Teruo Koike

A brief documentary focused on the history of experimental Super 8mm filmmaking. Prominent figures of the "s8" boom of the 1970s discuss their work and their first encounters with the medium.

Musical Performance.

Musical performance.

First short film by Teruo Koike. - "Lost work. Trees standing up vertically. I rolled the camera following what my shaken heart said."

Inside a stone, I found an architecture with light and time, this is my work. - TK

Part 17 of Koike Teruo’s Ecosystem series.

The ecosystem series which started in 1981 counts 15 and is still growing, becoming Koike's lifework. Through the series, Koike has shot a huge amount – thousands – of still photos of objective motifs, from ocean creatures, microbes, and granite to artificial material such as fishing nets. Those photos are developed with a specialized method then reshot with movie film. The style has been thoroughly continued. The images that are created as a result tower before our eyes as an overwhelming visual experience. Each motif has been repeatedly decomposed and reconstructed of its "attribution" and "meaning", causing a shocking Gestalt breakdown for the audience.

The first entry in the Ecosystem series. - "In Alvileo, Fomalhaut, Eusthenopteron and this Ecosystem-1, I tried to create a collage-box of universe by collecting and rearranging a great quantity of ordinary and electronic microscopic photographs of creatures, minerals, outer space, marine lives etc. posted in scientific journals. The attempt for these video works became the driving force to produce Ecosystem-5- A Tremulous Stone which was the starting point of later Ecosystem series."

"I thought of disassembling one second by sticking opaque scotch tape on 8mm films to shut existing images. How much information can we put in 1/24 second? How much can we perceive? As a result, I felt that one single second was a surprisingly long time! An image on a frame caused an afterimage in the total darkness. Is an afterimage formed somewhere between our perception and memory?"

Ecosystem-6: A Sort of Mycelium is a mesmerizing compound of patterns found in the organic world. Static elements – ropes, a forest – come to life, while living sea creatures like an octopus or a starfish resemble ornamental patterns in motion. Inspired by the elaborate chaos systems present in nature, Koike creates an exuberant and splendid new dimension to explore.

"Tried to make a movie incorporating video noise which was generated by pointing a camcoder directly to a TV monitor." VTR/sound

"The first film in which I was a scriptor, actor and director. Many thanks for my schoolmates who kindly cooperated to appear in this movie." -Teruo Koike

Short film by Teruo Koike. 18fps/8mmfilm/silent

"I was crazy about collecting photographs I got interested in scientific journals."

8mm film directed by Teruo Koike

Short film by Teruo Koike. 18fps/8mmfilm/silent

No synopsis available yet.

Part 29 of Koike Teruo’s Ecosystem series. Digital

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

No synopsis available yet.

Part 30 of Koike Teruo’s Ecosystem series.

No synopsis available yet.

Part 8 of Koike Teruo’s Ecosystem series. 8mm

Musical Performance.

Experimental short film by Teruo Koike.

No synopsis available yet.