Early Film Poems 1962-1971
(6 films, color & black and white, sound & silent, 44 min, DVD NTSC/region free),
public price: 50.00 euros
The Pacific Ocean (1971) 7min. music: Akiko Samuwaka (2012)
Kiri (The Fog) (1970) 3min, silent
Honey Moon (1966) 7min. music: Akiko Samuwaka (2012)
I Saw the Shadow (1966) 7min, silent
Iro (Colours) (1962) 10min. music: Yasunao Tone (1962)
Dada 62 (1962) 10min. music: Haruyuki Suzuki (2012)
I made these six short films during a decade of 1962 through 1971, the first 10 years of my filmmaking though the order in the DVD goes backward from 1971 to 1962. Besides this collection I have already published another package of the films made in the 1960 "60s Experiments" consisted of four films made during 1962-64. The films of this new collection have not shown much during past decades and myself re-discovered lately these ones as a sort of "film poem." "Film poem" is a term used in the 1960 for experimental film burrowing from literature field. It means non-narrative and short form mostly. Also it often meant lyrical as well though not necessarily so. In this collection it starts from lyrical "The Pacific Ocean"(1971) and ends up not lyrical, "DADA62" which is descriptive and often metaphorical at the same time. Between them there are varied sense of poem. -(T.I) The Pacific Ocean (1971)
Shot on 8mm on the 12-day boat journey between Yokohama and San Francisco, Iimura's The Pacific Ocean consumes the anticipation and uncertainties of a voyage on waves with an obsessive attention on the ripples. An added score by Akiko Samukawa (2012) deepens the anxiety as it sinks in that we are no longer aware of the direction in which we are heading.
Kiri (The Fog) (1970)
Shot on 8mm on a mountain in Japan, the abrasive winds that drift the fog in Iimura's Kiri are so fierce we almost believe it to have grazed the filmstrip. The scratches, however, emerge as dust particles that submerge in and out of the mist. A comparative piece to Larry Gottheim's Fog Line (1970), Kiri shows rare patience in such situations.
Honey Moon (1966)
A touching portrait of his partner Akiko and the days following their wedding, Iimura's conceptual rigor loosens in favor of intimacy in Honey Moon.
I Saw the Shadow (1966) 7min, silent
A painting by Jiro Takamatsu
A precedent to Iimura's video work where he becomes his own subject, I Saw the Shadow sees Iimura follow his own shadow in and out of vision as he roams around streets, steps and fields. As the film progresses, it becomes increasingly unclear whether it is his shadow or camera that is guiding his steps.
Iro (Colors) (1962)
First projected onto Jiro Takamatsu's naked back at the legendary Sogetsu Art Center for the performance Screen Play, Colors is an experiment in concoction. Iimura drops paint into oil and water and melts wax as he films the colors take shape whilst simultaneously dissolving into one another. An eerie soundtrack by Yasunao Tone of Group Ongaku and Fluxus creates an impression of music being the witch behind the craft.
-Julian Ross, University of Leeds
Dada 62 (1962)
Yomiuri Independent was an annual show between 1949-1963 that exhibited all art that was submitted. Artists in the early 60s began to take advantage of the challenge by provoking the organisers with their submissions that cast a question on the framework of art within the gallery space. The objet d'art and performances we see in Dada 62 are fragments of what was shown in its 1962 version with pieces by Genpei Akasegawa, Jiro Takamatsu and Shinmei Kojima making an appearance.(In case of the performance in 1963, Iimura interpreted a graphic score by Yasunao Tone in his projection of the film at the Naiqua Gallery where he performed the projector as an instrument. As usual for Iimura, the piece is not simply a document but an interaction with the art he films.)
-Julian Ross, University of Leeds
ORDER PAGE/COMMANDER
