Toshio Matsumoto (1932-2017)
Shift (1982)
Director: Toshio Matsumoto
Year: 1982
Time: 9 mins
Music: Yasuke Inagaki


One of Matsumoto's last shorts, Shift is also among his most impressive works. Through the use of what was at the time state-of-the-art video technology, Matsumoto decomposes a residential building in horizontal stripes, thus tearing down its balance and symmetry. The tense and sombre electronic drones of Inagaki, frequent collaborator of the director, provide Matsumoto's puzzle-like graphics with a further layer of unrest: strategies against architecture for a pivotal piece in experimental film-making of the 80s.