Take it easy?
Year: 2001
Media: Installation (video 10 min, mixed media)
Venue: Kyoto City University of Arts
I made this installation, inspired by my emotional reaction to one of the annual events in Japan known as Ohanami (“Watching the flowers”). It is cherry blossom season between late March and April in Japan and the full bloom lasts only for a few days. People enjoy not only watching the cherry blossom but also eating and drinking under the fully bloomed cherry blossoms. Even after its peak bloom, people go to the mountain or the park and enjoy watching the cherry blossom falling.
However, I don’t like this event. I cannot enjoy Ohanami among the crowd. Ohanami, sports events, karaoke, festivals – these events are generally enjoyable for everyone but they are not for me. I tend to be obsessed that I must enjoy these events at the same pace as everyone else. I want to be relaxed and enjoy these events.
At the exhibition I displayed some pictures of different scenes such as office worker’s karaoke, university student’s party and Ohanami. These pictures are low-speed photographed and out of focus. I displayed them with used clothes and cherry blossoms made of “wash (Japanese paper)”. On final day we had dinner with visitors.
