Interview: Tokamu

Back in 2021, SHOWstudio decided to make its logo move. After all, it's what we do with fashion so what was stopping us from doing the same thing with text? Cue a slew of interpretative design styles by motion and graphic designers from around the world, all trying their hand at working with the original Peter Saville-designed logo to make it leap into the 21st century via a series of coding patterns and varying degrees of imaginative animation. Firstly, there was Dirk Koy's study, which saw the artist present different uniquely animated fonts that played on SHOWstudio's Helvetica Neue typeface - a style that was quickly followed up by the dazzling work of self-proclaimed 'computational poet' Zach Lieberman, who made our logo pulse with life and soul. In more recent times we've seen adaptions by the likes of 2D.Pete, Riya and the imitable calligraphic work of Japan-based artist Matsushita Yuna. Next up: sound and visual artist Tokamu.

Although Tokamu may not have Synesthesia himself, his work embodies similar traits, where sound becomes visual and the visual becomes sound. As harmonies and motions collide, Tokamu aims at making work for those who possess an 'alert mind' as he seeks to experiment with creative synergies that transcend 2-dimensional depths. Intrigued by his one-of-a-kind exploratory output, we caught up with the multi-disciplinary designer to find out more about his extraordinary body of work.

SHOWstudio: How would you describe what you do and your aesthetic? 

Tokamu: I consider myself a multimedia artist. I always try to evolve and never stick to the same aesthetic, while also keeping my identity as an artist. I find it pretty challenging at times, considering how overwhelming the world of digital art can be. I am interested in finding a balance between modernity and tradition when it comes to my form and expression. It’s very easy for digital art to look too “polished” and lifeless - and for traditional art to look as nothing new, as something outdated. It is often the case that one has a lot to learn from the other, in my opinion.

SHOWstudio: What's your design background? 

Tokamu: I have studied visual art and design most of my life. I graduated in Music technology and started immediately to combine my sound art with visual art. I learned most of the tools on my own. I realised the importance of establishing a visual identity in order to have my place on the internet.

SHOWstudio: How would you describe the work you have created for SHOWstudio in three words? 

Tokamu: Disassembled, shapeless, ever-morphing.

SHOWstudio: What was your creative process like, from concept to creation, in response to Nick Knight's brief to redesign and reinterpret the SHOWstudio logo? 

Tokamu: First, I transformed the SHOWstudio logo into a 3D mesh. I then converted it into a cloud of points, where every point represents a vertex in the shape. Using Touchdesigner I then displaced the coordinates into different positions and configurations. Finally, I animated the blending between all of these positions, resulting in this seemingly intentional movement that goes from one shape to the next.

SHOWstudio: I'm interested in your viewpoint on the symbiosis between moving image and sound. Can you talk about this a bit? 

Tokamu: I try to make the sound breed life into the image, and vice versa. I find it very powerful when the two can coexist, and don’t merely enhance the effect of each other. At the same time, If you can detach the sound from the image and have them still be somewhat interesting on their own, I see it as a success.

SHOWstudio: Would you say your work taps into ideas shared with Sound-color synesthesia?  

Tokamu: Maybe there’s something like that that inspires my ideas. I use a lot of intuition when it comes to combining sound and shapes. Even though my work doesn’t have a lot of color (I mostly work in black and white), I see it as a form of synesthesia where the design of sound dictates the various shapes and movements. Other times it’s the images that give the sound a direction. To me, the eyes and ears speak the same language, but it's easy to assume that they need to be approached in different ways.