yidff1999ogawa-proInternaional-CompWorld-special
yidff1999YanagisawaHisaoNewAsianCurrentsJapanesePanoramaJorisIvens
yidff1999VIDEOACTIVISMCaseStudyJurorstransrate-English

beforenext
@
Season of the Boys
CANADA, U.S.A./ 1999 / English / Color / Video / 4 min

Director, Photography, Producer: Ho Tam
Source: Video Pool Inc.
#300-100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 1H3
CANADA
Phone: 1-204-949-9134 / Fax: 1-204-942-1555
E-mail: vpdist@videopool.mb.ca


Ho Tam

Born in Hong Kong and educated in Toronto, Canada. Worked in advertising firms and community psychiatric facilities before turning to art. He works in a diverse mix of disciplines including painting, video, print and public art and has exhibited in various cities across North America. His first video, The Yellow Pages, was commissioned by the public arts group Public Access for an installation/ projection at Union Station in Toronto in 1994-95. Tam currently lives in New York City and is a graduate of Whitney Museum Independent Studies Program and a recent artist-in-residence at Charles Street Video, Toronto. He is working on his new tape, Matinee Idol.

Shot at the Chinatown Basketball Tournament in New York City, August 1997, which the director stumbled upon by chance. The video documents Asian boys who can jump, or, at least, pass the ball. Living between Black and White Americans, the Yellow boys attempt to negotiate a space for themselves. An exploration of how the culture of youth and beauty is constructed from an intimate viewpoint, mixing unlikely subjects of athletics, voyeuristic desire, and poetic expression.

Director's Statement

My work is an exploration of our understanding of universal truths within the context of present time. Using personal history and experiences, it is conjugated of images and sometimes languages exploring our relationship to the "trans-cultural" changes around us. Through layering and shifting the images and words, I am interested in creating a new set of perspectives and possibilities for re-invention and interpretation.
Focusing on issues around identity of community and individual, the work examines a human society that has become increasingly diverse and intricate. It looks at various myths and legends in our everyday living. And at the same time, the human traces depicted confront the meaning of our very own existence.
While documenting truths in human understanding, the work itself is not intended to illustrate any collective experience. Rather, it is made up of my very own detached and fragmented visual memories, often simple and mundane. And it is with this self-consciousness that the work questions and expands the manner of our perception.

@ beforenext

COPYRIGHT:Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival Organizing Committee