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ROBO SPACE
An android opera: Japan's Shibuya plots new era of robot music
by Staff Writers
Paris (AFP) Oct 20, 2014


Giant robot horse-dragon takes on monster spider in Beijing
Beijing (AFP) Oct 17, 2014 - The huge mechanical creature rears up, its eyes glowing red, smoke billowing from its dragon's snout and its primeval howl echoing in the Beijing night as it approaches its arachnid adversary.

The robot horse-dragon, or "Long Ma", is 12 metres high and weighs 45 tonnes -- as much as eight adult African elephants. For its part, the yellow spider -- dubbed "The Princess" -- has a 20-metre leg-span and can froth at the mouth.

Part ballet, part epic combat against a backdrop of streams of water, sparks, sound and light, the performance is very loosely based on the Chinese creation myth of the goddess Nuwa, who made people out of yellow mud and saved humanity from apocalypse after one of the pillars holding up heaven collapsed.

Nuwa sealed the breach in the sky, bringing order to the chaos of the world, and the horse-dragon was conceived by the organisers as her envoy on earth -- although it does not appear in the original legend.

The two robots are controlled by teams of operators perched on board and running alongside, but even so their movements are fluid, almost natural, and the Long Ma can also express himself facially, fluttering his eyelashes among other gestures.

"It's puppetry on a grand scale," smiled Isa, one of the crew members.

The Long Ma "can stand on his hind legs, his tail moves, he can gallop, and of course fire comes from his mouth: it's a real dragon", said Francois Delaroziere, artistic director of the French firm that developed the tribute to Chinese mythology.

"In this mythical universe, the horse-dragon combines equine speed and vitality with the supreme power of the dragon: he embodies the spirits of vigour and perseverance that Chinese schoolchildren are still taught today," said Delaroziere.

The event, mounted outside the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing that hosted the 2008 Olympics, is part of the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Paris and the People's Republic.

"Relations between our two countries are largely based on a very ancient cultural affinity, a mutual attraction," said France's new ambassador to Beijing, Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, adding the show embodies "the spirit of China itself".

Shows start Friday and run until Sunday, when visiting French foreign minister Laurent Fabius will attend along with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

But Beijing's notorious pollution could yet spoil the weekend's displays, and Delaroziere appealed to the star performer's spirit to intervene.

"This horse-dragon from antiquity can defy the elements and heal... a new breach in the sky," he said.

Life and death, surveillance and privacy, humans and robots: Keiichiro Shibuya likes to unsettle and push boundaries in music.

The Japanese composer made a stir in 2012 when he created the first ever virtual opera starring a computer-generated image of a girl, and he is now preparing to go a step further with a show performed by singing androids made by leading roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro.

"I have a project that I will put on later with robots that have human form," said the 41-year-old, in Paris Monday for a separate solo concert called "Perfect Privacy" that sees him marry traditional piano playing with computer-generated music and sounds.

"There will be only robots on stage, no human beings," he told AFP of his future project planned for 2016, acknowledging that he likes to unsettle and stir up intense emotions with high-tech creations.

- Hunted by paparazzi -

With his trademark long fringe covering part of his face, Shibuya is fast becoming a household name in Japan, where his electronic music, piano and futuristic creations have placed him firmly in the limelight.

He is also dating well-known actress Miho Nakayama, and the paparazzi hunt for proof of their relationship was an inspiration for "Perfect Privacy", Monday's concert that will see scores of cameras installed in the Theatre du Chatelet to project his every move on stage onto a giant screen.

The concert in the French capital comes almost a year after he put on his sell-out virtual opera "The End", which tackles life and death, at the same theatre.

That show starred Hatsune Miku, a virtual young girl whose image is projected on stage and who "sings" through a vocal synthesizer -- a so-called "Vocaloid".

Miku has become a star in Japan, performing in concerts around the country and she even appeared on David Letterman's Late Show earlier this month, leaving the smiling host slightly bemused.

- Robot newsreader -

Shibuya's next opera will be even more futuristic with several androids designed by Ishiguro singing on stage, and the music entirely computer-generated.

Robots are used in Japan to perform a variety of tasks such as cooking noodles, helping patients undergo physiotherapy and even helping in the clean-up after the 2011 nuclear meltdown at Fukushima.

And Ishiguro, a professor at Osaka University, is the master of robotic science, known for creations such as his recent news-reading android.

He even has a humanoid version of himself which he sends overseas to give lectures.

But beyond his country's obvious propensity for robotic breakthroughs, Shibuya says he is trying to understand the very nature of art via his high-tech creations.

"When a human being plays something, when he creates art, others are impressed or moved," he said.

"Why? Because they feel that this human being has made an effort, has performed perfectly as a human being? Or because the art itself is beautiful? We don't really know."

Putting on an opera without any human beings involved is one way of finding out," says Shibuya, adding he aims to put on "something beautiful but created by something other than a human being."

Shibuya started playing the piano when he was six, and has never stopped despite branching off into electronic music with his ATAK music label.

But his experiments with high-technology are what really make him stand out.

"If others appreciate something that was created by something other than a human being, it's a new type of pleasure," he says.


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