If "light" is the protagonist of film, the idea would not change if "darkness" replaces "light". Yoshimoto proves this point with most simplicity. Placing a tiny point of ray in pitch black, his darkness achieves a limitless depth. This style goes under trial from around 1988 – a squirming object...
The ecosystem series which started in 1981 counts 15 and is still growing, becoming Koike's lifework. Through the series, Koike has shot a huge amount – thousands – of still photos of objective motifs, from ocean creatures, microbes, and granite to artificial material such as fishing nets....
Light reflecting on a dark water surface, a drop of light with blurred outline, the sea at night, illumination in the distance, a close-up of a lying female – these are basically all the objects that appear in this piece. Nevertheless, the scale of the story this simple composition weaves out is...
Akemi Edo, the leading vocal of the legendary 80s rock band ,"Jagarta", dies a sudden death in 1990. This piece is triggered by the shocking news of his death. Though launched with such reason, other than Akemi Edo's still photo shot in the opening of the film, there is no sign of directly grieving...
This is the first piece shot in Tokyo when Aoi moved from his hometown Kyoto where he had never before left. Responding to the tiniest light, a total stranger in an lien town, Aoi's vision and camera keep on wandering through downtown alleys. By controlling time, he discovers a new way of existence...
When we try to change the miscellaneous world that surrounds us into a truly simple form, what will we find? Working in mass media, Mukahira constantly sets various experimental challenges towards the film medium. This super 8 piece is one of his earlier works. Wrapping the living consciousness...
A masterpiece of the creator who has continually been expressing the minimal world overflowing with solitude by fixing the gaze on a subject. The camera does not take its focus off the underpass ground. In the beginning of the piece, Ohtani films the floor as he walks, and the paving looks like any...
Roofs of tin and tile, passing by trains and cars, walls of modern buildings – surfaces of solid objects and those of soft, such as water – sunlight evenly shines on both those surfaces. These lights change into various expressions with the characteristics of the objects they reflect on. By...
Mainly working with simple, soft-lined drawing animation, Yamamoto aggressively takes in live action images from the late 1980s. Though this piece starts out with live action filming, the eventual appearance of the "phenakistoscope" animation composed with live action images is a true gem. Yamamoto...
Originally working with super 8 animation pieces, Noshioka switches on to video-making from 1991. From time control with frame shooting to gaze fix with live action filming, her technology and texture change greatly. This first work in video indeed straightforwardly defines the relationship between...
The piece is dedicated to Fukuoka filmmaker Yoshio Fukuma, who was a very good friend of Sakurai's. Making good use of bulb shooting – extended exposure – which was Fukuma's specialty, responding to the light and shadow of water and fire, the moon and the sun, Sakurai traces the historic spots...
