Newcastle University

Introduction

Atau Tanaka bridges the fields of media art, experimental music, and research. He worked at IRCAM, was Artistic Ambassador for Apple France, and was researcher at Sony Computer Science Laboratory Paris, and was an Artistic Co-Director of STEIM in Amsterdam. Atau creates sensor-based musical instruments for performance, and is known for his work with biosignal interfaces. He seeks to harness collective musical creativity in mobile environments, seeking out the continued place of the artist in democratized digital forms. His work has been presented at Ars Electronica, SFMOMA, Eyebeam, V2, ICC, and ZKM and has been mentor at NESTA.

Honours and Awards

Prix Ars Electronica – Honorable Mention, Interactive Art, for sound-image installation Bondage. 2005.

Prix Ars Electronica – Honorable Mention, Interactive Art, for networked instrument Global String. 2001.

Fraunhofer Society – 2nd prize, Electronic Media Competition, for network sound installation architecture. 2000.

Fondation Daniel Langlois – Grant for production of Global String network musical instrument. 2000.

Cyberstar98: Shared Visions – 2nd prize, GMD/Fraunhofer IMF research center, Bonn. 1998.

Languages

French, Japanese

Research Interests

Mobile and Locative Media Art
Interactive Performance
Creative practice on Public Displays

Current Work

Recent publications include chapters in "Transdisciplinary Digital Art. Sound, Vision and the New Screen" (Springer), and "Mobile Technologies: From Telecommunications to Media" (Routledge, in press). He is co-editor with Frauke Behrendt, Lalya Gaye, and Nicolaj Kirisits of "Creative Interactions: The Mobile Music Workshops 2004-2008" (di:'Angewandte). In his practice, he has recently re-created at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary art, on a commission from the AV Festival 2008, and in collaboration with *zoviet:france*, Matt Wand, and the John Cage Trust, "Variations VII" by John Cage after the historic 1966 Armory performances of E.A.T.'s 9 Evenings.

Future Research

Presently working with the Newcastle artist group, Name, on a commission from the Great North Run cultural programme for an locative media online artwork for a large scale public participation sporting event.

Research Roles

Creating a research agenda for practice-led research in Digital Media.

Postgraduate Supervision

Co-supervisor, Adam Parkinson, PhD in Music (Culture Lab), "Listening, Playing, Moving in Free Improvisation"

External supervisor, Kevin Baird, PhD (University of Buffalo, completed 2005), "No Clergy: A Piece for Flexible Small Ensemble Generated in Real time Based on Audience Feedback"

Esteem Indicators

__Positions__
STEIM (Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music) – Artistic Co-director. Expanding arts research program, grant and fundraising strategies for Dutch computer music studio. Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 2006-2007.

NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts) – Mentor to grant awardees. London, U.K. 2004-2005.

ANR Review Committee – French National Research Agency grant review committee. Paris. 2007.

STW Review Committee – Brain Computer Interfaces grant review. Nijmegen, The Netherlands. 2006.

Transmediale Festival – Member, Interactive art jury. Berlin, Germany. 2003.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art – Curator, Ju-jikan, 10 hours of Sound from Japan. 2001.

Interférences Festival – Member, performance jury. Belfort, France. 2000.

ISEA (Inter-Society for the Electronic Arts) – Member, Board of Directors. 1998-2002.

MILIA – Jury member Milia d’Or multimedia prize. Cannes, France. 1996.

ada'web – Advisory Board member of the New York contemporary art web site. New York. 1996-1998.

__Commissions__
GRM/Radio France, Commission for multichannel performance for Présences Electroniques festival. 2007.

Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles / ArtZoyd, Commission for chamber orchestra and electronics piece, DSCP for Theremin, infrared sensors, and chamber orchestra. Mons. 2002.

SWR/ZKM, Commission for hoerspiel for radio and Internet by Southwest German radio (SWR). Prométhée-Numérique/Frankensteins-Netz. Production residency ZKM. Baden Baden. 2001.

NTT-ICC, Commission and premier of work with Sensorband and Granular Synthesis, Xtended Thrill. Tokyo. 1997.

Festival Exit, Commission for a large scale physical instrument with the group Sensorband, Soundnet. Paris-Creteil. 1994.

__Keynote Addresses__
AV Festival / Music & Machines VIII: Broadcast Symposium – Keynote address. Newcastle upon Tyne. 2008.

Locus Sonus Conference – Keynote address. Villa Arson, Nice. 2007.

Experimenta07 – Keynote address. Annecy France. 2007.

Digital Art Weeks – Keynote address. ETH, Zurich, Switzerland. 2006.

Interactive Futures – Keynote address. Victoria, Canada 2006.

Funding

AHRC Collaborative Research Training programme. For doctoral training in arts practice and digital curatorship, as PI and main awardee in collaboration with University of Sunderland. 2008. (GBP 10,000)

RIAM (Récherche et innovation en audiovisuel et multimédia) –French Ministry of Research & Industry grant, Mobile Social Music Software development for industry/academic consortium, 2005. (EUR 345,000)

Telecommunications Ministry (MPT), Japan – Grant for network music research at NetFIVE. 1999. (JPY 48,000,000)

Industrial Relevance

Former researcher, Sony Computer Science Laboratory Paris.
Former Artistic Ambassador, Apple Europe

Postgraduate Teaching

Founder and Degree Programme Director, Master of Research (MRes) in Digital Media

• Tanaka A. Culture Lab: A laboratory for culture. MCD Musiques et cultures digitales: Media Labs in Europe 2011, (62), 52-53.
• Tanaka A, Gaye L, Richardson R. Co-production and Co-creation: Creative Practice in Social Inclusion. In: Cultural Computing: Second IFIP TC 14 Entertainment Computing Symposium (ECS). 2010, Brisbane, Australia: Springer.
• Tanaka A. Go with the creative Flow. Britain in 2011 2010, 118-119.
• Tanaka A. Mapping Out Instruments, Affordances, and Mobiles. In: New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME). 2010, Sydney.
• Tanaka A. Processes of Mutuality. In: Hedigger, I, ed. Think Art, Act Science: Swiss Artists-in-labs. Barcelona, Spain: Actar, 2010.
• Gaye L, Tanaka A, Richardson R, Jo K. Social inclusion through the digital economy: Digital creative engagement and youth-led innovation. In: 9th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children (IDC). 2010, Barcelona, Spain: ACM Press.
• Tanaka A. Sensor-Based Musical Instruments and Interactive Music. In:Dean, R., ed. Oxford Handbook of Computer Music.Oxford, UK:Oxford University Press,2009, pp. 233-257.
• Jo K, Tanaka A. The Music One Participates In. In:Schroeder, F., ed. Performing Technology: User Content and the New Digital Media.Cambridge, UK:Cambridge Scholars Publishing,2009, pp. 34-50.
• Tanaka A. Visceral mobile music systems. In: Transdisciplinary Digital Art: Sound, Vision and the New Screen. Berlin:Springer,2008, pp. 155-170.
• Tanaka A, Gemeinboeck P. Net_Dérive: Conceiving and Producing a Locative Media Artwork. In:Goggin, G., Hjorth, L., ed. Mobile Technologies: From Telecommunications to Media.Oxford, UK:Routledge,2008, pp. Chapter 16.
• Tanaka A. Interaction, Agency, Experience, and the Future of Music. In:Brown, B., O’Hara, K., ed. Consuming Music Together: Social and Collaborative Aspects of Music Consumption Technologies.Dordrecht:Springer,2006, pp. 267-288.
• Tanaka A, Ponton B, Warren M, Wand M. John Cage: Variations VII. 2008.Newcastle Gateshead; Berlin; Palais de Tokyo, Paris:AV Festival 2008, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art;DOCK 2009, Radialsystem;Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin/Madrid 2010.
• Tanaka A, Parkinson A. 4 Hands iPhone. 2010.Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris; Helsinki; Quebec; New York City; Geneva:Cube Festival; Charm of Sound Festival; Mois Multi Festival; Music with a View Festival, Flea Theatre; Electron Festival.
• Tanaka A, Starck P. Philippe Starck: Le Son du Nous. 2010.Maison des Arts de Creteil, Paris:Festival EXIT.
• Kirisits N, Behrendt F, Gaye L, Tanaka A, ed. Creative Interactions - The Mobile Music Workshops 2004-2008. Vienna:Di'Angewandte,2008.
• Bau O, Tanaka A, Mackay W. The A20 : Musical Metaphors for Interface Design. In: New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME).2008,Genova, Spain
• Tanaka A. 'Bondage an interactive sound-image work'. Exhibited as one artwork in the international tour of exhibition ‘What Sound Does a Colour Make', curated by Kathleen Ford. 2007.Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; University of Maryland; New Plymouth, New Zealand; Denver, Colarado; Honolulu, Hawaii: Venue Wood Street Galleries; Center for Art and Visual Culture; Govett-Brewster Art Gallery; Metroplitan State College for Visual Art; University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Installation occupying the gallery space.
• Tanaka A. Composing as a Function of Infrastructure. In: Ehrlich, K., LaBelle, B, ed. Surface Tension: Problematics of Site. Los Angeles, California, USA: Errant Bodies Press, 2003, pp.207-.
• Tanaka, Atau. Global String. 2001.Ars Electronica Center, in connection with Trafo house Budapest (C3 Science+Fiction festival) also shown Ars Electronica Festival/OK Centrum Museum Linz September 7-12, 2002, 2 plus network.
• Tanaka, Atau. Jujikan: Ten Hours of Sound from Japan. 2001.San Francisco Museum of Modern Art September 22-30, 2001, Online exhibition at Walker Arts Center, Minnesota. September 21, 2001 to present, 64.