Video as World Mandala: The Role of Nakajima Kō’s Animaker and Aniputer in Defining a Cosmic Vision of Video

Early video processing tools present a compelling perspective through which to reconsider the integrated practice of Tokyo-based early video artist Nakajima Kō. The author examines Nakajima’s practice through his concepts of animation, the development of his Animaker (1979) and Aniputer (1982), and his perspective on how video connects to Esoteric Buddhist thought. Concluding with Kō’s 1986 video Mt. Fuji, the author illustrates how the work is representative of the hybrid, analog-digital view of video that leads Nakajima to posit video as a cosmic medium circa 1986.