Takahiko iimura: Video and Semiology

At the invitation of professor Jan-Gunnar Sjölin, following an initial suggestion from doctoral candidate Fred Andersson, Takahiko iimura visited our department during December 1st to December 4th 2003. A selection of mr iimura's video- and media-works from ca 1970 to the present day were screened on the evenings of December 2nd and 3rd. The screenings were attended by a great number of students at all educational levels of the department. A list of the screened works, with mr iimura's own comments, is added at the end of this report. A seminar in the presence of mr iimura was held on December 4th, with the aim of discussing the semiotic issues raised in his CD-ROM presentation Observer/Observed and other works of video semiology. Even if the discussion didn't aim at general conclusions, it could be summarized as follows:

Three basic issues would be most crucial for any in-depth discussion about the series of 11 short video-pieces (with and without aural elements) which, with the addition of storyboards and written comments, constitute this CD-ROM:

A.) The distinction between: 1.) Semiology/semiotics as a scientific discipline, and 2.) Semiological/semiotic demonstrations as art

B.) The validity of various claims concerning similarities between basic units of film montage and basic units of spoken/written language

C.) The specificity of the medium of video, as compared the medium of reel film