Maria Takeuchi

If I start telling you about an exciting new artist who's proposing to add a dose of spirituality to visually-based instrumental music experiments... you'll promise not to run in the other direction, right? Good, just checking.

Through a series of unlikely collaborations, artist Maria Takeuchi has given New York something we least expected. An insertion of the mysterious and appreciation for spiritual distance in new EP “Doppelgänger.” The record feels like the soundtrack to an unreleased David Fincher film, complete with dense noise-scapes and percussive vocoding. As she’s prone to: Takeuchi creates music for “Doppelgänger” you can see as much as listen to.

So, please don't be afraid. The music may exist in it's own world, but it's a place you'll want to visit too. - Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
- The Deli Magazine

The thing that I love about my job is the possibility of getting to know talented people, mostly friendly and sometimes as chatty as I am (I used to think it was not possible, but I had to change my mind). Today I want to share with you a nice chat that I had with the young and talented artist and multi-instrumentalist Maria Takeuchi. After having reviewed her EP Doppelgänger a couple of weeks ago, I decided to challenge the time zones and had a nice chat UK/NY with her.

I am impressed by your work and your way of finding a meeting point between visual art and music. How can visual art meet music? Is it an interest that you have been cultivating for a long time?

Yes. Visual art is always big part of my life. I love painting and drawing, and also visual is always together when I listen to music. When I listen to music, I imagine visual such colors and filming in my head.

Is this basically what you tried to do with Ai Kobayashi? Make them influence each other in the film project “o”?

Yes, I can say that was the trigger to start project ‘o’. We’ve been very good friends before the project started. As pursuing each dream in NYC, we always wanted to be inspired to create art. So we came up with the idea of collaboration visual art and music.

Could you tell me something more about the choice of the name “o” for the project?

haha to be honest, we couldn’t decide the name, so we named it “o” at the beginning; but we liked it because “o” is circle, infinite. We want this project to have unlimited potential to create something new and different

I get that changes and metamorphosis is something that fascinates you. How did the exhibition “INDEPENSENSE” by Giuseppe Mastromatteo influenced you for the track Grey Waters?

I went to a gallery opening in chelsea to look for performance opportunity at the galleries since I’ve wanted to collaborate with art somehow. I met him, Giuseppe, there. He was very nice and suggested me to compose a song for his exhibition in Milan. so I composed Grey Water for his exhibition inspired by his art.

I imagine that he really liked the result!

Thank you

by Fab Electra
- When the Music is Over -another DIY music blog

You’ll like it if…

…Biophilia was so cool, but you’d like something darker

Synesthesia is “the production of a sense impression relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body” (Dictionary). Therefore, if you talk about synesthetic sound you think of something that goes beyond hearing, embracing other sense, for instance the sight. Maria Takeuchi’s “Doppelgänger” shows us the inner link between visual and audio, in a brief and yet absorbing six-track album.

Maria Takeuchi is a multi-instrumentalist, who played with different bands in Japan & New York. She collaborates with visual artists, such as the visual director Ai Kobayashi, in order to shape suggestive audio-visual experiences. The songs “Karma Train”, “Cobblerstone” and “Noise” were in fact realised as a collaboration with Kobayashi for the experimental film project “o”. “Karma Train” is a journey through the process of creation, in which visual imperfection clashes with beating electronic pulses and cliffhanger atmosphere, creating Björk-esque ethereal wave references. Electro basses go tribal in the post-wave “Grey Water”, in which vocals and backing echoes become part of this unconventional prayer, inspired by the exhibition “INDEPENSENSE, Fabbrica Eos” held in Milan by Giuseppe Mastromatteo. The concept of harmony vs disharmony is carried on by merging orchestral and electro-flashes (“Cobblestone”), enriched by fragile violin notes. The lack of euphony is emphasized by the noisy and robotic interferences of “Empty”, reinterpreted by 80s samples in the less grabbing “Noise”. Personal favourite is the nail-biting “Psycho”; Roll the Dice-like bass and synth interaction create an almost sci-fi imaginary, drawn in spiritual evocations.

“Doppelgänger” is a spellbinding clash between ancient and futuristic, electronic and classical, merging the synth-pop trend with a refined avant-guarde touch.

-Fab Electra - When the Music is Over -another DIY music blog

Along todays theme of minimal composition Maria Takeuchi presents a soulful piece that harnesses an elusive power within the first movement of the song only to set it lose in the second. Contrast within a single track is often felt on a tonal level. To achieve compositional contrast, the ‘Karma Train‘ employs a dynamic shift not once, but three times to minimize any individual effort in favor of unity. The track is spirited. Originally scored for film, it’s no wonder the track sets not only an auditory, but visual scene. @Dingusonmusic - Dingus

Asphyxia is an experimental film project by Maria Takeuchi and Frederico Phillips that explores human movement through motion capture technology. The team used two inexpensive Xbox One Kinect sensors to capture the movements of dancer Shiho Tanaka and then rendered the data inside a near photo-realistic environment. From their description of the project:

The project is an effort to explore new ways to use and/or combine technologies and different fields in an experiment without many of the common commercial limitations. The performance is centered in an eloquent choreography that stresses the desire to be expressive without bounds.

Motion data was captured using inexpensive sensors and that data paved the way through an extensive number of steps. Once all the scanned point cloud data was combined, that was then used as the base for the creative development on the piece. A series of iterative studies on styles followed and several techniques and dynamic simulations were then applied using a number 3D tools for various results.

You can see a making of video here. If you liked this you might also enjoy Walking City, Choros, or these 2013 idents for CCTV. (via Prosthetic Knowledge) - colossal

In as·phyx·i·a, a new collaborative effort and experimental film by Maria Takeuchi with Frederico Phillips, dancer Shiho Tanaka transforms into an evolving, pulsating cloud of 3D data. "The performance is centered in an eloquent choreography that stresses the desire to be expressive without bounds," its creators explain.

Using motion data and dynamic simulations, Takeuchi and Phillips re-envision Tanaka's body as a wobbling mass of points and line segments between them. Inside an environment specially-created for the film, a single, white spotlight follows her movements, casting a shadow on the ground beneath her abstracted figure. Set to an original soundtrack also created by Takeuchi, the result is an abstraction that is at once as fluid as it is writhing and roaring with information. Could it perhaps be the way a sentient computer might watch a performance? We'll have to wait for one advanced enough to tell us. Until then, immerse yourself in the liberating dream of datafied motion that is as·phyx·i·a: - The Creators Project

AS·PHYX·I·A is an experimental film created by Maria Takeuchi with Frederico Phillips and performed by Shiho Tanaka. A choreographed performance was captured using Kinect sensors and then transformed into a digital representation. The team explored different techniques and simulations in 3D and the final result is a stunning wired figure elegantly dancing. We strongly recommend you to take a look at the Behind the Scenes on the official website of the project. - Art-Spire

Artists Maria Takeuchi and Frederico Phillips' Asphyxia is more than an experimental dance film; it's also one of the more creative uses of Xbox One Kinect's motion-data capture capabilities we've seen.

Much of the piece's power is due to dancer Shiho Tanaka's elegant grace, which somehow manages to transcend her body being transformed into a series of flickering lines and dots (the project's official page describes the choreography as stressing "the desire to be expressive without bounds"). But technology also plays a huge part:

Motion data was captured using inexpensive sensors and that data paved the way through an extensive number of steps. Once all the scanned point cloud data was combined, that was then used as the base for the creative development on the piece. A series of iterative studies on styles followed and several techniques and dynamic simulations were then applied using a number 3D tools for various results.

An environment was also built to integrate the character and allow for a more visually photo-real representation of the scenes. - io9

An experimental project using Kinect sensors to motion capture a choreographed dance piece sends the resulting point cloud data dancing into life.

as·phyx·i·a is a collaborative effort and experimental film created by Maria Takeuchi with Frederico Phillips, and performed by Shiho Tanaka. - Digital Art

http://irreversivel.com/asphyxia-movimentos-humanoides-como-nunca-os-vist/ - irreversible

as·phyx·i·a by Maria Takeuchi - motion collector

Создатели экспериментального проекта «Асфиксия» смогли оцифровать отдельные движения танцовщицы, превратив их в невероятно красивый танец, воспроизведенный при помощи компьютерной модели.


Экспериментальный проект «Асфиксия» был создан Марией Такеучи и Фредерико Филиппсом для изучения движений человека при помощи технологии захвата движения. Эта технология сейчас нередко применяется при создании компьютерных спецэффектов и мультфильмов. Воспользовавшись парой недорогих датчиков Xbox One Kinect, авторы проекта оцифровали движения танцовщицы Шихо Танаки. Обработанные на компьютере данные совместили с музыкой, в результате получив невероятной красоты завораживающий танец. - kulturologia (Russia)

Asphyxia är ett projekt framtaget av Maria Takeuchi och Frederico Phillips där de båda utforskar människans rörelsemönster med hjälp av modern teknik. Två stycken Kinect-sensorer från Xbox One fick fånga dansaren Shiho Tanaka och via datorn skapade man sedan det här vackra dansstycket.

Hur videon gjordes kan ni se här nedan. - Tjock.se (sweden)

The perfect video to end the night with...This is amazing. A dancer's body is transformed into 3D particles. The entire thing was created by Maria Takeuchi, Frederico Phillips, and dancer Shiho Tanaka. - tondo is

Asphyxia is an experimental film project by Maria Takeuchi and Frederico Phillips that explores human being action through movement capture technology. The group utilized two affordable Xbox One Kinect detectors to recapture the moves of dancer Shiho Tanaka and then rendered the data in the near photo-realistic environment. From their particular description for the task:

The project is definitely an effort to explore brand new methods to use and/or combine technologies and different fields within an experiment without most common commercial limitations. The overall performance is centered within an eloquent choreography that stresses the wish to be expressive without bounds.

Movement data ended up being captured utilizing inexpensive detectors hence information paved the way with an extensive number of actions. As soon as all scanned point cloud information had been combined, which was after that utilized due to the fact base the imaginative development regarding piece. A number of iterative scientific studies on styles followed and several strategies and powerful simulations had been after that applied getting a quantity 3D resources for assorted results.

You can observe a creating of video clip right here. In the event that you liked this you can also enjoy Walking City, Choros, or these 2013 idents for CCTV. (via Prosthetic understanding) - cretique (france)

La tecnología y el arte mantienen una relación en la que cualquiera de las dos se ven beneficiadas cada vez que se reúnen. Asphyxia, es un film project resultado del trabajo de Maria Takeuchi y Frederico Phillips en el que buscaron explorar los movimientos humanos a través de la tecnología. - Rockets Musik (mexico)

a·phyx·i·a es un film experimental, resultado del esfuerzo colaborativo de Maria Takeuchi junto a Frederico Phillips y Shiho Tanaka. El proyecto explora nuevas formas de combinar tecnologías y diferentes disciplinas en un experimento que no sufre de las limitaciones convencionales. La intervención se centra en una elocuente coreografía ejecutada por Shiho, la que al combinar con tecnología y artes visuales, adquiere un carácter y estética radicalmente nueva.

La data de movimientos fue capturada utilizando sensores “baratos”, data que a su vez se procesaba a través de distintos pasos pasos. Una vez que todos los puntos fueron escaneados y combinados, esta fue utilizada para el desarrollo creativo de la pieza. Una serie de estudios iterativos en estilos, seguidos de un montón de distintas de simulación dinámica fueron aplicadas usando herramientas tridimensionales. - Pousta (chile)

Making of: vimeo.com/121436666
Gallery:asphyxia-project.com/gallery
Official website here asphyxia-project.com

Credits:
Music and Direction : Maria Takeuchi
Visuals and Direction : Frederico Phillips
Performance Artist : Shiho Tanaka
Camera Filming / Support : Samuel Blalark
Camera equipment : Jason Guerrero - Scoopit (italy)