Goldfish Fetish

Helmut Herbst, a director talks about this experimental movie and explains some of its techniques in this video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EliFauneu_E], the prominent influence being of Tanaami's childhood war episode in which he did see flashes of light reflected in his grandmother's fish tank. He was watching from his underground shelter and the goldfish in the tank reflected the bright light of flames and the orange light of the sky lit by bombs.

Really poetic considering the times but the work doesn't really capture the essence of war, especially in this era, but on the other hand, translating this work as psychedelic nonsense is also showing a ... lack of skill. Looking at the artist's life we could say it is his relationship over the years with his motif and how he translates this in art (in later videos he draws female faces like goldfish), but even this lacks a real comprehension. Also, with his high-framed images, he really tries to enter his audience's subconscious and maybe if you're high you could see in this how a flying goldfish created the universe.

Overall, it's your typical Tanaami work, with buried sexual imagery, weird sound and music juxtaposed with his inner world. No real surrealism, but more looking at oneself with postmodern eyes. At 82 as this year, he still has expositions and his art is still blooming. And don't worry, it will not induce a weird fetish for goldfish.