The Fourth Dimension

Trinh T. Minh-ha

In her first foray into digital video, she explores time through the “rituals” of new technology and everyday life and art in Japanese culture. This session is part of the retrospective dedicated to the feminist and decolonialist scholar that accompanies the exhibition Seen Yet Unseen.

An incisive and revealing examination of Japan through its art, culture and social rituals. As with Trinh’s previous films, her work is a multi-layered work that addresses several issues around its central theme: the experience of time, the impossibility of truly “seeing” and the impact of video on the creation of images. 

In her first foray into digital video, Minh-ha deconstructs the role of ritual as a mediator between the past and the present. “Shown in their most extended functions and manifestations—including more obvious places like festivals, religious rites, and theatrical performances—‘rituals’ imply not only regularity in the structure of everyday life, but also dynamic agents in the world of meaning,” the filmmaker states. With its exuberant imagery, Minh-ha’s Japan is observed through moving frames, with doors and windows that slide to close, revealing new landscapes as they block out the old light. 

Duration: 87' 

Year: 2001 

Version: VOSE