Narratives
November 4-6, 2001
Intercross Creative Center, Sapporo, Japan
“Masumi
is a PC Operator” ------
6 minutes, silent, randomly looped for the
exhibition “Fumiyo is a Designer”
------ 6 minutes, silent,
randomly looped for the exhibition
These two silent videos are formed
as an open narrative. They ask the viewers
to fill in the void the voices of the characters
or the ambience, mood of the scene. The viewers
construct the narratives according to his/her
preconception of the image or base his/her
experience through the titles. The occurred
narrative(s) is (are) virtual, existing in
another dimension out off the receptive senses.
It can be compared to computer game structures
where the player directs the consequences
of the lead. Only here each protagonist is
passive, contemplative, waiting for anyone
to complete her existence.
“I was Sketching”
------ 30 minutes, sound, looped for the exhibition
I was Sketching is an experiment of the narrative’s
surface. Forms of documentary are reconstructed,
sometimes at random. I also use sampling images
of Thailand from my previous sampling works.
Therefore they are “resampling”
images. They are jointed to create a certain
sense of a story. Yet these found (ready-made)
images and sounds have their own meanings.
They branch out in the viewer’s mind
and form separate from his/her recollection.
The viewer is sometimes wondering about the
original footages’ sources. Thus the
viewer is
doing his/her sketch as well as the filmmaker.
“Swan’s Blood”
---- Masahito Araki’s
version, 12 minutes, sound, color
---- Fujiwara Toshi’s
version, 7 minutes and 7.45 minutes, sound,
color
The project tackles with different modes of
representations. The excerpted story was scripted
(by memory) from viewing a television series,
“Swan’s Blood,” (property
of the Royal Thai Army Television Channel
5) the night before I left for Sapporo. I
was curious to see how the people of different
continent interpret this tale, which is outlandish,
but sit comfortably in a prime-time slot on
Thai TV. In Sapporo, the concept is to let
the Japanese filmmakers make different versions
of films from the script. Two collaborators
lend their talents on the project: a young
and energetic filmmaker Masahito Araki and
a film critic Fujiwara Toshi. They offered
three different versions of the story.
