Bustutai

In 2001 Gert Verhoeven presented ’The Blob’. This video is an account of the World Pumpkin Confederation Contest in the United States. The style is similar to a documentary, but it is extremely fragmented for lack of a storyline or any clarification. We keep undergoing astonishing images of gigantic pumpkins, constantly being subject to curious tests and manoeuvres, meanwhile a voice-over makes dubious and rambling comments. With a strong degree of tongue-in-cheek and cynicism Verhoeven insinuates a parallel between the absurd rituals of this competition and the mechanisms in which all the objects in the socio-economical system –as well as the art world – are being treated and traded. The sequel, ’Bustatai’, tells the same story in the same ambiguous tone, but now it is situated at the Giant Pumpkin Contest in Japan, which adds an extra dimension. Referring to themes like globalisation and post-colonialism, question marks are being placed behind traditional worldviews and patterns of expectancy. Is this a typically Japanese, simplistic simulation or is there more to it than that ?