The project traces how the constructed image of Wabi-Sabi stems from self-consciousness of the ruling party of Japan from the gaze of countries during the mid-19th century and the role it plays in shaping Japan national identity abroad and within. The installation stages exercises that help identify what Wabi-Sabi is, inspired by the vast interpretations of what Wabi-Sabi is from multiple media outlets, being performed by the designer. The designer uses their identity of being born in England to Japanese parents and their personal position of being in the ‘in-between’ to demonstrate the absurdity of having to perform acts of ethnicity to live up to the perceptions of national identity that people have.
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Multimedia installation
Photo by Moe Asari
