series.