It is more than a little strange to be greeted at the entranceway to an art exhibition by a sign which warns that the work on the walls inside might be better appreciated if visitors lowered their expectations. But the text posted outside the NTT Intercommunication Center's current "New Media New Face 01" show says just about that in its description of "works which, while they may lack in technical development or may not be sufficiently refined, attempt to develop a variety of fresh and highly interesting ideas." As for the participating artists, the sign goes on to describe them as "creators [who] will only later reach perfection."

The exhibition is the first in a series of smaller-scale techno-art shows planned for ICC, and features three rooms of mixed-media works by French-born Patrick Martinez and local artist Kei Shimogawa, both 29 years old.

Beyond the rather patronizing introductory message, visitors will encounter five monitors screening 1996 and 1997 videos by Martinez, running from one-and-a-half to 22 minutes, looped to play continuously. Most of the videos are light and playful, in an affected way -- one finds the artist boxing with the on/off string that hangs from an overhead light in an otherwise nondescript room. Another features Martinez ascending and descending a staircase in, it would seem, as many different ways as he could think up while the camera was recording.