rooms with installations incorporating video and sound. We were given the best location: right across from Mitsukoshi-mae, Japan’s oldest department store. Galleries surrounding my show hosted installations by Paul Davis (U.K.), NEUT, and Kosuke Tsumura, the fashion designer behind Final Home.

M: Video and sound? The images are of speakers. What did it do?

G: I created various low-frequency sound patterns. The sound itself was barely recognizable, as the frequency fell outside the hearing range, but the movement patterns of speakers were visible. The paradoxical effect attracted a lot of attention and, according to reviews, made this installation the most popular one in the show.

M: Why do you think creatives and designers are considered so highly in Japan?

G: It’s a loaded question. This respect for art, design, and craft is probably rooted in Japanese culture and tradition. As I mentioned, Japanese culture is more visual than verbal. Japanese writing and calligraphy, crafts, cooking —all are inherently visual. Even the tea ceremony is more about looking and seeing than drinking tea.

M: Now for some easier questions. What are your favorite places in Japan?

G: Sky Pool on the 27th floor of the condo building where I live as well as Jupiter Bar on the same floor, where I host all my parties.

M: Do you sing karaoke or is that dead?

G: Karaoke is very much alive. Last time I sang Elvis Presley and Simon & Garfunkel as a duo with my friend John Warwicker (founder of Tomato) along with a group of legendary Japanese designers: Kaoru Kasai, Masayoshi Nakajo, Katsumi Asaba, Hideki Nakajima, Koichi Sato, Fumio Tachibana, and Tsuguya Inoue—the man responsible for all Comme des Garcones graphics, advertising, and packaging since the very beginning—and a few others. It was fantastic! The Japanese get quite wild under the influence.

M: Wish I’d been there. Thanks for your time.

Alexander Gelman is a celebrated media artist based in New York and Tokyo. His work has been shown around the world and has been acquired by private and public museum collections, including the Smithsonian, MoMA, and Bibliothèque National de France.

Gelman designs products and installations, directs TV commercials and music videos, and collaborates with artists, musicians, corporations, and public institutions. Some of his most recent (2005) collaborations include projects with Apple, Nike, Target and Warp Records in London.

A noted thinker on design, Gelman also serves as a guest professor with Yale and MIT Media Lab and is the author of many books, articles, and monographs on the creative process, perception, and communication. His best-selling book, Subtraction, has been called a “modern day classic.” His latest book project Infiltrate: The Front Lines of the New York Design Scene is currently in its second printing.

More information: www.infiltratenyc.com