Back to IndexTATSUMI ORIMOTO
PERFORMANCE: BREADMAN
Tatsumi Orimoto’s pictures are closely connected to his performances, in which he deals with everyday life, ageing and questions of communication. In his artistic work, he thematises society’s way of dealing with ageing and the social marginalisation and distance connected to it. His mother suffers from Alzheimer’s and depression and is therefore an invalid requiring constant tendance, who has been affectionatley cared for by Tatsumi Orimoto for years. At the same time, she is the object of his artistic production.
His works became known through the Venice Biennale 2001, where the artist performatively and provokingly put car tires around her neck and placed her in cardboard boxes.
In the 1970s, Tatsumi Orimoto worked in the U.S. as assistant to Nam June Paik. Since his experiences in the time of the Fluxus movement, his artistic work has been dealing with the theme of communication. An important example for this are his exceptional “Bread Man“ performances, in which he – several loaves of bread tied to his head – communicated with people on the street all over the world.
IMAGE GALLERY:
