Video Shakkei in Japan
2009
Kreider + O’Leary, Video Shakkei (2009): performance preparation.
Drawing from the Japanese practice of shakkei, or ‘borrowed landscape,’ we visited a number of carefully selected sites in Japan – from ancient Shinto spaces of ritual in Ise to the hyper-futuristic Umeda Sky building in Osaka – to perform a sequence of actions or ‘live drawings’ in response to the spatial and material qualities of each location. (See posts below.) The actions were recorded simultaneously from differing points of view using two hand-held and two miniature high definition video cameras. Edited together as a series of filmic composites modeled on the multi-scaled architectural drawing, the result is a series of hyper-digitized, absurdly choreographed and poetically rendered filmic images of place relating the landscape or architectural space to performed event, and this to narrative sequence.
Equipment
We employed the following equipment throughout the project:
1 x Sonycam HD DV camcorder
1 x Handycam HD DV camcorder
4 x Micro DV cameras
1 x Nikon D300 digital SLR
This equipment was used to record the performances. The cameras were also envisioned as a kind of prop, with ourselves as ‘absurd tourists’.
Props
Other props used in the performances include:
2 x convex mirrors
2 x hand-held mirrors
2 x cosmetic mirrors
2 x blue ribbons (50 & 10mm x 5m)
2 x blue ribbons (50 & 10mm x 5m)
In addition to cultivating an aesthetic for our work, these objects are laden with symbolic value in Japanese culture.
Mirror in centre of Shinto shrine in Japan.
Festival ribbons in a public square in Japan.
We anticipate that they will also begin take on symbolic value / specific significance in our work as we use them iteratively in each performance. (For a sign to become a sign it must be repeated at least once …)
Uniform
We devised a uniform worn at all times throughout the performances:
k: black trousers, black top, gold bib
j: blue trousers, blue top, silver bib
This was partly to fit in – the uniforms themselves resonate with certain aspects of Japanese culture.
Workers in Osaka (left); Zen monk (right).
And partly to stand out – to be identified.
