Photographs of installation by Bernd Lauber, Installation at Galerie Lacen, May 2008
Flag print 80 x 140 cm edition of 8
Blond Ambition video & Flag installation
a Japanese artist portrays her complicated quest for her personal
and the national identity." International Film Festival Rotterdam 2009
How can we define Japan?What is a racial consciousness and how do we define our ethnic identity as an individual?
“Identity” can be only recognized where there is a difference. How do we define who and who doesn't belong to a nation ?
Are people competent to identify other people or is it something that we define by ourselves?
This work was mainly filmed on Maui, Hawaii. Interviewing people who are "Japanese" in their origins. What is the relationship we share to Japan?
The title “Blond
Ambition” comes from my experience in Japan during the late 90's.
Couple of years after the economic bubble had popped, it was hip to
get jobs
at newly opened western company branches. During this time, I was
surprised to see in Tokyo subways that many people of all ages had
dyed their hair other than black.I saw that this period was an
important social transition in Japanese society.
How can an individual express themselves and deal within the history and nationality that one did not choose but was born into ?
By physically writing the words on a red circle, I attempt to creates a relationship between real voices of people and a nation.I wanted to bring the personal visions onto anonymous flag, to confront these two elements. This act is an attempt to ask the public “Is a flag something that truly symbolize you?”
