Tabaimo in "Boundaries" - Season 6 - "Art in the Twenty-First Century" | Art21

[ TABAIMO ]
The Japanese pavilion
has a hole in the ceiling

and a hole in the floor.

Rain falls through the roof.

The concept is that
with the rain falling through,

the building becomes one
with nature.

I decided to use the entire
building as part of my work.

[sustained tone]

[eerie melody]

♪ ♪

There is a Chinese saying:

"A frog in a well
does not know the big ocean."

In Japan, we like to say,

"A frog in the well
doesn't know the big ocean.

However, he knows
the height of the sky."

[deep orchestral tones]

I put myself in the shoes
of this frog.

That's how I conceived
and developed my images.

♪ ♪

I like to make music
more than listen to it.

I know what kinds of sounds
the work needs,

and I can make them myself.

[rumbling sounds]

"Japanese Kitchen" was my first
video installation.

I created it
for my graduation project.

In order to get my first job
in the design field,

I put all my technique
and knowledge into this work.

[knife chopping]

[faucet squeaks]

[water running]

Salary man, housewife,
or high school student:

they're all stereotypical
characters.

I don't need to explain them,

so I can focus on content
rather than character.

[voice chanting]

[sizzling]

[sizzling]

[motor humming]

My inspiration is the situation

of the housewife doing cooking
and listening to the tv,

A kind of talk show type
of news reporting.

You might hear something painful
or horrible,

one after another,

but ten seconds after you hear
that horrible, painful story,

you've already forgotten it.

The most important thing
is preparing the dinner.

[voice chanting]

[knife chopping]

[chanting continues]

Some people may find it painful.

some may find it funny.

[water runs]
[knob squeaking]

When I'm making my work, I take
50% of the responsibility.

The other half
of the responsibility

is on the viewer...

[gunshot]

Then the work is complete.

Drawing is very important.

Without drawing,
my ideas can't percolate.

I make line drawings on paper,
and then I scan them

and fill in the lines
on the computer.

I take all the different things
I have colored in

and combine them on a screen
to create a single image.

Then I put the images
on a timeline, cel by cel,

creating the animation.

[distorted electronic music]

♪ ♪

"Guignorama" is a visualization of the sensation I get

from the atopic dermatitis in my hands.

When my hands itch,

it feels like there's
an insect or something

crawling under my skin.

[speaking Japanese]

I wanted the drawings
to convey

the sensation of something
living inside my hands,

even though they seem normal
on the surface.

The word "Guignorama"
is my combination

of the French word guignol,
meaning "Puppet,"

and the English word "Panorama."

This combination conveys
a sense of installation.

I really like inventing words.

[water glugging]

[motor humming]

[mechanical clanking]

[distorted electronic music]

[both laugh]

[speaking Japanese]

- My generation seems to stand
on unstable ground,

and this is reflected in my work
in various, different ways.

[camera shutter clicking]

[speaking Japanese]

[deep rumbling tone]

[door creaks]

Public toilets
are very public places,

but once you enter a stall,

it becomes an extremely
private place.

[water running]
[faucet squeaks]

[deep rumbling tone]

When I was making the work,

I was very conscious
of the world of the internet.

[door creaks]

There are many kinds
of communities on the internet,

divided according
to their interests,

as though each is in its own
private room or stall.

[deep rumbling tone]

From time to time, the camera
and its close-up coverage

of what is going on

intrudes by bringing the viewer
into that space.

[crackling noise]

[camera shutter clicks]

[clicking sound]

[shutter clicking]

The world of concealed
information–

which, in this video,
has to do with the privacy

of the bathroom stall and its
parallel in the internet–

is something that I keep in mind
all the time.

[water splashing]

In public convenience,
the water is constantly running.

We don't know where it's going.

its destination
is hidden from us,

but if a lot of water
is coming in,

it has to be going somewhere,

so there must be another world
that lies beyond.

[water splashes]

[water gurgling]

In my work,
the coming and going of water

is a way of envisioning
a world beyond this one.

[water running]

[door creaks]

[footsteps]

[faucet squeaks]

[water running]

[water running]
[footsteps]

[water running]

[faucet squeaks]

[water running]

[door creaks]

At the time I made this work,
a friend of mine had a child

but immediately
put it up for adoption.

I thought a lot
about her situation,

and I used that idea
in this work.

[door creaks]

[footsteps]

[toilet flushes]

I want the viewer to actively
engage with the work.

I want them to wonder,

"What does this work
mean to me?

[ shoes clicking ]

[ doors creak and shut ]

[ camera clicks ]

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