Imai Norio's Post-Gutai Moving Image Practice Reclaimed Media from 1970s Consumer Culture

Japanese artist Imai Norio's film and video works after 1972 are examined in a new scholarly article. Published in ARTMargins Volume 14, Issue 1, the analysis moves beyond his association with the Gutai Art Association (1954–72). His practice critically engaged with the technologically mediated image, known as eizō. A pivotal moment was the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, which prompted Imai to challenge capitalist consumer culture. He emphasized the materiality of film stock and videotape, exploring intermedial relations between still and moving images. Performative aspects of the body were central to his work. Imai and other Kansai region visual artists experimented with new projection and installation methods in white cube exhibition spaces. Their goal was to subvert conventional screen formats and passive cinematic spectatorship. The article by Haeyun Park was published on February 5, 2025. It is available via MIT Press with subscription access. The DOI for the publication is 10.1162/artm_a_00406.