1970 Osaka World’s Fair Showcases Global Nature of Computer Art

The Osaka Expo marked a pivotal turning point in post-war Japanese art history by marking an end to avant-garde movements and ushering in the era of new media art. Fujiko Nakaya created one of her iconic fog sculptures as part of the Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) pavilion. She would go on to establish the Tokyo branch of E.A.T. in 1971. Billy Klüver was central to the design of The E.A.T. Pepsi-Cola Pavilion. He specifically sought to provide a participative environment that encouraged visitors to explore. The event marked what Grant Taylor describes as the beginning of the end of E.A.T.: “E.A.T. had suffered terribly at the hands of the Pepsi-Cola Company, which withdrew its support after Klüver and his colleagues had designed an intelligent environment for the company’s pavilion at the 1970 Osaka World’s Fair. This, according to [Douglas] Davis, cost EAT heavily in morale and public support. For the critics and artists, who opposed collaboration with profit-oriented firms from the start, the crisis proved their point.”