The deep forest and the cinema blend together, making you feel like you're in another world.
Uncle Boonmee Recalls
In 2022, when I attended a special screening of Matthew Barney's works at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum in Ebisu, the accompanying film was "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives." It was my first time experiencing Apichatpong's work as a film director, rather than an artist.
The film, which centers around reincarnation, begins with a man named Boonmee, who, realizing he is ill and has little time left, summons his relatives to his farm. Throughout the film, deceased people appear to them in various forms, and the characters are surprised but eventually accept it.
As I was bathed in the beautiful forest images and the world of this film, in which the boundaries between life and death that we assume are nullified, the mythical landscape and the cinema melted together, and I had the strange feeling that I too was being caught up in the cycle of reincarnation. I felt as if my view of life and death had suddenly loosened, and I was no longer afraid of death.
I regularly try to express through paintings and sculptures how AI, a being other than humans, sees the world. At the heart of this is the idea that we humans don't have to shoulder everything in this world. That's why I felt a sense of relief from the sense of security this work brings, that a world other than the one we live in exists right next to us.
Even when the film physically ends, the world of the film remains in your mind. And remembering that scene somehow brings you peace of mind. For me, this is the feeling that really sinks in.
