Stom Sogo

Directing

Stom Sogo

Born January 13, 1975 · Osaka - Japan

Died July 1, 2012 · aged 37

A dynamo whose thunderous potential was cut short by his premature death in July 2012, Japanese moving-image artist Stom Sogo was a romantic rebel if ever there was one. For over two decades he created a hair-raising, retina-burning body of distinctive and aggressively beautiful films and videos. His psychically charged work revels in optic and aural attacks just as much as it attempts a sincere c…

Known For

RepeatRepeat · 2006
Repeat
2006
Movie
Video by Stom Sogo.
Slow DeathSlow Death · 2000
Slow Death
2000
Movie
"A vaporous, stop-motion continuum of barely legible images dynamized by a pulsating electronic soundtrack. Although he draws on a bunch of avant-garde classics from Ernie Gehr’s Reverberation to Brakhage’s hand-painted films, Sogo’s voice is assured and all his own." (Amy Taubin)
PastPast · 2010
Past
2010
Movie
Re-edit of earlier Super8 home movies with a melancholic soundtrack. One of Stom's last completed works prior to his death.
Lika (Licre)Lika (Licre) · 2007
Lika (Licre)
2007
Movie
"Lika is a glimpse into the mesmerizing world of Stom Sogo: a lush kaleidoscope of manipulated video fragments set to an entrancing electronic score. Lika subverts common signifying processes as it weaves rhythmic variations of radiant textures into a captivating immersive experience, equally mysterious and seductive in its masterful play with degrees of abstraction." (Tomonari Nishikawa)
Periodical EffectPeriodical Effect · 2002
Periodical Effect
2002
Movie
"Her again??? But, well, it's out of my body like no heroin for a year. And their inner lights fade into TV monitor with no signal at all. And my ep spins endless." (Stom Sogo, 2002 NYUFF program notes)
Space CatSpace Cat · 1999
Space Cat
1999
Movie
"The film begins within Thoreauan-Brakhage territory, with black-and-white shots of leaves in a forest. Slowly, to the sounds of electronic noise, the images transform into blotchy green, yellow and purple compositions that become increasingly abstract through an array of techniques like hand-processing, painting on the film, and multiple re-photography of projected images. Sogo’s candy-colored outer space of handmade coronae takes the viewer on what feels like a bizarre, overpowering journey through the filmmaker’s own singular, labyrinthine mind." (Ed Halter)
Silver PlaySilver Play · 2001
Silver Play
2001
Movie
"It's all coming out of Mexico. Surreal gets so real. And invader from England, France or Spain found the taste of cactus cocktail. That makes this movie sweat, ha?" (Stom Sogo)
TriTri · 2004
Tri
2004
Movie
"Try was originally shot on Super-8mm film and then re-shot on video. The idea was to have the image of young kids kissing forever. Ecstasy here is so wasted." (Stom Sogo)

Filmography

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