Shigeko Kubota

Shigeko Kubota
Shigeko Kubota in her studio, 1972
Born(1937-08-02)August 2, 1937
Maki, Nishikanbara, Niigata, Empire of Japan
DiedJuly 23, 2015(2015-07-23) (aged 77)
New York City, New York, U.S.
NationalityJapanese
Alma materTokyo University of Education
New York University
The New School
Known for
Spouses
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(div. 1969)​
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(m. 1977; died 2006)​

Shigeko Kubota (久保田 成子, Kubota Shigeko) (August 2, 1937 – July 23, 2015) was a Japanese video artist, sculptor and avant-garde performance artist, who mostly lived in New York City.[1][2] She was one of the first artists to adopt the portable video camera Sony Portapak in 1970,[3] likening it to a "new paintbrush."[4] Kubota is known for constructing sculptural installations with a strong DIY aesthetic, which include sculptures with embedded monitors playing her original videos. She was a key member and influence on Fluxus, the international group of avant-garde artists centered on George Maciunas, having been involved with the group since witnessing John Cage perform in Tokyo in 1962 and subsequently moving to New York in 1964.[5] She was closely associated with George Brecht, Jackson Mac Low, John Cage, Joe Jones, Nam June Paik, and Ay-O, among other members of Fluxus. Kubota was deemed "Vice Chairman" of the Fluxus Organization by Maciunas.[6]

Kubota's video and sculptural works are mainly shown in galleries. Her use of the physical television as a component of her work differs from other video artists of the 1960s who made experimental broadcast programs as a move against the hegemony of major networks.[7] Kubota is known for her contribution to the expansion of the field of video into the field of sculpture and for her works addressing the place of video in art history.[8] Her work explores the influence of the technology, and more specifically the television set, on personal memory and the emotions. Some works for example eulogize while also exploring the presence of the deceased in video footage and recorded images such as her Duchampiana series, the video My Father, and her later works Korean Grave and Winter in Miami which eulogize her husband Nam June Paik. Kubota's sculptures also play with ways in which video footage and sculptures utilize videos to evoke nature, as in her Meta-Marcel, Bird, and Tree series' and in River, and Rock Video: Cherry Blossoms.[9]

  1. ^ Ruhrberg, Karl; Honnef, Klaus; Fricke, Christiane; Manfred Schneckenburger; Ingo F. Walther (December 1, 2000). Art of the 20th century. Taschen. pp. 596–. ISBN 978-3-8228-5907-0. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  2. ^ Smith, Roberta (May 24, 1991). "Review/Art; Sleek Video Sculptures By Shigeko Kubota". The New York Times. p. 26. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  3. ^ Grimes, William (July 28, 2015). "Shigeko Kubota, a Creator of Video Sculptures, Dies at 77". The New York Times. p. B10. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference brooklynrail.org was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Yoshimoto, Midori. "Self-exploration in Multimedia : the Experiments of Shigeko Kubota," in Into performance: Japanese Women Artists in New York. New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University Press (2005), 169-170.
  6. ^ Greenberger, Alex (July 28, 2015). "Shigeko Kubota, a Fluxus Artist and a Pioneer of Video Art, Dies at 77". ARTnews.
  7. ^ See: M. Gever, "Pressure Points: Video in the Public Sphere," Art Journal 45.3, 1985.
  8. ^ Jacob, Mary Jane ed. Shigeko Kubota: Video Sculpture. New York: American Museum of the Moving Image, 1991. Includes: Roth, Moria, "The Voice of Shigeko Kubota:' A Fusion of Art and Life, Asia and America,'" and Hanley, JoAnn, "Reflections in a Video Mirror."
  9. ^ "Electronic Arts Intermix : Shigeko Kubota : Biography". Eai.org. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2014.