C A L L – F O R – E N T R I E S designboom in collaboration with DA – japan design association – promote an international art + design competition. participation is open to applicants from every country in the world, to professionals, students, and design-enthusiasts. free registration required.

                     

— 01 – the subject of the international design and art contest is ITO JAKUCHU INSPIRED

participate in a great celebration throughout the world of ito jakuchu’s work, a milestone in japanese art history! submit your work that is ‘inspired’ by the joyful immersion in the ‘colourful realm of living beings’ by ito jakuchu. find out more about the ‘colourful realm’ exhibition that was held in washington DC at the national gallery of art.

this competition takes on a symbolic meaning, and it effectively corresponds to a cultural phase of our existence. humanity has gone through two opposite developments. the first, in which it integrated fully with nature; the second, in which it expanded into an artificial world of its own, which grew until it came into conflict with the natural world. humanity should now reconcile and unite nature and artifice, creating a new balance.

to underline the universal importance of the masterpieces created by the great japanese artist of the edo period (1615–1868) – ito jakuchu, the japan design association will organize a traveling exhibition of contemporary works that relate to the creations of ito jakuchu. take part in this exhibition, take part in this competition!

we are looking for entries that reflect ito jakuchu’s approach to art or entries that elaborate on his formal language (or that are very different, but for some reason are ‘inspired’ by ito jakuchu body of works).

participants can submit max 3 proposals. accepted work genres are  : – architecture, interior design – product design – graphic design, – art, media art, photography, illustration – fashion design, textiles and -film.

— 02 – more info on ito jakuchu ito jakuchu inspired

ito jakuchu inspired two huge six-fold screens ‘birds and animals in the flower garden’ by ito jakuchu

ito jakuchu retired at age 40 from running a large grocery business he inherited from his father to devote himself to art and zen. he believed that all living creatures had a ‘shinki’ (mind of god), and started painting to capture the ‘shinki’ of humans, animals and plants, metaphorical mirrors of an irrepressibly lively mind and that all is in flux in nature (as in consciousness). his most famous series has been made for the shokokuji monastery in kyoto. created between 1757 and 1766, the 30 bird-and-flower scroll paintings were collectively entitled ‘colorful realm of living beings.’ two huge images based on ito jakuchu’s ‘birds and animals in the flower garden’ will be projected on screens at TDW – tokyo’s designer’s week 2012. you might want to see more works of ito jakuchu in a new york times article.

— 03 – awards there are four cash prizes 1st prize: €5,000 2nd prize: €3,000 3rd prize (x2): €1,000 each

the 4 winning works will be printed on large scale graphic panels and be on show in the ito jakuchu inspired kansei exhibition. this contemporary design & art exhibition will become one of TOKYO DESIGNERS WEEK 2012 (october 30th  – november 5th, 2012 — venue designer : sou fujimoto) main contents. participation in the ito jakuchu inspired kansei exhibition the exhibition will show approximately 100 works that refer to ito jakuchu’s influential paintings and is intended to become a new inspirational window for the ‘future’ of all those working within the creative fields. 50 % of works will be realized by well known creative professionals, invited directly by the DA /japan design association, the other 50 % will be a representation of the shortlist of entries of this competition.

the winning designs will also be shown in a dedicated japanese TV program (the video will be visible on designboom and youtube). we are currently discussing a book publication with the german gestalten verlag. the ito jakuchu inspired kansei is planned to become a traveling exhibition.

— 04 – jurydirector of the jury is TOYO ITO other jury members     – sueo mizuma (mizuma art gallery) – yuji yamashita    (art historian)    – yoshio suzuki  (art journalist )    – kenji kawasaki    (chairman of japan design association)     – birgit lohmann (designboom)

— 05 – design criteria

it is important that you keep your design(s) confidential until the results of the competition are published. the jury will award artworks, designs and concepts which are innovative in terms of their formal aspects as well as your design should be ‘inspired by’ / be related to the work by ito jakuchu. whatever form of expression you choose please describe the connection to ito jakuchu’s.

please don’t send in vague concepts, but go a step further. it’s not the idea which is the art, it’s more the way somebody handles the idea that makes art.

— 06 – registration deadline application registration will be accepted through september 14th, 2012.

— 07 – registration registrations are open now, please fill in the form. teams register with one name only. – when submitting works you should add all team member’s names.registrations are closed

— 08 – submit your entry / entries

if you are entering more than one work, please submit each work separatelyyou will be requested to supply:

1. up to 6 files for uploading to designboom images or a composition of more images) of your project. please note: use only .gif, .jpeg, (72 dpi) max 150 kb each file, RGB color mode. image size: 818 pixels wide.the entry submitted is a low-res version of your original work. these original high-resolution image(s) will be requested only if your work is shortlisted.

2. explanation of ideas a brief description of your design and whatever form of expression you choose please describe the connection to ito jakuchu’s work (english text only, explanation is expected to be very concise).

3. you will be requested to accept the competition guidelines competition guidelines: projects participating to the competition, must be original works. projects must be free from copyrights and any kind of obligation. the design shall not in any way infringe any third party’s right, including but not limited to copyright, logos, trademark, trade names, or other proprietary rights of publicity or privacy. only entries with a declaration of authorship are accepted ! (when submitting your design you will be asked to tick a box of declaration)submissions are closed

— 09 – deadline for submission of entries works can be submitted through september 14th, 2012.

— 10 – intellectual property rights any moral and paternity right regarding the project sent in for application is designer’s property. however by participating in the competition, all participants authorise designboom and DA japan design association to publish and exhibit all the designs (including project data submitted) – waiving compensation – at exhibitions and events and / or to use them for promotional material that the organisers may deem suitable and/or necessary. designers will be fully credited when their work is used.

— 11 – questions? inquiries to [email protected] make sure to write ITO JAKUCHU in the subject line.