【Document provided】
M.M.M. SKIN
Toru Shoji (Minato-ku, Tokyo)
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A few years after the Barricade performance,
Tokyo Grand Guignol performed a play called "SKIN" as M.M.M.
Five boys, Rika, Lou, Bob, Nendo and Yohanne, are contemplating "death" in a secret base that resembles an abandoned factory.
They receive news of the sudden death of Rika's father, Professor Shimada, a university professor.
His father, a biologist, is said to have died in an accident during an experiment.
A floppy disk was found inside the professor's urn, and after the boys deciphered it, they went to Ten Laboratory to confirm whether the professor was alive or dead.
Unable to believe his father has died, the boy desperately hopes that his father is still alive somewhere, when suddenly,
...Yes. It's Shimada Machine. It's his dad.
Can he really call the machine introduced to him by researcher Ten his father's father?
Faced with his mechanical father and the deformed men who are the result of his father's experiments, what is a human being, what is an existence, and what is the difference between biological existence and human existence? What will the boys ultimately do?
↑Appearing before the confused boys are two strange-looking men named Jose and Dorothy.
They cry out in resentment for being turned into artificial humans by Professor Shimada, and want revenge. A big fight ensues between the boys, Jose and Dorothy, and the machines. What is the boundary between life and death for humans? What is the boundary between human and non-human?
↑Dorothy is wearing something that looks like a gas mask, and a wiggly tube attached to a dog's anus is hanging from her mouth.
Jose (played by Sosuke Saito) wears an eyepatch, has an artificial muscle in one hand, and has all of his artificial internal organs exposed. He is a foul-mouthed, sadistic character who is covered in blood and grins.
Toru Shoji (Minato-ku, Tokyo)I have been wondering for a long time what M.M.M., the group that performed SKIN, stands for. Since it was all men, perhaps they played James Brown's It's Man's Man's Man's World, and since iron is mentioned, perhaps they played Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music. Or perhaps they turned WWW upside down.
Actually, I recently got a noise LP from the 80s and it made me think, "Ah, that's it!" It's a coupling album of The Hafler Trio and Luciano Dali, a label owner from Naples. One of the songs from that Luciano Dali mask is sampled in SKIN (VIDEO MIX). The scene in which it is used is where Professor Shimada's ashes and portrait are delivered. After the intermittent beep, beep, cold music reminiscent of Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Hyara~" plays. It's a sound that truly symbolizes the guignol of a static scene. In the play, it was written as a song by the Hafler Trio, but in reality, it was Luciano Dali's Virikuta on the B-side.
This Luciano Dali's Virikuta has a nice sound, and before the Ryuichi Sakamoto-esque "Hyara~" begins, there is a tiger-like roaring sound, like a heavy machine, but this is also cut out and used when Ten, played by Ameya-san, and Professor Shimada "Machine" appear.
If you're wondering what that has to do with the abbreviation M.M.M., it's because the name of the label that released this LP is actually Musica Maxima Magnetica. And the owner is Luciano Dali. Musica Maxima Magnetica. Cool. But this is just my personal speculation.
By the way, according to a friend who went to SKIN's Osaka concert, it was hacked by Pankow's Gimme More and Clock DVA. It wasn't in the video version, so it might have been replaced by something like Eugène.
PANKOW - GIMME MORE 1988 Clock DVA - The Hacker
Adrian Sherwood, who also remixed Pankow, also remixed Neubauten's Ugen. The version used in the SKIN video mix is slowed down and has the vocals removed, with further modifications.
Einstürzende Neubauten - Yu-Gung (Adrian Sherwood Mix)
When I went to Greece 16 years ago, I saw Neubauten tour posters all over the city. They matched the city of Athens, which was under construction everywhere, and were really cool. Thinking back even further, 15 years ago, I was shocked when I first heard Neubauten in the student council room at my high school. I had never seen them with my own eyes before.
●Toru Shoji (Minato-ku, Tokyo) Ｘ(Twitter) @ToruShoji
Graduated from the Department of Film and Media Studies at Osaka University of Arts. Founded Passepied while still a student. Presented four theater productions in Osaka and Kyoto (two under the name Sasasenmaru). After working as a copywriter, planner, creative director, and head of the planning and development department at an advertising agency in Tokyo, he founded Service and Connections in 2013. In 2015, he is preparing the Betsujin project.
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From the blog of Saito Sosuke, who played Jose, in 2009 http://brristol.exblog.jp/i5/
These are photos that have been stuck in my head for a while now. Some of you may think they are nostalgic, but it's not that I'm feeling nostalgic; it's something I'm currently experiencing. With all my might. With all my might (I know I'm being repetitive).
I didn't have any baking paper, so I chose "an-an" (Uhh?) and "hanako" (Uhh??) based on my favorites. Announcement of M.M.M "SKIN DEPART-MIX". Wow...
"SKIN#5 VIDEOMIX" capture [1]
April 26, 2009
By the way, to commemorate the fact that Yunji released a DVD, I made some captures from some footage that I had left over, as usual (special skill: captures). But (lol).
From "SKIN#3 246MIX" (screened at Aoyama 246CLUB from June 3rd to 21st, 1989) by Yoshitaka Shimano. I have some photos, but the negatives are blocked by a wall of Macs and I can't find them right away.
Anyway, this year marks the 20th year since the performance! It's been a long time. It doesn't feel strange.
[Addendum] For those who don't know about this "SKIN#3 246MIX"
Original: June 3rd (Sat) - 18th (Sun) 1989 ← Dates on the flyer
Cast: M.M.M + Q'SAKU SHIMADA
Direction: Ameya Norimizu
Script: Ameya Norimizu + Ohashi Jiro
Art: M.M.M
Sound: Hamazato Kentaro + Ameya Norimizu
Costumes: Taguchi Takao
Tickets were only 3,000 yen. The continuous occupancy rate exceeded 100%. Saito Sosuke appeared in "Jose." A magnificent demonic sledding performance.
2009 / From Saito Sosuke's blog
German military boots, worn during
the Barricade at Tokyo Grand Guignol
Finally, the computer environment has been restored. It took five days of patience and perseverance (lol). How frivolous of him to suddenly put up a huge vertical image. The mobile phone experiment was also very interesting. But seriously, it's huge.
That's a huge image... and so here are these old worn out boots. They're pretty stiff at this point. German army surplus.
They were still in storage, but it seems they've become a home for rats in the storeroom. Oh, they look like they're being held up well. Apparently, during dress rehearsal, when he went into the water wearing these boots, he couldn't take them off. Thank you, Taguchi-kun." Saito Sosuke
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About Dark Art Carnival
[Article] Dark Art Research Group Solo Exhibition
A freak show in Nipponbashi, Osaka!?
September 9, 2015
Dark Art Research Group Kansai University's Dark Art Research Group held its first solo exhibition, titled "Dark Art Carnival," at Sunaba Gallery in Nipponbashi, Osaka, from September 5th to 9th. The group, which is responsible for the Kansai University underground scene, was launched in April 2013 by Keikan Kizaki (21, Literature 3rd year). The group broadcast the culmination of three years of work from the mecca of subculture. [Photo: A solo exhibition by the Dark Art Research Group, with a tent-theater-like interior. On the right is chairman Keikan Kizaki]
It emitted a bewitching light in the back streets of the Electric Town. On the first floor, the "Ankoku Tent" reminiscent of Kara Juro's Red Tent hides the exhibits in the gallery from the outside. On the second floor, the "Dark Gallery" is inspired by Terayama Shuji's "Tenjo Sajiki". Performances and screenings were held every day, creating an atmosphere like a circus...or rather, a freak show tent.
In addition to live painting by painter Azuma Manabu and performances by the embodiment group Tentsuku, there were also exhibitions by photographer Nakamura Shin, doll maker Natsume Eri, and writer Ichiko Mirugu. These mysterious, shining stars in the underground world resonate with the activities of the Dark Art Research Society.
The Dark Art Research Society has left behind many legends, from its freshman welcome events to the Tenroku campus just before it closed. What did they feel and what were they trying to convey? "I wanted to hold a solo exhibition where I could look back on my activities to date, compile my research and share it with the world," said Inbara Kan, and he embodied his thoughts in the five-day festival.
The talented Kansai University student is fascinated by the heyday of underground theater in the 1960s. "I want to do a happening. I'm curious to see whether 1960s expression will be accepted by young people today," says Inbara Kan, looking ahead. It's a happening theater that erases the boundaries between performers and audience, and takes place in the city and on campus. The Dark Arts Research Society is destabilizing the emotions on the Senriyama Campus.
