Hybrid Culture: Japanese Media Arts in Dialogue with the West (Leonardo Book Series)
"The case for examining the unique contribution of Japanese media arts to the development of digital culture is compelling. Yvonne Spielmann's book proposes the rich notion of 'hybridization' to specify this contribution. The term refers not only to the combination of analog and digital media and the interdisciplinarity of digital media practices in Japan, but also to their transcultural dimension.Hybrid Cultureinsists particularly on the need to move beyond the rigid opposition and hierarchy between 'old' and 'new' media. Its case studies show media arts to be a privileged area of investigation of mixed realities, viewer-environment interactions, and anachronisms." --Christine Ross, Professor and James McGill Chair in the History of Contemporary Art, Department of Art History and Communication Studies, McGill University"Hybrid Cultureis a pioneering study of contemporary creative practices in Japan under the influence of globalization and technological advances. It reveals the continued intermeshing of traditional crafts and skills and relevant 'cultural' rather than 'art' historical precedents in its visual culture. Spielmann's astute observations foreground Japan's specific position within globalization and in relation to western modernity and current transnational and transcultural developments. A must read for all who want to understand Japan's contemporary art and its international influence." --Kerstin Mey, Professor of Fine Art, University for the Creative Arts, UKSharing a high regard for precision, Japanese artists and engineers collaborate in ways that subtly meld Eastern and Western concepts, pure art and technical prowess, futurity and tradition.(Art in America)