Video Letter (ビデオ・レター)

Shuji Terayama & Shuntaro Tanikawa VIDEO LETTER

video letters 1982-1983

From Shuntaro Tanikawa to Shuji Terayama September 6, 1982

I found some old pictures.

Neo-pan SS film developed at Koide camera shop.

Old pictures of you with Toru Takemitsu, dated June 1960.

I found these old pictures.

I read your new poem in the Asahi Newspaper.

Not bad, though a little like Ryuichi Tamura.

When put into words, everything appears a bit too neat...

don't you think?

From Shuji Terayama to Shuntaro Tanikawa September 10

Thank you for your letter by video.

You say that, when put into words, everything becomes too neat.

But sometimes there are things I can't bear without putting them into words.

Words...

Words...

Words...

This is how things go with me these days.

THINGS

From Shuntaro Tanikawa to Shuji Terayama September 10

In short... uh... you know

Mmmm... what to say...

after all, in the long run...

I mean...

Well... very much so...

ambiguous or perhaps... formless...

there's a flowing, you see,

which means, probably, in the sense that there's flowing,

there seems to be something which...

From Shuji Terayama to Shuntaro Tanikawa September 15

Get lost, get lost, get lost...

September 15

Tanikawa-san, thank you for a lot of words.

But the problem is that the words are not letters and not sounds but "meaning".

Nothing but meaning can resurrect what is going under, what is breaking down.

I like to think so. What do you think, Tanikawa-san?

From Shuntaro Tanikawa to Shuji Terayama September 16

The Japanese word "meaning" consists of the two characters, "sense" and "taste".

There is a physical aspect embedded in the word. Don't you think so?

Meaning is not necessarily just logic...

From Shuji Terayama to Shuntaro Tanikawa September 18

September 18th, morning.

Good morning!

Tenjo Sajiki THE LEMMING

TODAY'S MEDICINE

Tanikawa-san, thinking about "no meaning"...

Neither meaning nor logic belongs to the author alone...

Half of it is created by the receivers, don't you think?

From Shuntaro Tanikawa to Shuji Terayama September 19

From Shuji Terayama to Shuntaro Tanikawa September 24

I-NU (dog)

September 24

I-MI (meaning)

When do you make use of "no meaning"?

For instance, it's useful when I think of my demented mother.

In what way is it useful?

It is useful when I encounter something I'm unable to evaluate...

with the system of "meaning" or "value" that I have at hand.

I go on to think what sort of "no meaning" meaning there is...

in this "no meaning".

Are "no meaning" and "no logic" the same thing?

No, I don't think they are.

Now, talking about the logic of "no meaning",

do you mean that you want a very logical "no meaning"?

I suppose I do, if I exaggerate. So when I say "no meaning",

after all I'm looking for some sense of meaning

which transcends what I've so far meant by "meaning".

I don't think we can find an exhaustive "no meaning".

But for me words tend to function something like the text of a picture book.

So words and images, including their contradictions or the gulf between them,

are part of a system of communication which has a synthesizing character.

What would you say to a girl, for instance, who asked you what "no meaning" means?

Well, it would depend on... how should I put it?...

what things you're surrounded by and what their condition is and so on...

From Shuntaro Tanikawa to Shuji Terayama September 26

It seems to me that life itself is something beyond mere "meaning".

I think there's something that can't be grasped by meaning alone.

Do you know what there is between "meaning" and "no meaning"?

A facade, an illusion of meaning.

If you got too stuck on words,

I'm afraid you'd fail to grasp both "meaning" and "no meaning"...

and you'd finally move towards "the illusion of meaning".

I'm not holding my camera with steady hands and can't focus properly.

Is this proof that I'm alive?

I shall introduce my dogs to you soon.

The first one is Professor Hastings, the daughter;

the next one is Wan, her mother.

They don't question "meanings" nor do they question "no meanings".

Sunday, September 26th, 9am

From Shuji Terayama to Shuntaro Tanikawa

November 1927:

my mother.

October 1982:

my mother.

Thank you for your letter, Tanikawa-san.

It is because we live in an age when we can't clearly tell "meaning" from "no meaning",

that we get stuck in words.

I can't help but feel life is not "meaning" or "no meaning",

but the illusion of no meaning.

Yes, the illusion of no meaning.

And the body gradually gets left behind.

From Shuntaro Tanikawa to Shuji Terayama November 16

This is my carpet.

This is my battery.

This is my measure.

This is my bamboo flyer.

This is my tangerine.

This is my doll.

This is my drum.

This is my whistle.

These are my tissues.

This is my picture.

This is my hammock.

This is my newspaper

This is my banana.

This is my towel.

This is my picture book.

This is my beer.

This is my memo.

This is my letter.

This is my back... my back scratcher.

This is my record.

These are my glasses.

These are my cigarettes.

This is my lighter.

This is my memo book.

This is my credit card.