Born in 1980 in Tokyo, Soichiro Mihara lives in Kyoto. He received an M.A. in media expression from the Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS) in 2006. Employing a diverse range of materials as his motifs, including sound, bubbles, radiation, rainbows, microorganisms, moss, air currents and electrons, his practice combines natural phenomena with media technology.
The exhibitions he took part in include "Courage in Transience"(Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, 2019), "AOMORI EARTH2019: AGROTOPIA –WHEN LIFE BECOMES ART THROUGH LOCAL AGRICULTURE" (Aomori Museum of Art), The Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2020",“From Blanks to sensitivity” (Zuiun-ann, Kyoto, 2018), “Tsushima Art Fantasia 2018”, “New Japan Observer Effect” (Solyanka State Gallery, Moscow, 2018), “OPEN SPACE” (NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC], Tokyo, 2017), “KENPOKU ART 2016,” “Seoul Mediacity Biennale 2016,” “Elements of Art and Science” (Ars Electronica Center, Linz, 2015-16), solo exhibition “the world filled with blanks” (Kyoto Art Center, 2016 / Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanian, Berlin, 2013), “Sapporo International Art Festival 2014”, “Sound Art. Sound as a Medium of Art” (ZKM, Karlsruhe, 2012), and many others. He has been awarded prizes from festivals such as Ars Electronica, and the Japan Media Arts Festival. Since 2013, he participated in artist-in-residence programs in 11 places in eight countries, including the Arctic, a rainforest, a militarized border and a bioart lab, from the capital of art to the ultimate environment. He is the co-author of Haptics Hack (Asahi Press, 2016) and recently engages in maintaining and restoring sound sculptures and new media art works.
The system of my exhibit harnesses temperature and humidity, making it particularly sensitive. The artwork is constantly influenced by the time of day, the weather, air conditioning, the building structure, and differences in material. Though there was a sense of somehow perceiving and controlling natural elements in my work until now, this exhibit has seen me shift to producing something that affirmatively accepts the changes that occur at a certain point in time. It feels like I have acquired a new standard for creating my work.
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Comment as a Selected Finalist
For the past 15 years, I have continued to design and implement media technology directed towards the environment in order to pursue art that serves a function. The fickle relationship between the natural world and human artifice can bring us to vividly sense our environment, from global-scale phenomena such as the sun and ecosystems, to the micro-world of microorganisms and electrons. However, the art I create is contingent upon these phenomena, and as such must also be accepting of situations where they are too delicate or do not occur. I was very surprised—but also thrilled—to have been selected as a finalist. I hope to use this fortuitous opportunity to create a new work, through which I will share a new way of enjoying an environmental world with the audience.