KATA: Transient Geometry (MF Edit)

A music video sketch from KATA, composed and directed by Gene Coleman. Featuring the musicians Adam Vidiksis (electronics and audio editing), Sansuzu Tsuruzawa (shamisen) and Akikazu Nakamura (shakuhachi). Transient Geometry refers to the creation of complex geometric forms in our brains neural architecture. KATA is a "Docu-Opera" that combines our physical and virtual realities using sound, images and text. It's an exploration of the mind-body relationship, a key principle in martial arts such as Karate and in Zen Buddhism. This video features animation and editing by Michele Fumeo.

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KATA on NPR

The Kata Project was featured on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered program.

You can listen to the feature below, or read the article with media excerpts, and interviews with the KATA team on NPR’s website.

All Things Considered Feature

KATA Project (Update #1)

Dear Friends: So, we have good news and bad news.

First, the bad news: Due to the ongoing problems with the pandemic, we were forced to postpone the premiere of KATA in Japan for a second time. Speaking for myself and the whole KATA team, we are extremely disappointed. If things had gone as planned, we would have enjoyed a week of rehearsals in Tokyo followed by premiere performances of KATA on July 30 and 31 at Sakura Hall. KATA will be presented in Japan and the USA but at this moment we can’t say exactly when that will be – I’m hopeful it can happen in the first half of 2022.

NOW, the Good News: We are working on a film version of KATA, which will be in production in August 2021! The plan includes my collaborators Akikazu Nakamura and Sansuzu Tsurzawa coming to Philadelphia August 7-13 for intensive rehearsals and recording with myself and Adam Vidikisis. Further, I’m organizing recording sessions in Japan for the other musicians who play in KATA, including the fantastic Hemmi Quartet and the Sho master Ko Ishikawa. Video of the musicians playing plus various animated sequences are being produced under my direction and will come together with the music to create what I hope will be one of my best works ever.

The film version of KATA will be presented on September 1st in a virtual program hosted by The US Japan Friendship Commission and The International House of Japan. We plan to use the NichiBei Youtube channel for the live program – please check out the channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU4jVP2bUQ63xo8_eyMUu5Q

We will have more details about this event soon, so please watch this space!

We are also very pleased to announce that a feature about KATA will be presented on National Public Radio (NPR) in early August! Please watch for another update about the air times of this feature and links to additional content on the NPR website!

This project is a part of the 2020 US - Japan Creative Artists Fellowship Program and the Tokyo Tokyo FESTIVAL

A note about our sponsors:

We are very grateful for the support of the US Japan Friendship Commission, The International House of Japan, The National Endowment for the Arts, Temple University, The Tokyo-Tokyo Festival and The Arts Council of Tokyo.

For the first time in history, Karate will be presented in the Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympic Games. The KATA Project seeks to celebrate this milestone and to foster unity, collaboration and friendship between the United States and Japan through the power of knowledge, artistic expression and cultural exchange. In the words of composer Gene Coleman, KATA is a “Docu-Opera” - a truly unique multidisciplinary composition combining martial arts, traditional Japanese music and contemporary music and video. It tells a story about the relationship of our physical and virtual worlds, one that is rooted in the concepts of Zen and recent developments in Neuroscience. KATA features amazing performers and musicians with motion and brain scan technologies that reveal the deep connections of the mind and body. Working with this data and models of Auditory Pathway Architecture manifested as Wagara (traditional Japanese patterns), KATA creates a world that bridges traditional Japanese and contemporary cultures.