Yoshito Ikeda Video Installation

The work of the video artist, trained in the fine arts and holding a doctorate in Fine Art, reveals his formal art training as well as his interest in contemporary Japanese cinema, modern literary narrative and psychology.

The images on the screen are perfectly framed, as though they were a series of paintings. Each is accompanied by the mirror image of itself. The story line seems like a free association, a dream reflecting the artist’s interest in the way a story is constructed; they are loosely connected, questioning whether it is the filmmaker or the viewer who is more responsible for the story’s creation. The video is composed of a series of almost still images showing mainly the passage of time as opposed to movement. Movement, if at all present, is in the foreground; the background remains plain, so the mirror images merge into a sort of Rorschach inkblot test. From this video, one thinks of Kiyoshi Kurosawa, his split screens, his interest in the doppleganger phenomenon as well as other horror genre directors references.

The artist stresses his interest in sound making, which he has explored in his other works. In this work, the sound, which at times fits the horror and suspense genre, is as important as the image. A scribbling pencil evokes literary references, while the rest of the sound composition refers to horror movie soundtracks.