HIRABAYASHI Isamu / 2003 / digital / color / 11min.
“Under a cherry tree, there’s always a corpse…” After a literary Opening featuring this quote from Motojiro Kajii and the image of a giant, bifurcated tree, Textism suddenly changes key and a work full of wry humor emerges. Three stories, each somewhat aloof in tone, are told using subtitles and computer-generated Synthetic Sounds. With its effective presentation of images, this artist’s “memento mori” compels us not so much to “think of death” as to “think of text (mozi)” (From the 2004 IFF catalogue)
Born in 1972. Graduated from Musashino Art University. Won the IFF 2004 Grand Prize for TEXTISM. While working on commercials, has created many short films screened at festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Sundance. Major works: PENIS (2002) * 21st Century Asia Design Competition Grand Prix, BABIN * Lucarno International Film Festival Special Award, 663114 * Berlin International Film Festival Special Mention, Mainichi Film Awards Ofuji Noburo Award, NINJA & SOLDIER (2014).