Rheo: Japanese sound art interrogating digital mediality

The article asks in what way the Japanese sound artist, Ryoichi Kurokawa’s audiovisual installation, Rheo: 5 Horisonz (2010), is “digital.” Using professor Lars Elleström’s concept of “mediality,” the main claim in this article is that Rheo not only uses digital technology but also interrogates digital mediality as such. This argument is pursued in an analysis of Rheo that draws in various descriptions of digital media by N. Catherine Hayles, Lev Manovic, Bolter, and Grusin among other. The article will show how the critical potential in Rheo is directed both towards digital media as a language (Meyrowitz) (or a place for representation) and towards the digital as a milieu (Meyrowitz) or as our culture (Gere). The overall goal of the article is not just analyse this singular art work, but also to show how such a sound art work can contribute to our understanding of our own contemporary culture as a digital culture.