La Chambre Claire at New National Theatre Tokyo

Takatani Shiro is a founding member of Dumb Type, an artist collective composed of artists from a variety of disciplines which include architecture, dance, music, video, fine art and design. The group has been shaking up the art world ever since its formation in 1984. La Chambre Claire, which premiered in 2008, was Takatani's first solo directorial effort. The piece is in part homage to a treatise on photography, also entitled La Chambre claire (Camera Lucida in English), written by Roland Barthes. La chambre claire is also French for "camera lucida", the name of the optical device used for centuries by artists to allow them to view a virtual image of their subject superimposed over the drawing surface. In his book, Barthes explores the relationship between photography and death. He writes, "Not only is the Photograph never, in essence, a memory... but it actually blocks memory, quickly becomes a counter-memory." Takatani's piece promises to take the audience on an exploration of their own inner spaces and memories.