Yoshi Sodeoka
The Swarm
August 30, 2024
Yoshi Sodeoka is an artist embracing not only the technologies and ways of understanding and exploring reality in the digital age, but also its erosion of traditional cultural stratification. His expansive practice straddles the art and commercial spheres, pulling in a wide blend of modern media, mirroring the contemporary cultural landscape and its flattened topography. His work, characterised by a deep engagement with technology and a blurring of disciplines, invites us to reconsider the ways in which we construct and engage with reality in a world increasingly mediated by digital processes.
Yoshi Sodeoka, The Swarm: r = θ, Installation
The Swarm builds upon Sodeoka’s fascination with natural systems. The works are multi-layered, constructed using a variety of digital media and techniques. Particle systems, AI image generation, and vector graphics foreground the production process and digital nature of the works through the use of green screen and ‘media offline’ messages.
Sodeoka plays with an inherent tension that arises from constructing synthetic realities to explore natural phenomena. This tension between the organic and the artificial not only reflects the complexities of our relationship with technology but also challenges us to reconsider the boundaries between reality and the artificial. Compared to some of his more abstract work, The Swarm offers imagery that lies closer to real-world environments, yet is imbued with a dream-like, almost dystopian hue. Through the incorporation of these AI-generated landscapes, figurative elements, and intricate vector overlays, Sodeoka constructs a complex visual experience that underscores the interconnected relationship between the natural and digital worlds.
Yoshi Sodeoka, The Swarm: r = θ
Yoshi Sodeoka, The Swarm: r = θ, Installation
The Swarm presents two series: The Swarm: r = 0, consisting of 16 generative video works, and 1.618, which comprises 18 uniquely-crafted video works. This structure reflects the golden ratio (1.618), a mathematical expression that resonates with natural harmony. This reflection draws a direct line between the fundamental principles that govern both the organic and the digital. The generative works operate on 15-second loops, segmented into 0.5-second intervals to inject rhythm into each piece, drawing on Sodeoka’s background in sound engineering and musical production, as well as the omnipresent rhythms and cycles found in nature. Sodeoka’s fascination with patterns and symmetries is visible not only in the fluid motion of the birds, but also in the intricate vector overlays that punctuate the works. His work becomes a bridge, connecting the complexities of the natural world with the mathematical intricacies of the digital one.
While The Swarm primarily delves into the complexities of natural systems, it’s also reflective of the contemporary landscape. In a world where technology infiltrates every aspect of life, Sodeoka’s use of green screens, media offline messages, and other visual signifiers invites us to question the authenticity and stability of our perceptions. The vector overlays, which initially suggest a scientific order, are revealed to be purely aesthetic—further emphasising the uncertain nature of reality.
Yoshi Sodeoka, The Swarm: r = θ
Yoshi Sodeoka
Yoshi Sodeoka, The Swarm: r = θ, Installation
The Swarm navigates the boundaries between the organic and the digital, between reality and imagination, asking viewers to engage with a world where understanding is increasingly blurred. In this sense, the work does not just reflect the digital age; it invites us to deeply examine the ways in which our experience of the world is mediated by the very technologies that are also able to create, distort, and obscure it, leaving us to navigate a reality that’s perpetually in flux.
Yoshi Sodeoka is known for his innovative exploration of various media and platforms, including video, GIFs, and print. With a deep-rooted passion for music, his neo-psychedelic style is a direct reflection of his love and background in the field. Drawing inspiration from genres such as noise, punk, and metal, Sodeoka has developed a unique artistic vision that encompasses complex and mind-altering visuals.
Originally hailing from Yokohama, Japan, Yoshi Sodeoka relocated to New York in the 1990’s to pursue his passion for art, enrolling at Pratt Institute. Since then, he has called New York home, establishing a strong presence in the city's vibrant art scene.
His artistic practice involves a captivating blend of digital video feedback, footage sampling, online imagery, and collaborative audio soundscapes, resulting in immersive sensory experiences. Sodeoka's creative journey has traversed multiple artistic domains, including fine art, music collaborations with notable acts such as Metallica, Psychic TV, Tame Impala, Oneohtrix Point Never, Beck, The Presets, and Max Cooper, editorial illustration for renowned publications like The New York Times, Wired, The Atlantic, and M.I.T. Technology Review, as well as partnerships with fashion brands such as Adidas and Nike, and advertising projects for industry giants like Apple and Samsung.
Sodeoka's works have achieved global recognition and have been exhibited in prestigious venues worldwide, including the Centre Pompidou, Tate Britain, the Museum of Modern Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Deitch Projects, La Gaîté Lyrique, the Museum of the Moving Image, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and Laforet Museum Harajuku. His artistic contributions have earned him a place in the permanent collections of esteemed institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of the Moving Image, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.