Gojira,
This body of images is built around my fantasies as a Westerner about the Japanese island of Oshima, home of the Gojira monster. In Japanese movies from the 1960s, this prehistoric lizard served both as a metaphor of the United States and an allegory of nuclear weapons in general. The frightening beast was the product of nuclear testing and embodied the fear of numerous Japanese people towards the bombings that occurred in 1945.
This series deals with my personal vision of the island through its myths, its history and its landscapes. By means of assembly, editing and collage, I am able to create the right image of a place I have never been to. In my work, I especially try to focus on questions of scale and proportion, which is a way of reminding us that the atomic bomb connects the very small to the very powerful.
Artist Statement
" I work with the limits of photography, and play with its indicial character. Thus, this work presents images of an island that I have never visited and of which there are only a very few representations.
This body of images is built around my fantasies as a Westerner about the Japanese island of Oshima, home of the Gojira monster. In Japanese movies from the 1960s, this prehistoric lizard served both as a metaphor of the United States and an allegory of nuclear weapons in general. The frightening beast was the product of nuclear testing and embodied the fear of numerous Japanese people towards the bombings that occurred in 1945.
This series deals with my personal vision of the island through its myths, its history and its landscapes. By means of assembly, editing and collage, I am able to create the right image of a place I have never been to. In my work, I especially try to focus on questions of scale and proportion, which is a way of reminding us that the atomic bomb connects the very small to the very powerful.
Each picture offers no context at all: an air strike and simple darts, a sunset or bomb hitting the ground, tourists bathing in a corner of the sea, and victims of a shipwreck caused by the monster. This work uses a variety of styles and cultural references to sketch the outlines of the island of Oshima, home to the Gojira monster, and its history."
No comments:
Post a Comment