Writing with light: white calligraphy

"In White Calligraphy, Re-Read, Takahiko Iimura returns to his early work. White Calligraphy which he originally made in 1967 by scratching characters from 'Kojiki', an early Japanese text, into the frames of 16mm black leader. In this re-reading of the illegible work the film is slowed down and briefly arrested at random using digital processing while suddenly legible words are voiced by the artist in an accompanying soundtrack. Part translation (not only between Japanese and English but between media languages) part abstract interplay of picture sound and word.

This new work developed out of Iimura's performance practice that has over the years, beginning with works associated with Fluxus and moving into his notion of Video Semiology, radically explored the signifying systems of meaning in moving image making."

- Dr. Duncan White (University of Arts London)