Sound installation “ebb tide” by evala was awarded “Isao Tomita Special Prize” in the Prix Ars Electronica *1 2025. The installation was made for the ICC’s special exhibition “evala: Emerging Site / Disappearing Sight” *2 in 2024.
“Isao Tomita Special Prize” is jointly offered by TOMITA information Hub and Prix Ars Electrnoica to commemorate TOMITA Isao and his creative spirit. In parallel with the biennial award of the Golden Nica in the “Digital Musics & Sound Art” category, the “Isao Tomita Special Prize” was awarded in 2021, 2023 and 2025.
In celebration of being awarded “Isao Tomita Special Prize,” ICC is pleased to announce the re-exhibition of “Otocyon megalotis” (2013–14) and “Our Muse” (2017) by evala, which were originally created for the anechoic room at ICC. These works will be on view from August 8 to September 15, 2025.
*1 ^ Prix Ars Electronica
https://ars.electronica.art/japan/en/arselectronica/
*2 ^ evala: Emerging Site / Disappearing Sight
https://www.ntticc.or.jp/en/exhibitions/2024/evala-emerging-site-disappearing-sight/
About the prize-winning work “ebb tide”
A ripple-like, distorted structure made of sound absorbing material is installed at the center of the exhibition room. Visitors may climb on it and appreciate the work in any posture they like.
The “ebb tide” is a new work created by returning to the “Otocyon megalotis” (2013–14), the origin of “See by Your Ears,” and is composed of sounds produced by various sound apparatus and environmental sounds collected from memorable private places of evala. Its intention is not to tell a story that unfolds with time, but to provide an experience of putting oneself in a sound space and to open the imagination of each audience through this.
The title comes from the lore that human biorhythms, including life and death, are related to the ebb and flow of the tide. By surrendering oneself to the structure and listening to the sound, you will feel like you are being carried far away by waves, or as if you are seeing people off from a rock that appears only at low tide. To evala, this work is also a requiem for the deceased, and his awe for the unbroken line of life is expressed in it.
