Moko Fukuyama, American Recordings, Act I: American Harvest, 2021
HD, color, sound, 57:40 minutes
Music composition by Yo! Vinyl Richie

The first film of Fukuyama’s American Recordings series, Act I: American Harvest, centers on Iowa—where Fukuyama lived from 1997–1998 as a high school exchange student from Japan. She returned in the week leading up to the 2020 presidential election, intentionally reconnecting with the state at a pivotal moment in American history. Inaugurating the exploration of American public discourse that she pursues throughout the acts of American Recordings, Fukuyama’s film questions how the dual registers of personal experience and national political stakes impact the ways people engage in conversations with one another. 

In the making of Act I: American Harvest, Fukuyama traveled to cities and towns across Iowa to speak with a range of individuals, including those she already knew and those she met in passing. The artist interweaves segments from these filmed discussions to propose an imagined dialogue among these dispersed—and, in many cases, divergent—voices. The result is at once a record of perspectives that pertain to the current period in the United States and a reflection on the throughlines of national mythology that have persisted for generations. 

Throughout the film, Fukuyama offers a meditation on her own position as both listener and narrator. Adopting the style of the popular Lo-Fi Girl YouTube channel, the artist portrays herself articulating her thoughts at a secluded desk next to a window. The aperture beside her offers views into scenes and landscapes that run in parallel with her monologue, including the performance LEVEL PLAYING FIELD (2021) that Fukuyama staged during a residency hosted by The Kitchen at Queenslab. From this vantage, Fukuyama draws out connections across the collective exchange while contending with the limits of what can be communicated between subject positions.

To learn more about the series American Recordings, click here.

Production Credits

Filmed & Edited By: Moko Fukuyama

Music Composition: Yo! Vinyl Richie

LEVEL PLAYING FIELD Performance Production: Andy Barrett, Nana Hiramatsu, Joel Morrison, and Aaron Suggs

Scriptwriting: Michael Mount and Moko Fukuyama

Script Editors: Aaron Suggs, Lesley Ann Ferguson, and Alison Burstein

Animation, drone, and high-speed camera work: Haoyan of America

Production Manager: Zack Tinkelman

Production Coordinator: Mariana Catalina

Lighting Design: Mike Faba

Stylist: Wieteke Heldens