I think that's a very interesting way of looking at things. I wonder how it would be possible (would it even be possible?) for Oomiya's ideal style to become plausible.

Thankyou for an enlightening read. I think your interpretation is sublime! Every question answered leads to another question asked... Can we see some of Seiryou's images?

In Utena 'breath' must often be held: held for escape from drowning. The recurrant theme of drowning: young utena rescued from a river, Touga's cat, Juri's sister, bubbles breaking 'Adolescence's scenes like that on the water's surface, each a trapped exhalation! Utena's stay in Ohtori sometimes seems as if it is taken in one breath. Something shifts in Utena like the change made to someone who has been to the brink of drowning only to be rescued.

It even looks like a reflection on the water's surface! Its a bit haunting isn't it... Those branches hide ominous shapes but that movement is captured well. A bit like the Cubist's fractured images - presenting more than one angle and more than one moment.

Last edited by abraXas365 (07-06-2007 04:32:53 AM)

That really does tie in nicely.  Good sleuthing, Almaser.

Though the real detective work is to find the origin of "Anthropoperipherism," heh.

Impressive there, Almaser. You've succeeded in making me aware all over again of the abyssmal depth of SKU. Sometimes I wonder what kind of person Ikuhara is....This new insight just leads me to more questions...

Archambeau wrote:

Though the real detective work is to find the origin of "Anthropoperipherism," heh.

Utena Translation notes for ep 23 wrote:

DS23::   given the name Anthropoperipherism.
I don't think such a term really exists, but the Japanese "jindousetsu" seems to be a made-up term analogized from "chidousetsu" (heliocentricism) and "tendousetsu" (geocentricism).

I think the translators just kinda pulled the word out of their ass, but the explanation of the Japanese origin of 'jindousetsu' is interesting in the context of this artist's idea in photography, and definitely applicable in the series.

There's an thought here of how a character like Mikage, or even Nemuro still, would interpret and apply Homo-Movens. In his mind the image captures the nature of time and motion for people, but he's interpreting it wrong in that to him, it functions like a camcorder. He's using the idea to create a permanence in one moment of life specifically, capturing the past when that's clearly not what the artist is trying to do. There's a lot of emphasis by the artist on the fluidity of life, that it's ever-changing, and Mikage sorta grasps the first part and misses the second. It's a misinterpretation but not an irrational one; to him the idea here isn't constant change, but that a chain of events, more than you can capture in a single picture, can be captured and repeated every time you 'look at the photograph'. There's an image of Mamiya on his desk. That image itself changes in a literal sense, since it was clearly of the real Mamiya at some point and it changed to the false one. But also, you could view it almost like to Mikage, that picture is the application of Homo-Movens, because it's an image that captures a period of time and lets him relive it over and over, as if that picture literally is alive in the Mamiya he speaks to now. In some deep and abstract way, maybe there is some understanding to him that Mamiya is dead, and he's just reliving Mamiya's life by watching a home movie over and over. The concept of 'fluidity' comes to him as being able to interact with that memory as though it were still alive.

I am making no sense. It's clear in my head but I have no idea how to articulate what I'm trying to get at here.

Wow, I've never heard of the Homo-Movens theory! That's an awesome essay.

Almaser wrote:

I HAVE MADE A GREAT DISCOVERY!

... Now that the self-aggrandizing is done, I really have made a discovery I think will interest many.

In the song "I Am an Imaginary Living Body," the phrase 'Anthropoperipherism' is not used at all. The kanji used, 人動説 Jindousetsu, can in fact be traced to a fairly obscure Japanese artist named Masarou Oomiya, who translates his term as "Homo-movens Theory." In other words, a theory of human motion.

He describes it thus (my translation);

Seiryou Oomiya wrote:

Until now, humanity has stood and watched, lived by thought, and created art. However, in the present day, people observe things while moving, are pressed upon by the need to consider them, and are even made to imitate them.  And so, even when in a state of rest, humans have become unable to escape this behaviour of 'mobile viewing.'
The latter half of "Breathing Landscapes" came about because even in photographs, I wanted to act as I wished.

Essentially, "Homo-Movens Theory Art" has no perspective. I wanted to create photographs which ignored perspective and had many points of focus. An important point is that humans do not view things in precise units of time. People should be able to enjoy both the time it takes them to consider an object and the afterimage. Furthermore, I personally dislike such lonely moments as 1/100th or 1/1000th of a second. Inside an instant, I desire a long or even a short breath. Breath is surplus. Breath is the rhythmn of human life. Having said there, no matter where you look, no one is selling a 'Camera that Breathes.' So having no other options, I began by making a camera that could breathe. It took roughly three years, and the result was one that, while awkward, moved as though taking breath. Thus did my photographs become (at times lengthily, and at other times slimly) "Breathing Photographs."

So, what is Homo-Movens Theory then, and why does it relate to Mikage?

My personal interpretation of Oomiya's statements is that he wants to express the motion of existence through photography, rather than stationary, isolated instances. This could be related to Mikage's own yearnings for eternity. In particular, what Mamiya says;

Mamiya wrote:

Eternity means that this moment lasts billions of billions of years, without end.

And what Mikage says to Utena before their duel:

Mikage wrote:

I know that you're the same as myself.
Your eyes are like those people who can't help wanting to make memories last forever.

It's the idea of making moments and memories last eternally that the Homo-Movens Theory and Mikage share - both want to capture life, but allow it to continue. Nemuro's attempts to keep Mamiya alive (which led to his becoming Mikage) mirror Oomiya's endeavours to create photographic representation of linear motion. Both are struggling to keep what they observe from fading, or becoming motionless.

Anyway, it's not a well-hammered-out theory, but it's what's come to me so far since I discovered the Homo-Movens Theory. Any thoughts?

Edit: Masarou. His name is Masarou. You wacky Japanese!

Almaser wrote:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y1/almaser/oomiya.jpg
The apparently iconic image of Homo-Movens Theory Art. I quite like it.

Gio brought up an interesting point on MSN earlier, too. Mikage is surrounded by the symbol of photographs. They coat the walls, they identify him as belonging to the past, and most importantly, they are the vessel by which the memory of Mamiya is expressed during his duel. This repetition of the image so often, coupled with the inclusion of Homo-movens theory in the duel song, makes me think that Ikuhara was very well versed in artistic conceptions of time and eternity.

Edit: Fixed for bad link

Does anyone know where to find more of his work other than the above image?  I love this idea and look and I want more!

Last edited by LadyButterflyNebula (07-25-2017 11:11:31 AM)

I was trying to investigate this too, to see if it was true that anthroperipherism was an error. It does seem that that word was probably made up for the sake of translating 人動説. When I looked that up, I got this thread and some things about Oomiya, as well as other people using the term as a counterpoint to geocentrism (天動説) and heliocentrism (地動説).

So I wanted to know whether Oomiya said it first. I struggled to find sources indicating when Oomiya first used the term, only that he did work along those lines decades ago. However, I did find one very old source: a 1977 J.A. Seazer album. It's possible that Oomiya was first (although the post above suggests he might not have used the term earlier than the 90s), but I couldn't find any connection between Seazer and Oomiya.

In short, I think they both used 人動説 independently of each other, either way with a meaning related to humans revolving around other things in the universe. Maybe the translation ought to be changed to something that conveys that meaning more obviously, but I'm not convinced that Homo-movens theory is the true origin of 人動説.



(PS: Hi! Obviously I'm new here.)

Last edited by purple-riot (08-02-2017 11:07:08 PM)