21 April 2008

Takashi Ishida film at Oberhausen


Takashi Ishida's latest short film, Umi no eiga (海の映画/Film of the Sea, 2007), will be competing in the international competition at Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen on May 3rd. Also in Ishida's screening group is a film called Detonation by Fumiro Sato. The programme says that directors of the short films will be on hand to answer questions following screenings.

While I am unfamiliar with the work of Fumiro Sato, Ishida has already established himself as an artist on the international scene. He has done many short films and art installations in Japan, Europe and North America. His principle preoccupation is with questioning the relationship between time, form and space in artistic representation. His 1999 film Gestalt, reminded me of the experimental work of Norman McLaren. Benjamin Ettinger suggests that Ishida's work interrogates the question of "What is cinema?" through his innovative use of showing us pictures as they develop through time. Check out Ishida's website for a glimpse at the work of this exciting contemporary artists and animator. His profile features wonder photographs and descriptions of his installation work as well as stills from his films.

Umi no eiga seems to have evolved from his art installation Wall of the Sea, which last year showed at the Yokohama Museum of Art as a part of their exhibition Views of Water: From Monet and Taikan to the Present. Wall of the Sea featured three side-by-side projected images. From what I can gather from the description on his website, Ishida has adapted the image to fit 'the film space' and again seems to be dabbling in an exploration of time and space through the motifs of repetition and silence. Music and sound are a vital part of the film. Umi no eiga features music by Tomomi Adachi.

Filmography

  • 1994 Shisha-no-sho (video, 8’)
  • 1995 Scroll (Emaki, 8mm, 8’)
  • 1996 Scroll 2 (Emaki 2, 8mm, 5’)
  • 1997 The Scroll of Darkness (Yami no Emaki, video, 7’)
  • 1999 Gestalt (Heya/Keitai, 16mm, 7’)
  • 2001 The Art of the Fugue (Fūga no Gihou, 16mm, 19’)
  • 2002 Fire/Extension (Hi/Enchō, video, 5’)
  • 2002 Chair and Screen (Isu to Sukurīn, video, 8’)
  • 2002 Ema/Emaki for the Écran (Ema/Emaki Seiseisuru Ekuran no tame ni, 16mm, 3’)
  • 2005 Burning Chair (Moeru Isu, mini-DV/video, 5’)
  • 2006 Scroll/Scroll2 (Ema/Emaki2, 16mm, 6’)
  • 2007 Film of the Sea (Umi no Eiga, mini-DV, 12’)