A R C H I V E1 9 8 7  
6th
  Bruce & Norman Yonemoto
Kappa
  USA 1986
Videotape, 30:00, colour
The Kappa is a possibly mythical water spirit found in Japanese history. A greenish creature that, according to tradition, gets its kicks from pinching young ladies bums when they are having a pee, it feeds on blood drawn from the anuses of cows and horses. The cult of the kappa still flourishes in Japan in commercials, where its hedonistic life-style is used to put products across on the public. In Bruce and Norman Yonemoto's production, no part of human life is strange to the kappa and he observes with jealousy the Oedipus-like relationship between a teenager and an older woman. The kappa poses questions of vital importance to the boy, but is received with indifference. Following a sketch of the kappa in history, the production adopts a more narrative form in which the kappa pays a call on the present-day decadence of rich America, where lust and power are mere games and where there is no place left for traditional folklore like the story of the kappa.

Erik Quint

Scenario: Bruce Yonemoto, Norman Yonemoto, Mike Kelley, Animation: Mike Kelley, Jim Shaw Additional video: Michael Goldberg, Shunichi Fujioka, Gary Hill, Production: Kyo-Dai