4.3.09

Hurlin's Bunraku Disfarmer

In doing research for my new piece, I stumbled upon an American artist that uses a Japanese puppetry technique called Bunraku. Dan Hurlin's Disfarmer is a mesmirising story about the American photographer Mike Disfarmer, a Boo Radley type figure in his hometown of Heber Spring, Arkansas.

2 comments:

Cathy Zimmerman said...

What is your research project? This piece Disfarmer is touring around the U.S. and as it travels there will be a documentary film about Disfarmer and a photo exhibition of Disfarmer's work that accompanies performances. We also organize discussions with scholars, art critics and historians.

Elfred said...

The research Im currently doing is on the history of the colonization of the Philippines. I want to imply that each segmented body part of the puppet is like each segmented island part of the archipelago of the Philippines. Both are strung together and given life by something outside of its control. I was looking for imagery and movement to help inspire me when I luckily stumbled upon Disfarmer. It has definitely put me towards a nice direction. Unfortunately, Im studying in Toronto, Canada so I won't be able to see it.