CELLULOID SEPPUKU – THE LAST MASTERPIECE
2000
1-channel installation with live props –
corpse, clear celluloid leader and editing table
Eternal loop
35 mm
Musique Concrete
Man. 35 mm clear celluloid leader. Film editing table.
Dressed ceremonially. Experimental filmmaker’s traditional outfit.
Starts to swallow film. From a rusted can. Feet after feet.
Takes a prepared Tanto knife. Cuts film.
Ten feet of clear film. Visible. Out of mouth. Unswallowed.
Long moment. B/w Mishima. On the wall. Pause.
Plunges Tanto into his gut. Slices horizontally. Then vertically.
Swings Tanto in his stomach. Silent moment. Puts Tanto on the film can.
Drags leader out of his stomach. Pulls more. Ten feet.
Takes both ends of film. From the mouth. And stomach.
Places them on film splicer. Makes a nice joint.
Puts film loop on the Steenbeck editing table.
Falls to floor... Reaches out for the handle.
Turns drive on. Relieved. Whispers his death poem.
Film moves slowly. Tugging. With variable speed.
Clear film leader moves in. Processed film comes out.
Corpse. Music concrete. Brilliant display. Abstract colors.
Music continues. Ever-changing, altering colors. With every round.
Zoom into ex-clear film leader. Cinemascope framing. Eternal loop. – The Last Masterpiece