Yu-Mé, 1972
Single-channel video (transferred from 16 mm film), run time 5:06
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution
Long fascinated by the moon, Toshiko Takaezu was deeply inspired by the 1969 Apollo mission. At around this time, she began joining large bowls together to create spherical forms. Similarly evocative imagery also appears in her work in fiber, and in her one-off experiments with screen-printing created during her time at the Penland School of Craft. Takaezu also collaborated on a short film titled Yu-Mé focused on a 1971 ceramic work of the same name. As the camera orbits Takaezu’s own face, and then Yu-Mé—tracing its thrown ridges, crater-like airhole, and brush-mark pathways—it appears as if we are watching a lunar flyover.