Iimura, Taka

An Interview with Taka Iimura Interview

Edited transcript of an interview with video artist Taka Iimura conducted at a screening of his tapes at Arton's Calgary in Toronto on April 16, 1978; interviewer identified as Centerfold. Iimura outlines his Observer/Observed series (Camera, Monitor, Frame, 1976; Observer/Observed, 1975; Observer/Observed/Observer, 1976), describes pre-production diagrams and shooting-script procedures, and details the closed-circuit video system components (camera, monitor, videorecorder) and technical distinctions from film. He discusses synchronization of magnetic sound and image, the monitor as object, role-switching of observer and observed, use of English versus Japanese language logic, and political implications, citing Godard's A Letter to Jane.