This installation is about inclusiveness-it is possible to imagine that even in Japan, we can create a classroom made up of everyone and anyone, from young children to the elderly, representing different ethnicities or different countries from all over the world...even including animals and aliens from another planet...
The installation calls into question the current state of educational system in Japan where majority of children are organized by age and place of residence, and confined to the school environment within that strict boundary. Most of us takes this framework as a given and rarely question it, however, I propose to create a space where we can imagine the possibility of truly diverse educational system-that regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, or any other visible characteristics [that seem to separate us], we can all live together in the same space and share the same educational experience together. To engage the audience in considering this, I employed a seemingly pop and cute device, the "Mix-n-Match Classroom."
In Mix-n-Match Classroom, participants were asked to answer a series of questions and choose their ideal classmate from variety of "Kaodashi-kun" cut-out figures for the installation. All the "classmates" chosen by the participants were gathered inside the actual classroom in the former Gokusho Elementary School building for display. The Gokusho Elementary School had been closed and abandoned but it opened its doors to their mix-n-match students for a limited time during this installation.
「日本でも、子どもからお年寄り、さまざまな人種や世界の人々、はては動物や宇宙人がクラスメイトになれるはずだ」ということをテーマとしたインスタレーションです。
これは日本の教育現場に疑問を投げかける作品です。日本ではほとんどの場合、同じ世代同士で学年を区切り、居住区域も区切り、その単位でしか教育機会が与えられていません。これに対して私達日本人が疑問に思う事は普段ほとんどありません。しかし、人は年齢・性別・民族などを超えてともに教育を受け・共生し得るのではないかと考え、そこで一見ポップでかわいい作品「きせかえ学級」を通じ、観客に問題提起してみました。
