Critical Writing Index

Made in Japan: New Video: Japan at the Museum of Modern Art, New York City Jan. 16-March 2

by Ann-Sargent Wooster

Afterimage, Summer 1986, v. 14, no. 1, pp. 18-19

A review of an exhibit of Japanese video that includes a brief history of video in that country. Wooster suggests that Japan, for all its powerhouse status, does not have a strong tradition of independent video making. She identifies Japanese video as emphasising the medium's visual qualities rather than approaching it as a didactic or narrative medium. The tapes often take on traditional Japanese art forms and subvert them by applying their style to taboo subjects like sex or contrasting iconic images of the Japan of the past with digitally reworked versions.

ITEM 1986.100 – available for viewing in the Research Centre

Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited

Great Mother Part II: YumikoMako Idemitsu

MaitreyaMasaki Fujihata

Ordinary LifeHironori Terai

T.V. ArmyHaruhiko Shono

T.V. ArmyDaizuboro Harada

Hideo It Is MeMako Idemitsu

A Lakeside Event - Handicapped Year '81 Summer CampAkira Matsumoto

Faster than the WindJun Okazaki

Faster than the WindEmi Segawa

Kuniyama-shirijiShouichiro Azuma

Obsolete TheaterNoriyuki Okuda

Spinning TimeNobuhiro Kawanaka

House in OikoshiKumiko Kushiyama

ScaleKunio Noda

A-R-KMakoto Saito

Converstation Styles: Dumb Talk, BalanceTeiji Furuhashi

5.29 Ayumi ShinoAyumi SHino

Mt. FujiKo Nakajima

Hard ScratchHaruhiko Shono

Hard ScratchDaizuboro Harada