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14th Art Division Excellence Award

NIGHT LESS

Video work [Japan]

TAMURA Yuichiro

Outline

NIGHT LESS is a road movie composed entirely of images from GoogleStreet View. The story transcends national borders as it takes spectators on a journey from Nebraska to Chiba, Alaska, Portugal and Marseille. The sun never sets on the views in this movie. The first half features dubbing by the artist himself, while the second half uses audio from YouTube. Does this movie created without actual filming deserve to be calleda “movie”?

Reason for Award

A work that ingeniously captures the present status of web media
The panoramic view captured from a height of 2.45meters keeps changing the urban landscape as it advances further and further ahead. The words exchanged in the movie have no direct relation to the scenery unfolding on the screen. Yet, the unremitting fusion of casual words and landscapes creates an enigmatic atmosphere, as if the ar tist is chatting while driving. Gradually, the familiar cityscapes spread out in front of the audiences, who cannot stay indifferent to the images anymore and experience the strong emotion of being forcefully sucked into the movie. In a sense, this work ingeniously captures the present status of web media.
The title of the work NIGHT LESS originates in the fact that all images in Google Street View can be captured only during daytime, and therefore there is no night in this movie, either. This witty and refreshing approach symbolizes the sensitivity that underlies the work.