This series consists of Yasumasa Morimura’s video work, and related photographic works produced in 1990. This was Morimura’s first video work.
The motif of this video work is Man Ray’s Tonsure. The photograph depicts the crown of Marcel Duchamp head which is shaved in the shape of a star.
This video work has three chapters. The camera follows the movements of Morimura in his homage to Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp.
The first chapter takes place in Morimura’s atelier in Tsuruhashi, Osaka where he is shaving the crown of his head in the shape of a star. In the second chapter, adorned with a freshly shaven star on crown of his head, Morimura can be seen visiting various tourist locations throughout Kyoto such as the Heian Shine and the Golden Pavilion. In one scene he is in Shinkyogoku Street, a famous shopping district in the middle of Kyoto, where he collapses onto the ground, his arms and legs splayed out in the shape of a star, surrounded by a group of onlookers. In the last chapter, Morimura visits the storage facility of a museum. He makes his way onto the exhibition floor and passes by works by Duchamp one by one. Finally, he disrobes in front of Duchamp’s Fresh Widow (a work that is a miniature of French windows). The color of the image becomes inverted, and it is implied that Morimura has gone beyond the windows to the mountains of Kamogawa in Kyoto City. The film ends with the image of a bright red smile climbing into the sky above the mountains, a reference to Man Ray’s Lips. Throughout the film, Morimura never looks back at the camera; we are simply faced with the star shaved into the crown of his head.
The first and third chapter are shot in color and the second chapter is black and white.