#MazeOfMetamorphosis According to an estimation by the Japanese government, there are about one million people in the Country who live a life of self reclusion. They remain inside their house for years without any social interaction. Hikikomori phenomenon is a typical cultural syndrome that can be understood not only as an escape from too demanding school and work standards but also as an extreme protest against violent conformism.
After a three-months-long continuous research I finally came in contact with a self isolated man who accepted to be portrayed by me. I knew it was going to be difficult to gain his trust, precisely because those who isolate themselves from the world do it by definition because they don't want to have contact with it. I was ready for his refusal, even at the last moment, and I would have respected his will. Anyway, he accepted me to enter his house.
I asked to Fumihiro Yoshino (a butoh performer) to become the space of the room. I used a plexiglass cube to represent this space too, as a barrier. As I learned from butoh dance, I didn't ask Yoshino for anything in particular, just to be the space of the room, waiting for things to happen. My project on the one hand wants to illustrate social issues, but on the other wants to do it in an unusual and artistic way, letting things happen in front of me, and butoh dance has proved to be an excellent means, precisely because it is a form of non-conceptual, meaningless art that freely leads people to occupy a space and change in it. The metamorphosis concerns the subject, but also the viewer.
After a three-months-long continuous research I finally came in contact with a self isolated man who accepted to be portrayed by me. I knew it was going to be difficult to gain his trust, precisely because those who isolate themselves from the world do it by definition because they don't want to have contact with it. I was ready for his refusal, even at the last moment, and I would have respected his will. Anyway, he accepted me to enter his house.
I asked to Fumihiro Yoshino (a butoh performer) to become the space of the room. I used a plexiglass cube to represent this space too, as a barrier. As I learned from butoh dance, I didn't ask Yoshino for anything in particular, just to be the space of the room, waiting for things to happen. My project on the one hand wants to illustrate social issues, but on the other wants to do it in an unusual and artistic way, letting things happen in front of me, and butoh dance has proved to be an excellent means, precisely because it is a form of non-conceptual, meaningless art that freely leads people to occupy a space and change in it. The metamorphosis concerns the subject, but also the viewer.
ISBN 978-1-71-417269-6
https://youtu.be/Uqi_LVYoejo