What the Ikon has to say....Takamine’s work Inertia (1998) involves the uneasy combination of a young woman and a bullet train. She is shown close-up and feet first on top of a carriage while the rest of the world flashes past. A powerful electric hum dramatises her fruitless attempts to push her dress down over her legs against the force of the wind; the situation is intensely sexual, unstoppable and exhilarating, clearly drawn from classic fetishism and nightmare scenarios. Kimura-san (1998), a controversial video piece featuring footage of the artist providing sexual relief for a disabled friend, was previously shown at Ikon in 2002. Revisited for this exhibition, Kimura-san highlights the sexual needs of people with disabilities, a subject which is often unacknowledged or ignored by wider society. The subject of the film, Kimura-san (Mr Kimura), is confned to a wheelchair, barely able to control his limbs having suffered poisoning as a baby through contaminated infant milk formula. Unable to talk, feed himself or perform any toilet activity without help, he can think clearly and is able to make noises with his mouth. The artist cared for Kimura-san during the 1990s, developing effective communication through gestures, which resulted in Takamine’s sudden realisation of Kimura-san’s sexual desire, and the fact that it could only be fulflled with the help of others. Despite its sympathetic and unpatronising nature, this work remains contentious especially in Japan. God Bless America (2002), a highlight of the 2003 Venice Biennale, is a comment on the global intrusion of American culture in the post-9/11 world. For eighteen days Takamine and his female partner lived in an entirely red room, filming themselves as they worked, ate, slept and had sex. In the resulting time-lapse footage we see them kick and punch a sculpture into being: a giant head, resembling George W. Bush, which continually singsGod Bless America. Like Kimura-san, this work asserts the value of free will.
my notes......
The sexual content of the piece made it a rather uncomfortable experience. Awkward sexual build up. Why is being disabled an uncomfortable experience? everyday yet not familiar. Double projection, double display looked like two eyes watching you. Subtitles in Japanese, is this legal? slow talking, hand held camera, blues and blacks, noises from both people. tension.
wit of the train, great angle of camera, noise created hum, frustration, SEXUAL METAPHORS!
red room, hypnotic, vibrancy, need to create.
One of the better shows at the Ikon.
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