9 Questions with NAOWAO

With a background in filmmaking, interior architecture, visual effects, and animation, Tokyo-based media artist Nao Sakamoto, also known as NAOWAO, explores hybrid worlds between the physical and the digital. She is intrigued by how contemporary culture influences us human beings and believes it requires rethinking the relationship between ourselves and the world around us. By combining her animation in the virtual world with the footage shot by her, NAOWAO creates a story that invites the viewer to explore another perspective of the current world. She questions the meaning of authenticity and how our digital life is affecting it. Predominantly inspired by her experience of living in different cultures and from natural organisms, NAOWAO’s works explore a new perspective of the world in our current digital nature.

Through animation, performances, and installations, NAOWAO crafts a dream-like surreal virtual world as a medium to depict her perspective.

naowao.com | nao_wao_

Nao started combining filmmaking and the 3D digital space during her Master’s in Interior Architecture in Rotterdam, Netherlands. She found visual storytelling a necessity to express her point of view. Combining it with spatial design, led her to explore the merging of the two subjects, such as projection mapping and installations. Her videos and installations have been exhibited in galleries and art houses in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, Netherlands. During this time, Nao explored her skills and techniques in video works and animation and how to merge into physical space for spatial experience.

Her most recent short film as a cinematographer won the Best Doc Short at the Los Angeles International Underground Film Festival in 2019 and has been the Official Selection New Filmmakers New York, 2019. She is also a traveler and an adventurer.

 HAIKYO - 廃墟

HAIKYO - 廃墟 - was filmed at the gigantic water plant abandoned in 1950, Iwate, Japan. The footage is combined with animation created from the experience at the beautiful abandoned building.

A timeless space between life and death
The co-existence of man-made and nature
Wondering how your life was before
Now you are forgotten
But you are still here
You will keep breathing with the spirits of the mountains around you
Until you have nothing else left
The wonder of forgotten places

Audio by Eiji John Mitsuta | Visuals by NAOWAO

INTERVIEW

Was there a pivotal moment that started you on your path as an artist?

I have been drawing, painting, and taking photos since I was young—it was like a validation of my identity. However, seriously engaging with art and practicing it is a recent phenomenon. One special moment to recall would be when a friend invited me to perform for the first time at a small performance bar in Rotterdam, Netherlands. We created 3D visual animation based on the concept of "life journey and windows," We brought our projector and just had fun with it. It was the first time I worked in a space with visual projections and performed while watching people and the entire space react. After that, I began engaging more with Rotterdam's art scene, carrying projectors to indoor and outdoor events. It was fascinating to experiment with virtual visual elements and the physical space while looking at the interaction between people. Rotterdam was a great place for me to experiment with other artists, learn more about media art, and broaden my perspective as a creative person.

How would you describe your development as an artist and the way you have transitioned towards your expression?

Initially, I started with filmmaking, which I picked up in Buffalo, NY. My tool was the camera, and I used it to narrate a story within the frame and through the lens. The power and energy of real people and the physical world are incredible, and I still tap into them. I diversified into directing, scriptwriting, filming, and editing, which are my current projects' base skills. While making films, my focus was more on set design, the art department, and on the creation of a specific environment to tell a story. Naturally, I wanted to learn more about space and 3D computer graphics. Going virtual enabled me to explore different architectural scales and create surreal environments much faster. I feel that combining these tools suited my vision, to a greater extent, of creating surreal worlds. While discovering these skills, I started exploring the media's immersive elements and their relationship with the spectator. Their interaction is a topic I've also begun investigating through game engines and interactive software. I've always been exploring new media tools to tell stories and explore the viewers' immersive experiences.

Your work emerges from conceptual architecture, sculpture, and light installations. What are you trying to communicate with your art?

I have always been intrigued by how space and different environments can influence people's emotions and embodied experiences. The tools I use are a way to engage the viewer through their bodily senses. The stories mainly come from my personal experiences or the social topics that I am interested in at that moment. Nature is a big inspiration for me, as are the different cultures I engaged with during my travels or psychic experiences, such as dreams or meditation. Some pieces are site-specific or purely subjective. I introduce an alternative perspective, trying to tap into the viewer's emotions and senses to invite them to experience the world differently. The tools may be of any kind, but I feel that architectural space, sculpture, and light essentially explore this embodiment of surroundings and space.

Your work HAIKYO is about a timeless space between life and death. The co-existence of human-made and nature. Could you tell our readers about the real story of the space in your work? Why is virtuality an essential element to complete your perception of this space and in life in general?

HAIKYO sprang from an adventure with my friends in northern Japan. The whole experience I had there significantly encouraged me to create a project out of it. The path that led to this place we went to also played a part in the whole experience. I remember a little stone temple for a Water God, which we prayed to before entering the woods. We made a couple of visits to different abandoned places, and every site had a distinct voice. I used this one in HAIKYO was the loudest and the most enchanting, the most charming space. The building was abandoned around 50 years ago and had been a massive water plant. There is a humongous silo, which you can't see the bottom of, and it gave me goosebumps. The central location is a beautiful ground floor with a 15-m high ceiling and a basement. A lot of natural sunlight streamed through the broken large windows, so the interior was overrun with vegetation. The building co-existed with nature, slowly, deeply, still breathing. I had my camera, so I shot the footage within 15 minutes to capture the space's essence. We didn't have enough time since we barely made it out of the woods, but we would like to go back. I felt that the emotions and feelings I felt about myself and the space at that point couldn't be translated just by photos or video, so I used virtual elements to transcribe my experience. I use virtual aspects in my works to visualize the invisible and the hidden. It is purely subjective, but I believe some elements feel familiar to others, and that's the moment I think is interesting as collective human beings. HAIKYO is the first project of this process, and I'd like to do more at other locations.

You also collaborate with music and sound artists such as Audio by Eiji John Mitsuta for this work "HAIKYO". How does Mitsuta compose the right music so your vision can be transmitted to the viewer?

HAIKYO is a short film by kagamii, an experimental audio-visual project made by myself and composer/sound artist Eiji John Mitsuta. We usually begin with a concept together, a single word or a theme, and form back and forth dialogues to tell our story. For HAIKYO, it started with my experience at the abandoned place in Iwate and the footage I shot. Eiji wasn't there, but I knew he could compose the right music for the story. I shared the history of the abandoned water plant, a diary, a poem I wrote from the trip, and some visual references. Eiji composed the music according to my story, infusing his perspective. The music enhances the visuals, expressing the water's story, the spirit of the space, and the relationship between the artificial and natural. Music is another element that transmits an embodied experience to the viewer, which was crucial for our project. 

How do you keep yourself up to date with the latest digital trends, software, and technologies that have today a significant impact on your artistic production?

Going to exhibitions and bookstores is always great, and online magazines and social media platforms are the fastest means to obtain information. Online, you can meet other skilled creators from across the globe very easily. There, I find my favorite artists and designers, which leads me to more information. I sometimes connect with them online to share insights and ask for advice. Going to concerts or installations is always a good idea to fully experience more immersive projects. These experiences have a significant impact on my bodily experiences; they do not just feel good but also inspire me a lot, so I try to go as often as possible.

Another important aspect is my friends and co-workers in the same field, and we share information about new technologies and software. They are always a big inspiration for me.

What's the thing that's continuously surprised you about the virtual art over the years? 

Virtual art is always evolving with the updates in hardware and software. It is an entirely new way of storytelling and a new way to experience presence when you consider VR, AR, and MR. In VR, you are immersed in another world, and you know it's not real, but you feel like it is. Technology is progressing at an incredible speed and becoming more accessible, and that for me, it is necessary to dive in and explore this new way of storytelling.

My first experience with VR installation was at Bjork Digital in Barcelona a couple of years ago. The experience of standing in the middle of the vast mountains in Iceland, hearing her voice right behind me, and turning my head to see her right, there was a simple but surprisingly intimate, immersive, and beautiful experience. An interactive VR game was also based on her music video, a game to become her avatar—a more inclusive and playful yet beautiful version of the experience.

There are so many ways of experiencing virtual art, and with the constant innovations in technology, I am curious to see more. It's inspiring to create your world and share your experience in a more immersive way.

While the relationship between humans and technology is as current as ever, virtual art is one of the critical tools to explore this concept.

What was the most challenging part of this project? Do you seek for an innovative way to show your art?

The challenging part was finding a balance between the actual footage and the virtual elements I combined. I didn't want to reveal 100% of what I felt but wanted to focus on the space itself and give the viewers room to breathe and imagine. The liquid elements were hard to control, but, at the same time, I wanted the computer to calculate and decide how it flows using procedural testing. The most challenging part of this project was finding the site in the slippery woods in the sudden rain and somehow returning home safely while also looking out for bears. The adventure made this project more special in many ways.

I would love to create this project in VR or AR. I would need to go back to the location to film it again, though it might be quite hard to climb the mountains, it should be possible.

Since this is a site-specific project, I would like to do it in other abandoned locations or forgotten places. It was beautiful to see nature reclaiming the human-made structure, feel time flowing differently, and understand the space's qualities. 

NAOWAO, They say if you could be anything but an artist, don't be an artist. What career are you neglecting right now by being an artist?

I feel one of the best things to do in life is to do what you've loved since you were a kid. In my case, it was drawing, painting, sewing, making picture books, or anything to do with color and crafting. This has evolved to what I am currently doing, creating visual-related works, which I am so grateful for. I wouldn't say that I'm neglecting any career since I always wanted to make my own world and express my imagination. I think, right now, it's possible to have multiple ways of living, so if I wish to do something else, I would jump into it. I would never stop being an artist. One thing I miss doing is traveling more for long periods. I hope to be able to do that soon.