Japanese artist and musician
Yoshi Sodeoka is a Japanese-born multimedia artist and musician renowned for his exploration of video, gifs, print and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Trained as an oil painter from the age of 5 and guitarist from the age of 13, Sodeoka's early immersion in traditional art informs his approach to digital expression. His career has spanned three decades.
Biography.
Originally hailing from Yokohama, Japan, Sodeoka relocated to New York in the 1990s, enrolling at Pratt Institute. He has called New York home ever since.
Sodeoka's neo-psychedelic style is a direct reflection of his deep-rooted passion for music, drawing inspiration from genres such as noise, punk, and metal. His immersive artwork often integrates digital video feedback, footage sampling, found online imagery and experimental audio soundscapes.
Sodeoka has collaborated on video projects with notable musical artists including Metallica, Psychic TV, Tame Impala, OPN, Beck, The Presets, and Max Cooper. He has created editorial illustrations for publications like "The New York Times", "Wired", "The Atlantic", and "MIT Technology Review". And Sodeoka's artwork has been featured in ad campaigns from brands like Adidas, Nike, Apple and Samsung.
Sodeoka's digital artwork has been showcased in venues like the Centre Pompidou, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Deitch Projects, La Gaîté Lyrique, the Museum of the Moving Image and Laforet Museum Harajuku. Sodeoka's work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
In 1995, Sodeoka was the founding art director of Word Magazine, one of the earliest ezines on the web.
Notable Projects.
Prototype #31: C404.40.40.31 (2001).
Released in 2001, "Prototype #31: C404.40.40.31" is a 31-minute audio/video DVD incorporating animated graphics layered on video and TV footage set to an original 31-minute experimental electronic noise music score composed by Sodeoka. "Prototype #31: C404.40.40.31" made its debut as an installation at "Digital Dumbo," a four-day digital art festival held in September 2001.
ASCII BUSH (2004) '.
Originally showcased at Turbulence.org, "ASCII BUSH" presents an ASCII video rendition of two State of the Union addresses—one delivered by George W. Bush on January 12, 2003, just before the onset of the Iraq War, and the other by his father, George H.W. Bush, on March 6, 1991, shortly after Operation Desert Storm. By repurposing the "debris" of contemporary political discourse, Sodeoka invites viewers to engage critically with the underlying messages and symbolism embedded within these speeches.
Noise Driven Ambient Audio And Visuals DVD (2005).
Released in 2005, "Noise Driven Ambient Audio And Visuals" showcases Sodeoka's video feedback loops, video flicker induction, and integration of visual and audio static from analog sources. With over 50 minutes of content, the DVD features contributions from guest directors including Associates In Science, Lew Baldwin, Day-Dream, Jonathan Turner, and WeWorkForThem.
Video Metal DVD-R (2009).
Released in 2009, "Video Metal" is presented on DVD-r in NTSC format, region-free. The 5" DVD-r is wrapped in a hand-screen-printed 20" x 15", 4-color poster, folded and housed in a 5" x 6" resealable poly bag with an outside sticker. The edition was limited to 100 units.
Published by Table of Contents, "Video Metal" was reviewed by "Neural" on April 22, 2010, and described as a "real visual and sound trip."
#46 — 35.23N 139.30E [FAC 3097] E5150xx - Digital/Analog Intermix (2012).
Expanding upon his 2004 Turbulence.org commission, Prototype #44, Net Pirate Number Station, Sodeoka's 2012 work, #46 — 35.23N 139.30E [FAC 3097] E5150xx - Digital/Analog Intermix, explores themes of telecommunication technologies and espionages. The project documents a psychedelic virtual journey to the Fukaya Communication Site, also known as Naval Transmitter Station Totsuka, located near Sodeoka's childhood home in Yokohama, Japan. Historically classified as a US army jurisdictional area with strict prohibitions against non-American citizens, the site holds a mystique as a center of espionage activities involving Russia and North Korea. Surrounding the site, stories abound of missing local women and warnings from adults to children to avoid the area.
Music Video Projects.
In addition to his own multimedia art projects, Yoshi Sodeoka has been commissioned to create music videos for a diverse array of musical artists. Notable music video projects include:
Illustrations and Animations for Publications.
In addition to his work in the digital domain, Sodeoka has contributed art to print publications like The New York Times, Wired Magazine, Harper's Magazine, The Atlantic, MIT Technology Review, The Intercept, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Employing animated formats such as GIF or MP4 loops, Sodeoka creates dynamic artwork that transcends the conventional static image, offering an immersive visual experience to readers.
Notable editorial projects include:
Prism Break - Ambient Swim on HBO Max (2021).
Created as part of the Adult Swim Festival 2021 in collaboration with RVNG INTL, "Prism Break - Ambient Swim" premiered on HBO Max on November 13, 2021. The project consists of a series of immersive videos designed to transport viewers to otherworldly realms of sound and color.
Wetware - Bacteria NFT (2021).
Released on the Foundation.app platform, "Wetware - Bacteria" is an NFT project drawing inspiration from the notion of an organic, self-organizing computer driven by virtual bacteria.
Wind Flags #4 Mural at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2023).
Commissioned in 2023, "Wind Flags #4" is a mural commissioned for the lobby of the newly renovated Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Collaborating with the MSK Computational Oncology Research team, Sodeoka composed the image from stills of his algorithmically generated videos, resembling oscillation patterns in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction.
Spanning 8 x 20 feet, the murals organic and computer-generated forms serve as a vibrant centerpiece, offering solace and inspiration to patients, visitors, and staff alike at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
The Flood NFT (2024).
"The Flood" is a 2024 NFT series hosted on Verse.works, exploring the intricacies of arachnid behavior through code-based simulations. The project meticulously examines over 50 randomized parameters to portray predator-prey interactions within a digital ecosystem. Viewers are immersed in a world where algorithmically guided predators mirror spider hunting tactics while delicate prey respond with nuanced evasive maneuvers. The project presents two narratives: "The Flood: Orchestrated," characterized by meticulously scripted interactions, and "The Flood: Chaos," embracing spontaneity and unpredictability.
Undervolt &amp; Co..
Undervolt &amp; Co. was a video art collective founded in 2013 by Yoshi Sodeoka. Johnny Woods, Nicholas O'Brien and Rea McNamara later joined as collaborators. The project aimed to plunge viewers into an abstract audio-visual world as they browsed exclusive videos uploaded to the label's website and online shop. The work ranged in style from psychedelic to 1980s glitch to near-overwhelming, saturated color. Among the first wave of artists to join the label were Jennifer Juniper Stratford, Jimmy Joe Roche, Spectral Net (a group comprising Birch Cooper, Brenna Murphy, Sabrina Ratté, and Roger Tellier-Craig, Johnny Woods, Cristopher Cichocki and Yoshi Sodeoka). The collective continued to add new artists over time, aiming to represent a diverse range of voices within the video art community, including Robert Beatty, Andrew Benson, Peter Burr, Camilla Padgitt-Cole, Scot Cotterell, Di-Andre Caprice Davis, e*rock, Extreme Animals, Adam Ferriss, Carrie Gates, Faith Holland, Jodie Mack, Rea McNamara, A. Bill Miller, MSHR, Nicholas O'Brien, Eva Papamargariti, Suzy Poling, Javier Galán Rico, Rick Silva, Leigh Silverblatt, Ryoya Usuha, and Giselle Zatonyl. Undervolt &amp; Co. aspired to be more than just a label; it sought to establish itself as an unparalleled database of video art. The projects's archives were crucial in centralizing the world of video artists.. The collective's commitment to inclusivity and accessibility was reflected in its mass distribution model, which aimed to democratize the consumption of video art. By providing a centralized hub for video artists to share their work, Undervolt &amp; Co. fostered collaboration and dialogue within the global video art community.
Undervolt &amp; Co. participated in festivals like the Moog Fest 2016, Aurora Festival 2015 in Dallas, Texas, Solstice at The Cleveland Museum of Art in 2018 and 2019, and Times Square Arts: Interference AV in 2018.
References.
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