Invernomuto
福々っとぶんちゃん / Blissful Bun-chan
a ghostly document of a performance by Keiji Haino, seen through a wandering cat
In 2023, Invernomuto (the name under which Simone Bertuzzi and Simone Trabucchi have worked together since 2003) was invited to develop the visual component for a live performance by Keiji Haino scheduled to take place in Turin. The European tour was ultimately cancelled due to the serious illness of one of Haino's beloved cats.
A couple of years later, Invernomuto and Haino-san unexpectedly met in a more personal and informal setting at La Becque Artist Residency, on the Swiss shores of Lake Leman. During his stay, Haino performed an intimate concert in the small village church nearby.
The work includes the show in its entirety, while Keiji Haino himself appears only as a ghostly retinal afterimage. Phaibun, La Becque's resident cat, wanders through the church as a liminal presence, suspended between two dimensions. The piece is intended to be perceived as a complete – yet almost invisible – concert document, in keeping with the region's enduring tradition of preserving live performances as audiovisual records.
The title 福々っとぶんちゃん Blissful Bun-chan evokes happiness and good fortune, suggesting a sense of overflowing blessing. It also gives Phaibun a strange, satisfied, almost remote presence, like a guardian statue – an association that resonates with the Korat cats’ traditional role as household or temple guardians.