Japanese artist Suguru Goto has been named the winner of the Action Sharing 2010 prize for his
project Cymatics.
Now in its second year, the competition is organised by The Sharing and directed by Simona Lodi
and Chiara Garibaldi, and sponsored by the Torino Chamber of Commerce. Its aim is to produce
artistic projects with strong syncretic elements , representing the convergence of art, science and
technology.
According to Guido Bolatto, Secretary General of the Torino Chamber of Commerce, "Action
Sharing aims to reward the project that best builds on and combines the artistic and technological
capabilities of the local territory, by creating an opportunity for contemporary art and innovation in
the Torinese mechatronics industry to come together".
Contemporary art that takes shape within technological spaces needs to create its own imagery
and a hero, a myth to produce and identify with. Action Sharing highlights just such issues, thus
contributing to the cultural modernisation of the local territory and the country as a whole.
Simona Lodi and Chiara Garibaldi have endorsed the judges' decision, stating that "Suguru is the
right artist for this competitive production initiative because he imagines a process that expresses
a heightened awareness of the problems of environmental disharmony, presenting us with a
vision rooted in Japanese philosophy, where elements representing nature and technology do not
contrast or conflict, but instead coexist in mutual harmony."
After having reviewed with skill and expertise all the entries submitted to the Action Sharing Ideas
Competition, the panel of judges – consisting of Guido Bolatto, Massimo Banzi, Federico De Sario,
Bruce Sterling, Pietro Terna, and Andrea Tonoli – named Suguru Goto, and his project Cymatics,
winner of the competition.
Jury Statement
Suguru Goto was found to have successfully interpreted the issues that have engaged the Action
Sharing platform ever since its launch.
Cymatics is a kinetic sculpture and sound installation that expresses the artist's vision of nature
through a series of symbolic elements that are used harmoniously in a technological context.
Suguru is a musician who creates real spaces that are metaphysical and spiritual at the same time.
Those areas give a philosophical vision of art as a bridge between science and religion, between
the material and the spiritual, between technology and nature, and between the humanities and
science.
Materials such as water, liquid metal, glue and dust are brought together into spaces where they
are transformed by sound waves into shapes and forms.
From a formal point of view, the project was found to be complete and consistent, and capable
of conveying its message tied to a harmonic vision of the elements of nature, demonstrating the
morphogenic effect of sound waves (cymatics).
Suguru imagines a process that expresses a heightened awareness of the problems of
environmental disharmony, presenting us with a vision rooted in Japanese philosophy, where
elements representing nature and technology do not contrast or conflict, but instead coexist in
mutual harmony.
The project shows the presence of syncretism in its ability to use different media and languages in
reconciling elements belonging to different disciplines.