A R C H I E F1 9 9 8  
16th
  Shigeko Kubota
Sexual Healing
  USA 1998
Videotape, 4:15, colour, stereo
 
We see a man in a hospital or a revalidation centre. He is trying to stand and to walk. It is not easy because apparently he does not have full control over his body, which is why he is being supported on all sides by, mainly, women. This seems to cheer him up and during all these difficult efforts we see him beaming at the camera. They are Kubota's observations of an unusual scene of the man she is personally and professionally very closely tied to. The man on screen is the artist Nam June Paik (1932, Seoul), who had a stroke in 1997. In spite of the tragic circumstances, the atmosphere of the video is rather jolly. The tape starts with the words “Wake up wake up, cos you do it right…”. We hear the voice of Marvin Gaye and it is the words of the song 'Sexual Healing' that accompany the images of this video. And this gives the whole something graceful, almost cheerful and almost makes one think of a music clip, an impression that only seems to be contradicted by the intimacy of the images. Just as Marvin Gaye once fought to reunite his body and soul, Paik also carries on his battle here. The soul is willing, now the body has to do its bit, and while many try to help him with this, we hear the text by Gaye and Paik seems to long for other times… “And when I get that feeling, I want sexual healing, sexual healing, oh baby, makes me feel so fine. Helps to relieve my mind…” Kubota records the situation with much feeling, and the picture she sketches is optimistic.

– Carla Hoekendijk

Editing: Daniel Hartnett, With: Nam June Paik, Music: Marvin Gaye

Shigeko Kubota ° 1937, Niigata (Japan)
Lives and works in New York (USA)


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