kaz

Single video projection with mirror ball and mirror ball motor

The word ‘meiso’ can mean either meditation or literally ‘running (around) lost’ in Japanese. The site specific installation was produced for the exhibition celebrating the life and work of Fujio Akatsuka, a pioneering Japanese manga artist, known as the king of gag manga.

The exhibition Demolishing the Former Office Building of Fujio Productions (September - November 2022) took place in Tokyo in former home of Akatsuka which was also where he worked and housed his production company. The building is scheduled for demolition due to old age, and artists were given the task of producing work with some connection to Fujio Akatsuka or/and his work.

Kaz was invited to exhibit in what was originally built as a meditation room on the top floor of the house. Akatsuka was inspired to build this space after having seen that one of his friends had a meditation room in his home. The room’s life as a space for meditation was short lived as when Akatsuka first attempted to meditate, he came out of the room after 30 minutes, saying ‘it’s boring!!’ It was never used as a meditation room since.

For Meiso, Kaz selected around a dozen images which depicted the night sky with stars or space from over 200 episodes of ‘Tensai Bakabon’, one of Akatsuka’s best known works. These images were edited together as a sequence of stills, which dissolved into one another, to be project onto a rotating mirrorball.

The fragmented images of the stars and the galaxy reflected off the mirrorball changes constantly, swirling around the room to create an illusion of movement, making it difficult to make sense of the projected images. The meaning always remaining elusive.

Juxtaposition of the domestic setting of the room and the cosmic imagery created by the projection presents viewers with the mundane and an extraordinary scenery at the same time. Further more, the work is meant to be viewed one person at a time and the constantly shifting imagery enables an immersive experience and a space for contemplation and reflection.