KAI WATANABE

Kai Watanabe was born in Rome, Italy in 1999, and moved to California in 2000. He is a media artist and designer, who has studied and practiced design since his early teenage years. He is enrolled in one of the top universities in America, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He is now in his final year of UCLA, pursuing a BA in Design Media Arts. During his time as a student, he has created motion graphic work that has premiered across the US and Japan.
As a media artist, Kai examines the borders between art and technology through the use of interactive and immersive experiences. Through these experiences he strives to broaden the perception of art so that fields traditionally understood to be outside the sphere of art, such as the maths and sciences, are recognized as equally creative and expressive fields. He believes that widening the definition of art can help normalize the practice of approaching larger societal issues from multiple or previously unwelcomed viewpoints.

https://kaiwatanabe.org

Nested Iterations, 2018

Computers are often characterised as precise and with composure. This series examines the computer’s spontaneity, and the art created when the human and computer have a symbiotic relationship. The image is created from a human defined algorithm and the incorporation of a computer’s randomness. In this way, the image is a product of the relationship between the logical mind of people, and the creative spontaneity of the computer. This series examines the different ways in which randomness can be applied on top of pre-existing algorithms to produce different results.

https://kaiwatanabe.org/2019/04/06/spotinuity-of-the-digital-mind/

Kai Watanabe

DREAM RECALL, 2019

Immersive installation simulating the experiences of NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope during the Kepler and K2 Missions of 2009-2013, and 2014-2018. In an age where technology is rapidly evolving, there are voices who fear the unpredictable results that may arise from what we create. The Kepler Space Telescope stood up to those fears, who brought back valuable information regarding 2,662 exoplanets despite once losing connection to planet earth. In this way, Kepler is a symbol of the wonders that hide in the abyss of discovery. This project puts Kepler as the main character, who through its journey depicts the bright possibilities and fun in the advancement of science.

https://kaiwatanabe.org/2019/03/20/dream-recall/

Kai Watanabe

Urban, 2019

Sound is one of the strongest aspects in visual composition, and can be the key to creating an emotional and unique composition. As the sounds of Tokyo resonate within an empty plane ring about, objects of nostalgia rise up from the ground and create a world around the human figure. URBAN highlights the power of sound in media and our lives, by using it as the main medium in the movie rather than the visuals.

https://kaiwatanabe.org/2019/12/22/urban/

Kai Watanabe

The Fated Game of Life, 2019

Mathematics are in charge of the natural order of the world, and are often simplistic in their most basic nature. The mathematics that dictate nature have fascinated artists throughout history, and can therefore be classified as an art form. What kind of artwork is born from understanding the mathematics behind nature and channeling them? This project examines that question by studying and altering a classic algorithm known as the game of life; a set of simple rules that simulates the life and death of cells. By manipulating this algorithm to create many different cell behaviors, paint brushes are created, and paintings can be procedurally generated.

https://kaiwatanabe.org/2019/12/23/the-fated-game-of-life/

PROFILE

1999	Born in Rome, Italy
2017	Enrolled in BA, UCLA School of Arts and Architecture, Design Media Arts Currently, based in Los Angeles

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2020	“HCN”, Tokyo International Gallery, Tokyo “Compressed Cinema” EDA, UCLA Broad Art Center, Los Angeles “From the Heartland”, UCLA LCC Theater Company, Online
2019	Screening of “Creator’s Turmoil” Hammer Museum, Los Angeles “Motion” at EDA, UCLA Broad Art Center, Los Angeles “Bruin ArtPop”, UCLA Kerckhoff Hall, Los Angeles