One of the major features of TPU is that we can widely disseminate research results on color to society by media art work. For example, there is a graduation work by the Faculty of Art’s “Beni (= red)”, which won the 57th Science and Technology Image Festival/Prime Minister Prize. This is a video work that drew the traditional process of extracting the pigment of “red” from the safflower, which has been used for lipsticks and dyeing clothes since ancient times in Japan, together with scientific evidence based on chemistry and optics as well as beautiful Japanese scenery. To produce this work of the Department of Imaging Art of Faculty of Art, the Department of Science and Sustainable Chemistry of the Faculty of Engineering and the Department of Media and Image Technology of the Faculty of Engineering collaborated and carried out experiments to provide scientific evidence. As you can see in Bijinga (= portray of beautiful women) of Ukiyoe in the Edo era, this crimson color turns glossy green when it is dry. A new “collaborative research by the Faculty of Art and the Faculty of Engineering” just started to clarify the mechanism of this change, to identify the glossy green, and to produce a video work which will be a sequel to “Beni”. It is a unique advantage of our university that such visual works can be disseminated to society at our own theater. Another example is that we have started a “collaborative research by students of the Faculty of Art and the Faculty of Engineering” to characterize each element of the periodic table of elements by design or manga when the 113th element produced in Japan is internationally recognized as a new element. Each character is given a color taking into consideration the characteristics of the element. This research project takes into consideration the production of manga and animated works in which characters are active, development of games and applications, and product development through collaboration with companies that belong to the Atsugi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Disseminating research results achieved through collaboration between faculties and students, the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Arts, through media art, is a brand development initiative unique to our university and only our university can do it.
In the future, under the leadership of the President, we will significantly expand the budget for collaborative research between the Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Arts, and we will focus on budget allocation for collaborative research with the theme of color. In addition, we will enrich the research assistant (RA) system and scholarship system for doctoral students working on such research, which will lead to the revitalization of our graduate schools.
Under the catchphrase “Create Tomorrow, Learn Future, and Connect the World by “Color”, KOUGEI Color Science and Art”, the “International Research Center for Color Science and Art” will establish an experience-based learning system to convey the foundation of the science of color and latest research results by means of media art works such as photography, video, augmented reality, projection mapping, computer graphics, manga, and games in an easy-to-understand and fun way, and establish a gallery that will make the results public including for children, including junior-high-school and high-school students. We will also exhibit and screen media art works that use color as a theme.
Furthermore, we will set up a special page of the “International Research Center for Color Science and Art” on our official website. We will also proactively disseminate information using the official social network of TPU (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LINE, and YouTube) and build a brand that will remind people of Tokyo Polytechnic University when they think about color.
We will regularly hold open lectures on color by our faculty members and open seminars inviting researchers from other universities and companies. At the end of the fiscal year, joint research results presentation sessions for each research project will also be held. Furthermore, in collaboration with overseas universities that are working on color research, such as Munsell Color Science Laboratory of Rochester Institute of Technology, Chinese Culture University, Chulalongkorn University of Thailand, and Eastern Finland University, we will hold international workshops. All open lectures, open seminars, research results presentation sessions, and international workshops will be open to the public, and information on the events will be posted on our official website as well as the websites of relevant academic societies. Information will also be disseminated to a wide range of people by means of the official social network of the university, flyers, posters, etc.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is conceiving a “cultural power project” using the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games as an opportunity.
This project aims to make the Olympics successful also as a cultural festival, to show the charm of Japanese culture globally, and to contribute greatly to the world through culture and art. As one of the strategies, it is stated that “We will promote planning and implementation by university faculty and students. […] to promote human resource development and creation of innovation by fusion of art and science and technology, etc.” This is exactly in line with the purpose of our project. In order to participate in this project, we will develop the concept of our exhibition program and produce media art contents.
“Disseminating culture and arts inside and outside Japan” is also cited as one of the strategies of the Agency’s plan. It is stated as follows: “We will discuss mechanisms for sending out information about the activities inside and outside Japan through a multilingual portal site. We will collaborate with relevant government ministries and agencies such as overseas diplomatic missions around the world, embassies in Japan and tourism agencies, and actively disseminate Japanese culture.” By using such information dissemination mechanisms of the Agency for Cultural Affairs, we will disseminate our media art content and the brand of our university that focus on color, which is the outcome of this project inside and outside Japan. In addition, on a special website of the “International Research Center for Color Science and Art” on the official website of the university, we will set up at least English and Chinese pages and disseminate the information to the world.
