If you were asked to define the word“family,”how would you respond? Would it involve living together, or being related to each other by blood, financial ties, or emotional bonds? And so, what would your ideal family look like?
Participants are asked to choose from a list of possible individuals those they would include in their ideal family picture, regardless of reality. For example, the selection pool includes categories not normally considered part of a family unit, such as “lover,”“friend,”“boyfriend/girlfriend,”and “acquaintance.”In addition, one is also able to have any number of desired family members, such as five mothers and/or eight fathers. Finally, the participant is never left to his or her own devices to make their decisions; Aozora Art staff members are always on hand to discuss the participant's choices and any possible alternatives to their perfect virtual family.
Once participants have settled on whom to include in their ideal family, they then have to pick Peek-a-Boo board (life-sized cut-out stand-ins) to represent each of the individuals they had selected. Now numbering almost 100, these life-size boards include not just typical family constituents such as mothers, fathers, grandparents, and children but figures of various ages and races or nationalities, and even creative identities such as geisha, drag queens, and cowboys and cowgirls. The Peek-a-Boo board selected does not have to reflect the actual age, sex, race or nationality, or even animated state of that family member, who in turn already may not mirror the participant's actual family make-up. After each Peek-a-Boo board has been picked, it is labeled with a“family name tag” to identify who that board represents in the family and a souvenir photo is taken with either the participant or an Aozora Art staff member sticking their face through the cut-out.
Each and every family picture is interesting and informative. For example, many participants include“grandfather”and“grandmother,”and seem to favor large extended families. With the increasing predominance of the nuclear family unit in Japan in recent years, especially in urban areas, perhaps this reflects a desire to retrieve what has been lost. In addition, while elderly participants tend to create family portraits that correspond very closely to their actual family make-up, young men tend to choose“myself, lover, and pet”and young women,“myself, friend, and pet.”
「あなたにとっての家族の定義とは何か？一緒に住むことなのか、血縁関係なのか、経済的なことなのか、精神的なものなのか？」「では、理想の家族像とは？」という、問いかけで構成されているインスタレーションです。
それぞれの創作した家族はとても興味深く、例えば家族の中に祖父母を入れる人が多く、大家族に憧れる傾向があるように思えました。
年配の方は現実の家族をそのままなぞる傾向があり、若い男性は「自分、愛人、ペット」、若い女性は「自分、友達、ペット」という選択が目につきました。
参加人数 : 129人
