Posted:Jun 16, 2007

Svankmajer’s Gaudia

If enjoying the beautiful weather by the ocean, a short train ride away from Tokyo, and seeing some art seems like a good idea, Hayama is just the place for this weekend.

The Museum of Modern Art in Hayama has Jan and Eva Svankmajer’s show on. So to develop that pleasant or unpleasant museum walk and cinema seat back-pain, make it there fast to see the Svankmajer’s experimental films and other media works, before they close after this weekend.

Svankmajer seems to be the biggest of all experimental filmmakers and animators, be they Japanese or not, just judging by the number of copies of his films and animations available at the video rental shops. His films are full of Czech, or perhaps just universal humor, political and social criticism, and are often deliriously psychoanalytic. Puppets and all sorts of contraptions are present in many of his films: for example, a masturbation machine for viewing the TV news. These objects, along with paintings and other media works both by Jan and Eva are on show in the museum galleries. The show sheds light on, for example, how the couple fell out of favor of the Czech communists in the 1950s and was forced to switch from film-making to installations and painting, media that had less mass appeal.

While in the museum, one must not forget to take a walk on the beach and see one of the best views of Mount Fuji and a dozen or so surfers, always present, waiting for the waves.

Aneta Glinkowska

Aneta Glinkowska

Born in Poland. She has lived in New York since 1996, where she attended college and graduate school. To escape the routine of science labs in college, she went to the movies daily. Following an MA in Cinema Studies, she roams Tokyo as a writer, visiting art galleries daily and blogging about art events. She's looking for opportunities to write about art and cinema for all types of publications. Contact via email: aneta [at] tokyoartbeat [dot ]com.