Borderless: In Perspective

My old photo piece is part in a group art show.

Borderless: In Perspective, LiTE-HAUS Galerie+ Projecraum, Berlin, Germany　

This photograph is from the very first art project “Order Made Family” that I hold in 1995.

Here is a description about the photo.

Nikki’s Family: Order Made Family, Peekaboo art project

Photograph 1995

Due to my questions that many Japanese people still persist an idea of patriarchal stereotype family, I held Order Made Family, a participatory public art project, on the street in Tokyo. The project asked passersby to define the word family. Would it involve living together, or being related to each other by blood, financial ties, or emotional bonds? Each participant chose from a list of possible individuals of who would embody their ideal family picture. These individuals neither had to be parallel to their actual family make-up, nor did the artwork have to visually match the label or identity of that family member. Then they had to pick Peekaboo-sculptures to present each of the individuals they had selected. 

Now, numbering over 100, these life-sized Peekaboo-sculptures include various ages, races, and nationalities. The Peekaboo-sculpture selected didn’t have to reflect the actual age, sex, race, or nationality, or even animated creature state of that family member who, in turn, already may not mirror the participant’s actual family make-up. After each Peekaboo-sculpture had been picked, it was labeled to identify who that sculpture represents in the family. I asked other passersby to help sticking their faces through the Peekaboo-sculptures to take their virtual family pictures.  Commemorative photographs that match the numbers of participants were taken with instant camera, and the photograph was given to each participant as a souvenir.

Resulting family portraits included members who were multinational, same-sex, cohabitating friends, and even aliens in addition to more traditional combinations, all of were borderless and explored modern interpretations of the definition of family.  

This Nikki’s family photograph is one from about 800 family portraits that taken at Order Made Family during 1994-2000 in Harajuku, Shinjuku, and Kouenji in Tokyo, Japan.