“陸奥の 安達原の黒塚に 鬼籠もれりと言うはまことか (UN)KEEPALL” is a visual narration of distorted definitions and the cause – information transmission, and has chosen the tag “minority” as the focus of the work.
YAMAN chose Oni as a metaphor for distorted definition, which connects to his own roots, culture, and career.
Oni ranged between good and evil (sharing the complexity and variation of human traits) and became distorted by the majority into purely an evil character. YAMAN finds this story an analogy of the distorted definition of the minority. A similar fate of perception may have distorted the Greek “Daemon”.
As the original Oni ranged between good and evil, distortions in information transmission itself can be plotted between good and evil. But what we see when we consider minority issues is someone’s intentions and benefits; the same impression we get when we think about Oni and Daemon being distorted by the winners of the time and official history to trace the storyline they want.
An additional essential element in this work is that time has ingrained distortions: a possibility that the distorted thing has forgotten the fact that they have been distorted. Myth becomes nightmare, villain transforms into hero, distortion evolves into common belief.
Oni is a consistent loser, the ultimate other, the eternal minority. Therefore, Oni cannot be specified. It can be said that what cannot be specified is the concept, Oni. The ingrained distortions have been repeated. In the social media era, we see our distorted selves reflected in the mirror. Can we still say it is someone else’s viewpoint?
陸奥の 安達原の黒塚に 鬼籠もれりと言うはまことか (UN)KEEPALL (1.0: 1.0, 1.0, 1.0, 1.0) 1.0
VHS, bleach bypass-effected 16mm film, bleach bypass-effected 35mm film, 35mm film and digital video
1920 x 1080 px
© YAMAN
2021
Partners
Oni Statue: MYOKEI MATSUMOTO/松本明慶
Music: SHINICHI OSAWA/大沢伸一
Anime: TEZUKA PRODUCTIONS/手塚プロダクション
Kyoto Venue: HIUNKAKU, NISHI HONGWANJI/飛雲閣, 西本願寺
Shibuya Venue: SHIBUYA CROSSING, TOKYU AGENCY/渋谷スクランブル交差点, 東急エージェンシー
Paris Venue: Théâtre Édouard VII/エドワード7世劇場
LA Venue: AMERICAN CEMENT BUILDING/アメリカン・セメント・ビルディング
LA Venue: the KILL BILL CHURCH/キルビル・チャーチ
Video Shooting
YOSHIHIRO INADA
Song
SOICHIRO HAYASHI
Special Thanks
KAITO KITE MASAI
and
MICHELANGELO BENDANDI
