Toshio Iwai is one of the most unique artists working today. Electroplankton for Nintendo DS is the latest in a long line of innovative ‘interactive media’ creations produced by Iwai in a body of work that spans three decades.

Iwai, born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, in 1962, was always interested in combining technology with art. After beginning his career with film and video media, he became fascinated in the potential of video games in 1986 when he created a music-based game for Nintendo’s first system, the NES.

After graduating from the University of Tsukuba, Japan, Iwai joined the Artist-in-Residence programme at the Exploratorium museum, San Francisco. There he created two pieces that are now part of a permanent exhibition: ‘Well of Lights’ and ‘Music Insects’, which combine computer graphics with human interaction to produce what Iwai calls “visual music”.

During the 1990s, Iwai continued to produce exhibits in galleries around the globe. His work was chosen to represent Japan at a number of world exhibitions including Seville Expo ’92 in Spain, Antwerp EC Japan Fest ’93 in Belgium, and the Sculpture Garden at the G7 Summit in Lyon, France.

In 1997 Iwai’s collaboration with famous Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto won the Interactive Art prize in the Prix Ars Electronica, the annual electronic art and music awards held in Linz, Austria. Previous winners have included musicians Peter Gabriel and Richard D. James (Aphex Twin) and music video director Chris Cunningham.

In 2005, Electroplankton was first unveiled to the world at the E3 gaming expo in Los Angeles, where DJ David Hollands performed a live concert using only Iwai’s creation. Electroplankton has since developed a cult reputation with gamers, musicians and anyone interested in creating their own unique audio-visual art.