On April 28, 2020, Artist Kota Takeuchi screened and spoke about his short film “Blind Bombing, Filmed by a Bat” (32 min., 2019), which explores how balloon bombs were created, propagandized, and used in Japan during World War II. The film addresses the uses of remote technology for military purposes and proposes contrasts and continuities between past and present.
Kota Takeuchi (b.1982, Japan) works across painting, film, video, sculpture, based on field research and performance related to historical and contemporary topics. His recent work explores the loop of digital image capture and investigates relationships between media and human with social memory by revisiting historical monuments and modern industrial legacies. Takeuchi is best-known as the representative of “Finger Pointing Worker”, whose webcam performance in response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster has become an iconic image of the event. He is a committee member of “Don’t Follow the Wind”, a long-running exhibition project inside the exclusion zone in Fukushima. More information about his work can be found at his website: kota-takeuchi.net.