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BOXES beyond borders

Category: Male

Rhino Blues

Man, always satisfying his external passions, has no compassion regarding the sovereignty of our land, devastating, polluting, annihilating.  His only urge is to satisfy the emptiness of his soul, feeding it with all sorts of possessions and pleasures, little by little forgetting the search in his spirit for answers.

The fauna and flora die at his feet, dedicating their horns, nails, and bones to unending sexual gluttony.  Thousands and thousands of little seahorses, tigers, and rhinoceroses disappear from the planet becoming powder and potions that man will later use to ingest and, as a result, feel manly, virile, or fertile psychologically.

These three blue horns represent nostalgia of the rhinoceros at the feet of man.  They are the ghosts that circulate his bed after he, man, has proven his virile fortitude once again.

 

An American Girl

Is there no greater suffering than “An American Girl, Shopping For A Husband”? In her single days, she would cry and cry over lost loves, covet the sacred purchases of keepsakes in hope for love, and dream endlessly for the one– a final purchase of the dream guy and live happily ever after.

Medium: The box, Ukranian egg dyes, silver and gold spray paint, floral wire, embroidery thread, wood ball, buttons and dominos, netting, yarn, plastic shopping bags, things girls buy, one groomsman cut in half, newspaper clipping, wire, crotchet needle, Modge Podge and Tacky glue.

Made By Woman

Although it is very difficult for me to think in the terms of ‘feminist’ art (or any kind of separation between the men- women activities), I can’t avoid the context of the Women Beyond Borders project. So I created the double box out of the single one. What inspired me was the fact found in the catalogue that the original wooden boxes had been constructed by a man (called Jack). Inside this wooden box I have put the soft textile box sewn by myself.

The work corresponds with the pattern of sharing the work: men build houses while women make home of them. Such a box is still staying empty, waiting for a real (probably common) issue. Besides this, I simply enjoy sewing.

REFERENCES:

Joseph Beuys: felt textile

United Colors of Benetton: bright colors, social dimension of dressing

‘Titanic,’ the movie: Jack & Rose relationship

My past works: ‘Portable Home’ project

Bluebeard’s New Room

Continuation of the Bluebeard Legend:

In a crystal-clear night in February 1996, Bluebeard suddenly appeared in front of me and asked me to design for him a new and secret room which would no longer bring a woman misfortune, but would fan the flames of her yearning. I nodded assent and immediately started working. I built a blue-shimmering space out of mirrors and semi-translucent walls with numerous peepholes. Deep inside I enclosed my secret. I nailed tight the transparent entrance doors. In the pale light of morning, Bluebeard returns. In his curiosity he bent over the little box, — and then he dissolved in blue smoke. [Bluebeard’s Redemption]

Until Death Do Us Part

In my home country, Japan, there is a legend for girls that says that their prospective husbands have their little toes tied up to them with an invisible red thread. I used to believe in this legend as well. In my opinion it is wonderful to be able to believe in such a thing.

Since we’re infants, we are educated to play a role either as a woman or as man. I still remember when I used to play house-dolls with my friends and how much we enjoyed playing the mother’s role, like all the mothers of every mother. It is a simple but very pleasing memory that all women have inside. However, nowadays I often feel a victim of the male order and often wonder what can I do about it.

I was thinking of this as I was making my box and I felt like I was playing with dolls again because I was doing typical housework tasks such as sewing, washing, and ironing.

I hope you will tender my piece during the traveling exhibition as if it were our collective memory, which men will never be able to understand. And please, wash it and iron it when needed.

P.S. Do you know what? In Japanese, when we say “to get married” we use the word “to be tied up.” In the end, every princess will be tied up to their blue prince.