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Artists
MARIKO MORI
Mariko Mori lives and works in New York. Oneness is an allegory of connectedness, a representation of the disappearance of boundaries between the self and others. It is a symbol of the acceptance of otherness and a model for overcoming national and cultural borders. It also is a representation of the Buddhist concept of oneness, of the world existing as one interconnected organism.
Little
is known about the personal life of Mariko Mori. She is believed to been
born in Tokyo in to be married to the composer Ken Ideka.
The artist graduated from the Bunka Fashion College (Tokyo) in 1988 and
spent most of her teenage years working there as a fashion model. Later
that year, feeling restrained by the Japanese ethic of uniformity, she
moved to London attending the Byam Shaw School of Art (1988-89), and
Chelsea College of Art, London (1989-92). Since she studied on an
Independent Study Program at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New
York (1992-93), Mariko continues to work and live both there and in
Tokyo.
The avant-garde artist Mariko Mori combines pop art, self-portraits,
modern technology and Buddhist ideologies in her art. Post-modern
Cyberfeminism, futuristic images, you can get it all, visiting one of
her exhibitions.
In her early self-portraits (photos) she shows herself in the female
roles in her native Japan: the official lady, the schoolgirl, the
prostitute. She is not a “normal” woman, however, but she shows herself
as a cyborg, a kind of robot, mechanical and sexless. As we can’t escape
the advancement of technology we must embrace it and use it…
"We've
fallen into a fin-de-siecle period of crisis in which people believe
only the things they see right in front of them" - Mariko Mori -
The cyborgs are developing, they become less human. As Mariko makes
videos, we can watch the more alien-like cyborgs moving, dancing. The
titles of her works are pessimistic in tone. They are warning us of
mappo, the dark period of moral decline before the arrival of the
future Buddha. This moral decline is due to a mixture of consumerism and
advanced technology. Mariko is not only pessimistic, because she has an
answer. She combines technology with traditional Buddhist beliefs.
On the exhibition in Groningen there are four panoramic colour
photographs, called Esoteric Cosmos (1996-98), with the names
Entropy of Love, Burning Desire, Mirror of Water and Pure Land.
They symbolise the four elements of nature as defined by Buddhist
teaching. Mariko transforms human images in a strange landscape, a kind
of utopian world.
One of the examples of her videos you can watch is Miko no Inori.
Mariko is outfitted entirely in white, looking like an alien, caressing
a crystal ball in her hands. In the meanwhile Mariko’s voice can be
heard, singing.
A
very impressive
project of hers is the “Wave UFO”. Only recently has technology
advanced far enough to be able to realize this work of art. Now the
audience can utilise their own brain activity …
I think
all kinds of fantasy and dreams are very important to our life.
(Mariko interviewed by Blair 1995).
"
For a short impression, have a look at:
If this video has stopped,
you see small pictures at the bottom.
Click on these, for more impressions of the exhibition.
