Pointing at Fukuichi Live Camera ふくいちライブカメラを指さす

One day in August 2011 at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, a lone plant worker appeared before a live camera streaming images of the situation there and pointed a finger at the camera for about 20 minutes. A few days later, through the Internet, this same person addressed the government and Tepco, the operator of the plant, concerning the conditions of workers there and furthermore revealed that his performance had referenced Vito Acconci’s Centers (1971), in which Acconci had filmed himself pointing into the center of the screen for about 25 minutes. The action of pointing at the camera from the event “site” reverses the unilateral relationship of “seeing” and “being seen” that characterizes video perspective. At the same time, by confirming his own appearance with a smartphone, the plant worker also points to himself and thus seems to turn a critical eye on the closed narcissism we easily succumb to when transmitting information over the media. This work documenting the plant worker’s performance was later shown with sound added at a solo exhibition held by TAKEUCHI Kota (1982- ), “Open Secret.” Although Takeuchi is conjectured to be the plant worker, based on various circumstances, he refuses to acknowledge this, claiming it would be very difficult to confirm the truth simply from the video. In our Internet society, where all and everything is openly displayed, there are still things that remain unseen. “Open Secret.” This might also be applied metaphorically to a highly real “site,” abandoned due to unseen radiation.