Tokyo Rose

"A highly imaginative multi-media re-creation of several aspects of the WWII Pacific theater and its consequences.
It is a compelling meditation on history, as elegant as it is incisive."

–– David E. James, author, The Most Typical Avant-Garde: History and Geography of Minor Cinemas in Los Angeles

project history

facts

video

Tokyo Rose was inspired by the story of Iva Toguri, a second-generation Japanese-American whose trial for treason as the legendary radio siren/WWII propagandist foreshadowed the national security witch hunt of the McCarthy Era.

Weaving propaganda and anti-propaganda, the interdisciplinary work (music by John Payne; video, slide animation and choreography by Rika Ohara) explored forms of xenophobia –– both cultural and sexual –– and the myth-making power of the media.

"I can't get it out of my mind. It's beautiful, extremely."
–– Anney Bonney, Hybrid Curator, The Kitchen, New York (1997)

"Tokyo Rose is a very interesting and emotionally moving project. I think the show is visually expressive enough that even non-English speaking audience can understand it."
–– Sophie Suissa, Performing Arts Coordinator, American Center, Paris (1995)

"Very compelling."
–– John Killacky, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1995)

project history:

The piece was developed in 1992-1995, premiering at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions in January 1993, and the beta version shown at Japanese American Cultural Community Center in 1994. An excerpt was also shown at the Cleveland Performance Art Festival in 1992.

Venues around the world expressed interest –– the American Center in Paris, ICA in London, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and The Kitchen in New York among them. It was also on the California Arts Council's Touring Roster ('95-'97).

In February 1996, financial problems closed the American Center's new, Frank Gehry-designed theater –– three months before the scheduled performances of Tokyo Rose. One "postponement" followed another, caused by loss of budget, change of personnel or both. (So I shot 2,000 new slides for the 1997 installation/performance of Shelter: Phase VII which eventually traveled as a media-contained piece. For the rest of the story, please turn to the Shelter page.)

what it is:

90 minutes of wall-to-wall visual media (layered slides + video projections), audio and dance. Mostly one live performer, two or three at the climax and several more in video. Text wove historical propaganda, anti-propaganda and their modern-day "Trade War" versions –– far from a straight biography. The 500 slides were programmed on an analog dissolve control with the cues recorded on the audio track of a VHS video cassette, while the video track was used to record PCM digital audio. The video for projection, on a second VHS tape, was synchronized with the slides and audio by the click of a single remote control.

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