Bistouri / Ippekirô Nakatsuka

Il tombe de la neige fondue
Hé ! Laisse-moi piquer
la nuque avec un bistouri

(Mizoreru sono unaji ni mesu wo sasasei)

Ippekirô Nakatsuka, 1913 (traduction : Umakichi Umayama)

Le haïku comporte normalement 17 mores en trois segments 5-7-5. Il doit donner une notion de saison (le kigo) et doit comporter une césure (le kireji).
Mais le haïku de forme libre (jiyûritsu haiku) n’est pas esclave du nombre des mores ou de la notion de saison. Comment donc peut-on le considérer comme haïku ? Je le réfléchirai progressivement.

Pour le moment, je voudrais évoquer deux points suivants ; (i) le haïku moderne, que Shiki Masaoka (1867-1902) innovait, déjà arrivait à la forme libre par la deuxième génération comme Hekigotô Kawahigashi (1873-1937). Et (ii) l’âge d’or du haïku de forme libre et l’ère Taishô (1912-1926) se superposent.

L’ère Taishô est la période la plus libérale du Japon d’avant-guerre. Dans le contexte libéral, la culture populaire s’épanouit. Sous l’influence de l’esthétisme et le dadaïsme en Europe, cette culture a penchant à la décadence. On l’appelle « l’érotique grotesque et non-sens » (ero-guro-nansensu) à cette époque-là.

Le haïku ensorcelant d’Ippekirô Nakatsuka (1887-1946) prouve qu’on peut exprimer l’érotisme même dans le haïku. Je ne suis pas sûr de réussir dans ma traduction en français, mais il épanche son désir sexuel (de tendance pervers) nonchalamment avec les termes plaisants qui n’est pas sérieux. L’humour est exactement convenable au haïku.

The drinking action on the screen of Yang Fudong

It was in the exhibition titled "AVANT-GARDE CHINA 20 YEARS OF CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART” (2008-2009, National Museum of Art, Osaka) that I saw Yang Fudong’s work for the first time. The video installation exhibited was “No Snow on the Broken Bridge” (2006). That was composed of 8 synchronized screens, and each screen had impressive scenes of several young men and women in desolated landscapes. The “loosely structured” (ShanghART Gallery’s description) narrative was filled with suspenseful atmosphere. And among all those moving fragments, I was fascinated by the boats slowly drifting across waters. Tears sprang to my eyes. After that experience, I have been immersed in his works and impressed in the beautiful and plaintive images of liquid (especially water) which are ubiquitous on the screens. We can easily find the good example if we see any of those works on the site of ShanghART Gallery.
Now, I would like to talk about “First Spring”, his work for PRADA SPRING/SUMMER 2010. I know it was just a little bit dated (one year ago!). This delay is mainly because of my laziness (of course!), but partly because of my ambivalent feeling for this film. Honestly speaking, I don’t care much for this kind of image of flying men with an umbrella and a bag (or should I say, it is uncomfortable for me). “Mary Poppins” is one of my favorite children’s books but the musical film of “Mary Poppins” just embarrasses me. That is to say, I have never seen the visual representation of flying better than the literature.
But, on the other hand, “First Spring” has a breathtaking piece. That is the sequential action of serving and drinking alcohol and tea (it appears from 5’41” to 6’52”). Here, you meet the theme of liquid again! At first, alcohol is served from a bottle to a glass and a man lifts the glass to his lips. Then a suspicious waiter with a thin smile about his lips emerges quietly from behind and serves tea from the teapot to teacups. One man in suit and two women in traditional clothes put their teacups together and hold tea in their mouth. This is a fascinating moment and I am sure that the film reaches its climax.
It should be the interpretation without much thought to consider this sequence a conflict between the Occident and the Orient, even if that had been the aim of the artist (I hope not…). All we have to do is to recollect the image of drinking in “Honey (mi)” (2003). (We can watch that on ShanghART Gallery.). In that video, a man in black-framed glasses drinks tea from the teacup with the lid. He drinks tea with great relish and I can feel even astringency from the movement of his mouth. Unexpectedly, we witness the best drinking image, in this video of the charming but somewhat plaintive legs wearing fishnet stockings.

Hitch Hike / The Rolling Stones

Is it really correct to look upon the cover version of “Hitch Hike” (1965) by the Rolling Stones as the relay point between the original Marvin Gaye's song (1962) and "There She Goes Again" (1967) by the Velvet Underground, as everyone refers?
In the finishing quality point of view, I doubt the necessity of this intermediate. (Now the Rolling Stones' version sounds more old-fashioned than the original, doesn’t it?) Furthermore, it is also widely known that Lou Reed is a specialist of the Motown music, so well that John Cale (or somebody else) made fun of him and shouted “Motown!” in “Inside your heart” (recorded in 1968). We can easily imagine the direct influences.
But the Rolling Stones' re-arrangement of the riff from the base guitar (and wind instruments) to the aggressive electric guitar is marvelous! And surely the Velvet Underground took over this guitar riff.
Is that the Brian Jones’ work? … I hope so.