Takasu Masakazu considers himself an evangelist for artistic technology who dedicates his life to advocate the marriage between art and science. He is also a key figure in Asia’s Maker Movement. The One Academy was pleased to host Takasu at the recent POLYCON 2016, an international digital media arts festival, held at Bandar Sunway and Kuala Lumpur.

Takasu hails from teamLab, Japan, which he describes as “an ultra-technologists group made up of specialists in the information society such as programmers, mathematicians, architects, CG animators, web designers, graphic designers, artists, editors and more”. He wore the brainwave cat ears Necomimi that reacts to his emotions as they were connected to a brain sensor all throughout POLYCON, gaining a lot of attention from The One Academy students.

In order to spread his vision for creative technology, Takasu conducts talks and workshops not only in Japan, but also many other Asian countries. Currently, he is based in Singapore to implement a permanent exhibition there. Nevertheless, he is still actively trying to create technologies through “experimentation and innovation” by breaking the boundaries of science, technology and art.

During POLYCON’s Symposium held at Technology Park Malaysia, Bukit Jalil, Takasu presented his talk titled ‘Digital Art Connecting Art & Science’. He highlighted some of the importance of integrating science and technology as they have the power to inspire change. Takasu displayed many of his interactive technology projects that not only portray the clever use of light, visuals and art, but also their skillful combination with innovative technology to wow audiences.

At 43 and plenty of experience in a company with hundreds of employees, he knows just how to keep himself motivated. According to Takasu during an interview, one way to stay inspired and creative is to be involved with a thriving creative community where its members stimulate one another. With the routine of developing ideas with his colleagues, he believes that creativity is collective effort that requires plenty of discussions and sharing.

With that, Takasu was extremely excited at POLYCON 2016 as it was a convergence of local and international speakers from all over the world such as China, United States, France and Taiwan. He was impressed with the multitude of topics covered at the Symposium including motion graphics and advertising. He also has the chance to converse with other professionals, which was a great experience for him as a creative person.

The avenue to share knowledge such as POLYCON is very crucial. According to Takasu, although technology is very important, it is also very common and universal because everyone has the same access to the same technology. The approach to creativity, however, is different in every culture. Therefore, events like POLYCON brings together creativity from distinct countries to inspire greater innovations.

Takasu asserted that to be a successful creative professional, one must be a good team player and a member in a strong community. Surrounding oneself with talented people with great communication skills can also encourage growth. One reason why Takasu has been avid in this industry is because of his ties with friends who truly enjoy what they do. This is also a strong driving force for him to travel and meet other professionals to share what he knows and make new friends within the community.

The One Academy student trying on Takasu’s brainwave cat ears Necomimi at POLYCON 2016.

An intimate Q&A session between The One Academy students and Takasu during Symposium, POLYCON 2016.