HEISEI 28 (OR ON THE FAKE AND PRAISED DEATH OF THE INK)
平成２８(アルイハ偽リト賞賛二マミレル墨ノ死ニツイテ)
16'10", single-channel video, HDV transferred on H264, black and white, monologue, 2016
Cast: young girl Juri Nguyen, man Jean Sadao, woman Rio Suwa,
child Tomoka Suwa
photography: Marco Maitti
sound: Paolo Murgia
Heisei 28 is an experimental short film that combines different disciplines such as cinema, performance, and literature.
A young teenager is doing her makeup in front of a mirror on a table on a terrace of Tokyo. Suddenly she feels a stab of pain in her lower abdomen and puts her hand in her skirt. When she pulls it out, she realizes there's black ink on it. This unexpected event gives birth to a symbolic reflection based on an ancient Japanese Literature masterpiece, the Hojoki (An Account of My Hut) written by poet and hermit Kamo no Chomei (1155-1216). The artist shoots the young girl and himself during his performance with an intentionally slow rhythm like a sort of ritual and through the symbolic adoption of mythological, literary, and artistic cross-references, seems to create a kind of philosophical reflection on his origin and the time he lives in.
"Heisei 28 ou Japon, 2016 puisque Hesei en est le nom de l’ère actuelle, depuis 1989, quand l’empereur Akihito succéda à son père Hirohito et que 28 correspond à notre année 2016 ; ainsi l’action menée dans/pour cette vidéo performative s’inscrit-elle fortement dans la réalité de la ville contemporaine mais en s’en éloignant dès l’option du noir et blanc alors que « Hesei » porte le désir de paix, celui de « l’accomplissement » de la paix... "
Simone Dompeyre (director/curator of Traverse Video Festival)
Exhibitions/Screenings:
- "The multi-sensory Impossibility of a Worm", Jean Sadao Solo exhibition, Ogu Mag gallery, Tokyo, Japan, 15 July 2018
- 21st Traverse Vidéo | Art vidéo & expérimental, Cabinet des Curiosités, Cinémathèque Toulouse, France, 20-21 February 2018.