Wataru Iwata is a transdisciplinary artist whose work spans music, audiovisual art, digital arts, film, and performance, often incorporating anthropological insights. His diverse practice explores the intersections of sound, image, and interactive experiences, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression through immersive and experimental approaches.
Since the 1990s, Iwata has been actively engaged in exhibitions, performances, and collaborations that bridge contemporary art and technology. His works include Life is Beautiful – Generative Society and no-on, exhibited at The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo, as well as HOSONO HOSONO, a 3D sound installation at Roppongi Hills. His interactive and digital art projects, such as Tea Room with No Words and Mundi, reflect his ongoing exploration of sensory perception and environmental consciousness.
As a composer and performer, Iwata has presented works at festivals and venues worldwide, including INTRINSIC at GANPEKI MUSIC FESTIVAL, Vexations at Hall of Halls in Yamanashi, and Principium Mundi, an acousmonium concert at Shokeikan Hall, Kyoto. His extensive discography, released on labels such as Off Record Label and Detroit Underground, highlights his innovative approach to electronic and experimental music.
Iwata has also made significant contributions to film and media arts, earning recognition at international film festivals. His works Sphere and Miroirs have received multiple awards, including Best Abstract Film at the London International Animation Festival and Best Musical/Dance Film at the Barcelona International Film Festival. His published writings, co-authored works, and translations further underscore his engagement with critical theory, post-Fukushima philosophy, and contemporary discourse.
SELECTED WORKS
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL
Iwata Wataru with Nobumichi ASAI, Hironobu NAKAMURA, TAN JC’s Life Is Beautiful is a simulation of 2D cellular automata. According to Stephen Wolfram “A cellular automaton is a collection of “colored” cells on a grid of specified shape that evolves through a number of discrete time steps according to a set of rules based on the states of neighboring cells. The rules are then applied iteratively for as many time steps as desired. Cellular automata were studied in the early 1950s as a possible model for biological systems” (Wolfram 2002, p. 48). Basically, a cellular automaton is a discrete model used in computational theory, mathematics, and theoretical biology to simulate complex systems or processes, including living beings’ behaviour. It consists of a grid of cells, each of which can be in one of a finite number of states, for example, on-off, or in this case, give-receive. The grid can have any number of dimensions, but the most common forms are one-dimensional (a line of cells) and two-dimensional (a grid or lattice).
In Life Is Beautiful, the artists programmed the system for some cells to give energy to their neighbours, while the “greedy” ones, only receive:
What kind of ecosystem is produced by cells that repeat a pattern of life and death, and how will they form a society? This work is made in consideration of this question, and to appreciate the results of possible answers.
Cells are in a give and take relationship. A certain cell continually radiates energy to its surroundings benignly like a sun, and another cell continuously deprives energy from the others as if in a constant state of war. Some people are indifferent to each other, but the others seek balance with their environment. Those populations exhibit human attributes that drive their own societies. Cells sometimes cause a raging storm, sometimes a gentle calm. It seems that individuals empowered with inclusive intentions and energy intensively form eras while waving. The behaviour of each individual forms a complex society. What can we find out from those cells and society?
Cells exchange abstract energy, in the artist’s name ‘Life value’. Life value will lead to death if a cell loses them, and also it will cause death in the same way as in excess. The state of life remains in between those two states, which both lead to death. Life value is an essential nutrient factor of cells, and also seems a metaphor of the energy from the sun, as ecosystems are formed in relation to giving and receiving energy. Although it’s modelled simply, they indicate various dynamics.
Iwata Wataru, Life Is Beautiful, 2018 Print, Lithograph and silkscreen 30 × 30 × 2 cm Framed, unique edition
Iwata Wataru, Life Is Beautiful, 2018 Print, Lithograph and silkscreen 30 × 30 × 2 cm Framed, unique edition1
Iwata Wataru, Life Is Beautiful, 2018. Print, Lithograph and silkscreen 30 × 30 × 2 cm | 11.8 × 11.8 × 0.8 in. Framed, unique edition (2)
Iwata Wataru, Life Is Beautiful, 2018. Print, Lithograph and silkscreen 30 × 30 × 2 cm | 11.8 × 11.8 × 0.8 in. Framed, unique edition (3)
Iwata Wataru, Life Is Beautiful, 2018. Print, Lithograph and silkscreen 30 × 30 × 2 cm | 11.8 × 11.8 × 0.8 in. Framed, unique edition (4)
