Flag installation and video still
Blond Ambition Photographs of installation by Bernd Lauber, Installation at Galerie Lacen, May 2008
Flag print 80 x 140 cm edition of 3
Video 4'14
"Short and exciting video in which a Japanese artist portrays her complicated quest for her personal
and the national identity." International Film Festival Rotterdam 2009
and the national identity." International Film Festival Rotterdam 2009
Laughter is what I identify as being Japanese.
How can we define Japan?
What is a racial consciousness and how do we define our ethnic identity as an individual?
Blond Ambition is a video installation that invites audience participation. Participants take off their shoes, walk across a soft white carpet, and sit on hard cushions while watching a screen on a round red table that symbolizes the "rising sun." The installation draws inspiration from the Japanese flag, with its red circle representing the emperor, as well as the historic Fumi-e practice, in which Christians were forced to stomp on representations of Jesus as a form of faith renunciation. This experience highlights issues of nationalism and belonging—identities that people did not choose.
The project, shot mostly on Maui, Hawaii, involves interviews with people of Japanese origin about their links to Japan.
The title "Blond Ambition" reflects my observations in Japan in the late 1990s, a period of considerable societal change defined by the entry of Western corporations into the market and shifting hair color trends among Japanese people of all ages. The installation questions the ways individuals construct their identities based on unchosen histories and nations. The flag imagery is based on phrases from the video, representing the intricate links between individuals and Japan.
For detail information :
mikinitadoriblondambition.blogspot.com
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