Gestalt (部屋/形態, 1999)

Gestalt
n.  [PSYCHOLOGY] an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts; origin 1920s: from the German Gestalt, literally ‘form, shape’

Gestalt (Heya/Keitai, 1999) is an early work by the installation artist Takashi Ishida (石田高志, b. 1972).  I first saw it when I acquired Image Forum’s Thinking and Drawing DVD at a screening of Tokyo Loop in early 2007.  Ishida’s explorations of shape and form through animated installations have become increasingly sophisticated and bold over the years, yet somehow Gestalt is the work that has made the biggest impression on my subconscious mind.  On sunny days like today, when I see patterns on my wall created by the sunlight coming into contact with the with the textures of the wall and the patterns of grain on surfaces of wood, I imagine Ishida’s paint strokes transforming the walls of this unremarkable room into something quite magical.

The film opens with a plain wood frame on a non-descript wall.  A black line paints itself around the frame, then bursts free of the confines of the picture frame to create dramatic patterns of black lines against the white background.   Black lines paint over white, white lines paint over black, and so on until the bold white on black title card appears reading “部屋/形態  gestalt”

部屋= heya = room

形態  = keitai = form/shape

Ishida introduces us to the room with a shot of part of the old window flecked with paint and years of grime, but still allowing some amber light into the room.  He then shows us the rough surface of the wall, focusing in on it bit by bit, the rest of the room left unfocused.  The camera is then placed with the window on screen right and the wall that will be the central “canvas” for the animation on screen left.

There are several different camera set ups in this 7 minute animation.  Each one explores shape and form through a pattern of colouring dark on light, filling in space and emptying it again.  The artist reprises the shape of the window, his signature swirling lines, and plays with the flickering light, exploring all the possibilities this deceptively simple space offers the creative mind.  Gestalt was shot over the course of one year in a Tokyo dormitory.  Each day, Ishida would paint on the wall and photograph it using the available light from the window.  The flowing lines and play of geometric patterns result in a contemplative piece that is stylistically reminiscent of early experiments with music and animation by artists like Norman McLaren and Oskar Fischinger.

At one point, a lone sphere traverses the wall, recalling the classic work Spheres (Norman McLaren/ René Jodoin, 1969), which was composed to accompany Glenn Gould playing Bach. J.S. Bach is also a favourite of Ishida, whose later work The Art of the Fugue (2001) was commissioned by the Aichi Culture Center to commemorate the 250^th anniversary of Bach’s passing.  The soundtrack of Gestalt features one of Bach’s Great Eighteen Choale Preludes, the hauntingly ethereal BWV 659 “Nun, komm’ der Heiden Heiland” (Come now, Saviour of the heathen) performed on an organ.  

Gestalt can be seen on Thinking and Drawing:

Thinking and Drawing

Nishikata Kids: Anna on Nausicaä

An interview with Anna

Age: almost 7

Film: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ, Hayao Miyazaki,  1984)

Tell me about Nausicaä.

Nausicaä is brave.  She wants to save the world.

What does she need to save the world from?

The bad fungus.

Most hysterical moment in the film for Anna. 

What is your favourite part of the anime?

I like Nausicaä’s fox squirrel Teto.  Actually, I like all the animals because they are interesting.

There is a lot of fighting in the movie.  How did you feel about that?

Bad.  They should be normal and nice to each other.

What were the most exciting parts?

For me it was exciting when the Ohmu came up from the water. 

The movie isn’t just serious.  I noticed that you were laughing sometimes. 

What did you find funny?

When the man said “She’s still alive. . . that was a short-lived dream”

[This is the moment when Kushana returns and takes control back from Kurotowa.  Anna thought he was hysterical.  We were watching the German dub, so my quote might not match the English dub/subs.]

What did you think about Kushana, the Princess of Tolmekia?

She was dumb.

If you could be any character in the film, which one would you be?

I would be all the insects and ummmmm. . .  the fox squirrel.

Let’s play Mama Ohmu, Baby Ohmu.

interview abruptly ends ;)

Nishikata Kids: A Child's Perspective on Japanese Culture

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ, 1984)

When I was a girl there were few heroines in animation with whom I could identify.  Snow White and Cinderella were too good and unattainably beautiful.  I was a bit of a tomboy, so I recall doing some Wonder Woman and She-Ra: Princess of Power role playing, but I found their sexy costumes a bit off putting.  It is such a shame that Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (風の谷のナウシカ, 1984) was not dubbed and released in North America in its original version, for I suspect my then ten-year-old self would have fallen in love with the gutsy young heroine Nausicaä.

My suspicions were confirmed when I watched the film on DVD with my two children.  Both Lukas and Anna loved the film, but my young daughter really warmed to Nausicaä.  Her heart melted in the scene where Nausicaä adopts her furry fox-squirrel companion Teto.  She cheered during the fight scenes and both children were excited by the dynamic animation of the scenes in which Nausicaä is flying her Mehve jet glider.  They had no great love for Kushana, the Princess of Tolmekia but warmed to the buffoonery of her aide-de-camp Kurotowa .

My children are also both nature-lovers and Nausicaä appealed to their interest in the environment.  The environmentalist message of Nausicaä is even more important today than it was in the 1980s, and is so well executed that it won the film the seal of approval of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).  Nausicaä is set in a future world in which is facing an environmental apocalypse.  Humanity clings to survival on a planet that is being taken over by the polluted “Sea of Corruption.”  The few communities (the Valley of the Wind, the Pejite, the Tolmekia, and the Dorok) that are left have begun to fight each other for the dwindling resources.  Nausicaä is one of the few who recognizes that in order for people to survive, they need to find a way to live in harmony with the other creatures of the world such as the Ohmu – giant crustaceans that resemble pillbugs – whereas others see violence and warfare as their only means of survival.

Flashback sequence animated in a different style.

This is not a film that one can just pop into a DVD player and leave kids to consume alone.  There is a lot of violence, including the murder of innocents / the defenceless both human and non-human, and challenging themes (senseless destruction of the environment, warfare, and so on).  I think the part that upset my children the most was the cruel torture of the Ohmu by the Pejites.  Although these are difficult topics, I found the film really invigorated my kids to talk about how the lessons of the film can be applied to their own everyday lives.  From discouraging their friends from harming insects and other small creatures to the day-to-day things we can do to better the natural world around us, Nausicaä inspired my children to stand up for what they believe in.

In addition to being a terrific story, Nausicaä is also a fine example of animation.  It won Miyazaki his second Noburo Ofuji Award for innovation at the Mainichi Film Concours.  Particularly notable are the exhilarating flying sequences with Nausicaä on the Mehve and the God Warrior sequence animated by Hideaki Anno (of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame).  My favourite sequence was the flashback / dream sequence of Nausicaä's youth (image above), which was animated in a completely different style than the rest of the film.

This review is part of Nishikata Film's series on the Noburo Ofuji Award.