Art that inspires innovation
2023.12.20 WED
This talk session with Asako Tomura (Sony Group Corporation), Hanna Saito (contemporary artist), Seiichi Saito (Panoramatiks Principal), and Hideaki Ogawa (Creative Director of CCBT/ Co-Director of Ars Electronica Futurelab) was themed around the relationship between art and innovation. Through the perspectives of guests active on the frontlines in a variety of fields, the discussion looked at how art relates to innovation, and how art creates social values.
We hear the term social innovation more and more; likewise, we need to broaden our perspective about who and what innovation is for and move away from the viewpoint of a profit-driven corporate structure. The discussion decoded the context needed for current innovation from our guests’ perspective and covered the possibilities for art and innovation going forward.
【 Date & Time 】
December 20 [Wed] 2023, 5:30pm-7:00pm
【 Speakers 】
Asako Tomura (Sony Group Corporation)
Hanna Saito (Contemporary Artist)
Seiichi Saito (Panoramatiks Principal)
Hideaki Ogawa (Creative Director of CCBT/ Co-Director of Ars Electronica Futurelab)
Art that inspires innovation, “Art as Catalyst” 2023
©Sakura Sueyoshi / Nacása & Partners Inc.
Asako Tomura
General Manager, Content Technology & Alliance Group,
Corporate Technology Strategy Div. Sony Group Corporation
After earning a master's degree in chemistry and media arts, she began her career at Shiseido in advertising. She joined Sony Corporation in 2001 and oversaw the launch of the digital content distribution business for film and animation at Sony Pictures Entertainment (Japan) and Aniplex, Inc. She then served as Head of CSR Innovation at Sony headquarters, where she worked with international NGOs on projects leveraging technology to tackle social issues. Since 2016, she has overseen advanced content development, Sci & Tech communication, and sustainability technology strategy. since 2017. In addition, she served as planning director for Ars Electronica 2021 Garden TOKYO, and as a jury member for the European Commission STARTS Prize 2022. Since 2021, she has been Visiting Researcher at the Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies at the University of Tokyo.
Hanna Saito
Contemporary Artist
She graduated from Tama Art University (Craft Department, Glass Course) with a bachelor's degree in Fine Art. After graduating, she joined metaPhorest (biological / bio-media art platform) in the Laboratory for Molecular Cell Network & Biomedia Art, at Waseda University as an artist and visiting researcher. Since 2021, she enrolled in the Doctoral Program in the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo (Yasuaki Kakehi Lab.) She’s creating artworks using scientific glass production techniques, organisms, organic matter, image analysis, etc.. She’s main themes are to reconsider the borders of nature/society, human/non-human, and the indivisibility of the expresser and the object of the expression at the interdisciplinary viewpoint.
Seiichi Saito
Panoramatiks Principal
Born in 1975, Seiichi Saito studied architectural design at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and started working in New York from 2000. In 2006, he founded Rhizomatiks Co., Ltd. (today, Abstract Engine Co., Ltd.). He leads the company’s architecture division, Panoramatiks, and undertakes numerous projects for corporations and governments as a planning and implementation advisor. Saito is the chairman of the jury for the Good Design Award 2023, and is the EXPO Co-Creation Program Director for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.
Hideaki Ogawa
Creative Director of CCBT / Co-Director of Ars Electronica Futurelab
Based in Linz, Austria since 2007, where he has worked with Ars Electronica, a world-renowned cultural institution for art and technology, as an artist, curator, and researcher. He is currently co-director of the Ars Electronica Futurelab, the research and development arm of the group. He is involved in a number of cross-disciplinary international projects, including innovative projects that use art as a catalyst to prototype the future, the creation of citizen-engaged communities, and the implementation of next-generation cultural and educational programs.