Hi everyone. I am Yuiko Yamaguchi, a 2nd year masters student.
On this occasion I did a 3 month exchange program at the University of Art Linz. At IAMAS I focus on the field of communication, and within that field, I am researching the creation of acts that look at the relationship with others from a bird’s eye view, the ways in which we relate to each other that are borne in time and distance, and changes in communication.
I would like to speak to you all about the conditions and life there during my 3 month stay from April until June for the exchange program.

The first report can be found here.

Interactions with Interface Cultures students and lectures

After the Easter break, on the second week of April, the 8th, I started university classes again.
I heard that a lecture I was quite interested in was beginning after the first day of classes, so I started interacting with local students from that lecture the next day.

Interface Cultures is held not in the school building towards the Hauptplatz but rather, on the third floor of the Domgasse school building. In the very centre there is a corridor, with a structure that is similar to IAMAS in that at both ends there were personal rooms and rooms with desks for the students. The floor above had a production space and equipment. Whilst being compact it was an environment in which it was very easy to create.
Additionally, a kitchen is established as an annex to the building for the students and teachers to take a break, and for the students to assemble together, cook, and have lighthearted conversations. At times some younger students would also come to hang out.

There are two entrances, and an LED display welcomes you near the elevator. It was an enjoyable production.

Students presentations for Learning Linz and the Ars Electronica Festival

This was a rather luxurious style of conducting a study abroad where I was permitted to freely take any courses I like in Linz, but before even going on the study abroad a course that particularly caught my attention was “Learning Linz.” Reflecting back on my entire time abroad, the “Learning Linz” lecture was the most memorable part.

The Learning Linz lecture is just as the name entails, concerned with learning about Linz. However, it is not just about learning but rather about a place to help with artistic and cultural initiatives in the city of Linz. In summary, it was a lecture to learn about the origin and significance of galleries, theaters, and community centers as we toured around them.
“It is amazing how much community there is in such a small and compact city!” I thought in shock. Linz has many places that support cultural activities in various forms.

In each lecture, whilst listening to the various stories of artists and lecturers, I felt delusional wondering if even in Japan we could have these sorts of small scale cozy creation and presentation spaces. The space was very refined and warm every time.
All over the city the state of art, designs, and creative endeavors being backed is a sight that cannot really be seen in Japan. Even now after returning to Japan I always recall how I wish for these sorts of movements to also expand in Japan.

I was thrilled to the core everytime in the production and community space that was full of imaginativeness.

Attending the student presentations for the Ars Electronica exhibition

While the Hauptplatz and Lentos Museum are highlights of Linz, IAMAS’ students and those interested in media art should certainly not miss “Ars Electronica.”

A futuristic facility made of glass which sits along the Danube river of Linz, the Ars Electronica Center.
Ars Electronica： https://ars.electronica.art/news/en/

Around autumn, the “Ars Electronica Festival” is hosted in the city of Linz with Ars Electronica as the organizer. Thus, during this festival Interface Cultures has an exhibition category and every year the students’ works are lined up.
However, this does not mean that just any Interface Cultures student can exhibit their work. There is a process in place where a few months prior to the festival the student presentations are held internally, and then the chosen students are able to display their works at the festival. I was not in time for the festival but I was able to see the students endeavoring in their presentations with the goal of being on the Ars Electronica stage.

I had the opportunity to do presentations, concept presentations, and annual presentations even at IAMAS, but the presentation venue for Interface Cultures is a small lecture room where the students and professors are packed in together. It was a different experience from what I have had at IAMAS and thus memorable.

When comparing the artwork ideas of Interface Cultures and IAMAS students, I got the impression that the style of works that were abstract was higher at Interface Cultures. Additionally, the use of electronic kits and prototypes to give an explanation was particularly memorable and differed from IAMAS students who tend to use documents to explain their works. I was made aware of the diversity in methods to explain one’s works.

Viewing experience in Linz

The Ars Electronica Center

The Ars Electronica Center at the center of the Ars Electronica Festival is annexed by an 8K theater, and biolab. It is a world-leading media centre that is based in Linz, Austria, which has continually been proposing “a new vision of creativity and society’s future brought about by leading edge technology” over the span of about 40 years.

Upon entering the futuristic building, which can be seen through the glass facade, it is bustling with childrens groups that came from schools and tourists. It was different from when I looked up the Ars Electronica Center from Japan, and I didn’t have the impression that it was a place where “they’re doing something with amazing technology that we cannot understand” when I was actually there. If anything, they were disclosing how AI, biotechnologies, sound studios, and related technologies are connected to our daily lives and in what way they are used practically. I felt as though it was a place that opened a door towards understanding. Here, efforts were made towards supporting a basic understanding and making technology accessible to the public at large.

It is precisely because these foundations have taken root that the applied expressions of the Ars Electronica Festival have been embraced by the people of the city.

Lentos Die Reise der Bilder

https://www.salzkammergut-2024.at/projekte/die-reise-der-bilder/より引用
The Journey of the Paintings
Hitler’s cultural politics, art trade and storage during the NS era in the Salzkammergut

Firstly, to start off, did you know that there is a deep connection between Linz and Hitler?
Hitler was born in the suburbs of Linz in Braunau am Inn and after moving out of his family home he spent his childhood days in Linz. As a consequence, this period of his childhood had a profound influence on subsequent policies toward Linz.

This exhibition which was hosted at the Lentos Museum was a special exhibition that traced the period from the revocation of artworks during Hitler’s time in power followed all the way to their reacquisition. This being the first exhibition I saw since leaving Japan which had such a deep connection with the region of Linz and its history had a great impact on me and is unforgettable even now.

Learning about cultural differences through exhibitions

It is embarrassing to admit but until I saw this special exhibition I had absolutely no knowledge of the connection between Linz and Hitler. Whilst looking at the exhibits I learned about its history and was made to realize that he had a strong connection to Linz. Additionally, I was quite taken aback by the depth of history in Europe, shocked as to how European countries, including Germany and Austria, are doing so much to reflect and look back on the period under the Nazi regime, and what impressions of the art scene were.
I could speak in great depth too about Japan’s history, but Europe’s history with languages of different countries, and cultures had a different sort of heaviness to it when compared to Japan.

To facilities outside of Austria

Around the time when I had gotten used to life in Linz, I used some of the time I had before returning to Japan to go to Germany and England. I visited Germany at the start of May, and England right before returning to Japan at the end of June to see art facilities outside of Austria.

ZKM (Germany)

At the start of May I used the OBB from Linz and the rapid train, ICE, in Germany to get to Karlsruhe where ZKM is. If you depart from Linz it becomes around a 6 hour journey one-way with a route that traverses Germany. On the way there were many transfers that had to be made, and it was extremely challenging to get there but despite those difficulties it was all worth it to reach the excellent facilities.

ICE is read as ee-tseh-eh. ZKM is read as zed-ka-em. Karlsruhe, where ZKM is located, is a judicial city in Germany.

ZKM has the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design right beside it, and I was able to see what could be believed to be university students receiving criticism from their professors. The museum opened in 1997 after the renovation of a Nazi-era weapons factory, and was bright and spacious with many skylights.

Despite the open-hearted nature of the atmosphere, this place has a past as a weapons factory. I was made to think about the attitude of updating the contents of the building whilst taking it over rather than completely remaking it anew.

Taking the stairs to the first floor, the first space I entered was one displaying the collection of the Karlsruhe Museum of Fine Arts, which was currently undergoing renovations. At the Karlsruhe Museum of Fine Arts as ZKM, I was able to see over 500 individual exhibits from the late medieval times to the post-war modernism period. In the media art facility, ZKM, I did not expect to see works of art from the medieval era, but I felt that due to the fact that it is the ZKM that they happened to have the flexibility to be able to exhibit various categories of works. Additionally, it was a very interesting experience to see various schools, eras, and methods of expression gathered and exhibited in one place, and to be able to consider new contexts and ways of connecting them.

Afterwards it was onto the second floor for the permanent exhibition, zkm_gameplay.the next level. It was an exhibit that shone a light on computer games that are developing as a major media in our digital society. The venue in its entirety was colorful, a very cute space, and of course you were able to play games too! The floor was divided into sections from levels 1 to 5 and encompassed all sorts of games from retro games to indie games. It wasn’t games like Nintendo Super Mario which everybody is familiar with, but rather the exhibition included aesthetic and imaginative games as well as political games, and provided a clear picture of how the media of “games” was born and developed in the modern era.

The games can also be experienced, and there were many children. When I was looking at the exhibits they had a game console on display that I have at my grandmother’s house! To think that I would encounter it here…

Additionally, it is said that ZKM is the world’s first place to provide an environment where video game culture is displayed under an artistic context. Although ZKM is well known as a media art facility, it is a place that should be visited not only by art lovers but also by those who love games.

Tate Modern (England)

Towards the latter half of my study abroad I flew out of continental Europe and crossed over into England. If you try to go from Japan to England I have the impression that it takes tens of hours and you finally arrive after a long flight, however, from Austria it took no longer than two hours. You can go there as casually as if you were heading to Tokyo from Ogaki. This was also another new experience for me.

I used Europe’s largest LCC. I had a lot of culture shock from the system and differences in correspondence when comparing it to Japanese LCC’s.

Once you enter the building the Turbine Hall spreads out before you and leaves a strong impression. The downhill slope leading from the entrance to the center of the hall made the space feel even more spacious. If I looked from side-to-side as I walked I could see children tumbling down the slope, people sitting down, and overall it was a very free space. This time due to time constraints I looked around the free exhibition rooms that were open to the public. Looking back on it now, I feel that if I went into the paid exhibition room too it would have been quite time consuming. The collection was very large.

It is also the place where Olafur Eliasson conducted “The Weather Project” in 2003. Videos did not give an accurate depiction of the size of the place, but I was very happy to be able to experience it.

The Tate Modern which opened up in 2000 does not line up works of art based on chronological order, but rather, their method of arranging the exhibits by theme was unusual at the time. Nowadays the idea of exhibiting works based on themes is second nature, but I had no idea that the Tate Modern was the forerunner for that concept. Additionally, the way that the huge space was used to its fullest was also a valuable experience that could not be obtained in Japan.
On the Tate’s official webpage there is a page titled “Ways of Looking at Art.” I was very impressed with the way the guidance respected the viewer’s imagination, allowing the viewer to perceive and appreciate the work however they wish. Further, that idea has also become the approach I take when I direct my own work toward others.

Through studying abroad

I had an interest in this study abroad program prior to entering IAMAS. However, over the span of a short 2 years whilst doing my master’s studies, I was worried if I would really be able to do a study abroad alongside my research. I did not apply for the opportunity during the first year of my master’s studies, but as I continued working on my research, I began to think that it might be necessary to leave Japan for a short time and take a look from a broader perspective. Additionally, at the same time I made careful preparations to create an environment that would allow me to conduct my research even when I was off campus so that it would not all fall apart. I recall now when I look back how full of nerves I was right before leaving Japan.
It’s also written in the first volume of my report but being able to reflect on what I can do, and my unique form of expression was the most invaluable lesson of this experience. Going abroad alone, parting from the school whilst balancing my master’s research, and doing a study abroad with a touch of unease as a 2nd year master’s student was all challenging but what is unforgettable is my gratitude that I was able to go. I would like to take this chance to express my gratitude to all professors, seniors, and friends who supported me, and the staff office who supported me abroad, and a special thank you to my family. Thank you all very much.

Again, I would like to thank everyone who has managed to read this far. With that, Danke sch?n! Ciao ciao! Tschüss!

A freebie

This is the documentary manga I have shared with fellow classmates and juniors in the IAMAS Discord over the span of 3 months. I would like to take this opportunity to showcase a portion of it.

English translation: Eric Lupea