More

We use some essential cookies to make this website work. We'd like to set other cookies to remember your settings, measure website use and inform our marketing. We also use content from other sites in our pages, and those sites may also set cookies. More information can be found in our cookies policy.

6-8
Ryogu-Saishoku

In the summer of 1980, Tanaami—along with painter Sawako Goda, critic Kosei Ono, and 15 others—went on a trip to China, visiting Shanghai, Nanjing, and Suzhou. This film plays the role of a sketchbook documenting the trip. Using digital editing tools, Tanaami extensively modulated the colors to evoke the soft, diffuse quality of ink wash paintings. The video starts with depictions of celestial realms found in the Chinese paintings he admires, followed by scenes on a train conveying the thrill of travel and landscapes and cityscapes that appear to be in Suzhou, all set to nostalgic music. The addition of fluorescent colors to light-dark inverted images transforms serene pastoral scenes into fantastical landscapes reminiscent of science fiction.