>>> Cyberfeminism and Mechanical Sex

Cyberfeminism

The office ladies and schoolgirls that appear in Mariko Mori's early work are not ordinary women, that is, they are cybernetic organisms ('cyborgs') - a mix between science fiction fantasy and everyday existence. In her influential and ironic work, A Cyborg Manifesto (1991), Donna Haraway declared that in the twenty-first century, women should begin to take pleasure in mixing the boundaries between the natural and the artificial (Haraway 1991). Women should no longer attempt to change the male fantasy, or indeed eradicate it, instead, they must take control of it and subvert it for their own pleasure. By becoming cyborgs (or 'techNobodies'), women can become the "ultimate self untied at last from all dependency" (Cutler 2002).

In her work, Mariko photographs cyborgs performing traditional female tasks in Japanese culture such as the geisha serving male customers tea and also scenes from contemporary popular culture - the anime warrior and the plastic pop star. At first glance these images appear to "submit to society's dominating fantasies" (Cohen 1997), however, on closer inspection, it becomes apparent that we are not watching real women simply obeying patriarchal notions of femininity. Instead, we are being slowly seduced by images of female flesh machines that have slyly perverted the male dream for their own pleasure. Lee Bul is another artist who uses to the concept of the cyborg within her art; please view some of her work here.

In an interview with Dike Blair, Mariko commented that "people should have fun making art" (Mori interviewed by Blair 1995) and that she was against the 'artist-as-victim' stereotype. Perhaps this is why she was drawn to the concept of Cyberfeminism and its desire to quash the 'female-as-victim' stereotype by having fun.

As we shall see, the image of the cyborg, along with Cyberfeminism and theories concerning human survival in a world becoming increasing dependent on advanced technology also play an important role in Mariko's later work.

Mechanical Sex

A strong influence on Mariko's work is Japanese pop culture. Images from manga comics and anime films (for example Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow - click on the image to the right to see a short clip) can be seen all across Japan, especially in Tokyo. The female characters are based on the ultimate male fantasy - a combination of feisty, bullet-breasted super-vixens and vacant, coquettish Lolita-heroines. (To see the direct influence of popular anime on Mariko's work, click here.)

Michael Cohen described Mariko's images such as those on the previous page, as an:

assortment of electronic love-dolls… a social ideal of beautiful assembly line products, "Made in Japan", to be continually consumed and replaced
(Cohen 1997).

Contemporary society is governed equally by technology and sexuality. The result is a generation of children 'lost in cyberspace' aspiring to become the 'ultimate self' - the Otaku. These teenagers dwell in a virtual world of computer and video games - obsessed with selecting different identities at the touch of a button - fantasy becomes reality. The settings in which Mariko places her cyborgs are the reality; the cyborg figures themselves are the fantasy creatures. It is this exchange between fantasy and reality that predominates much of Mariko's work.

Fashion

Feeling alienated by her desire to create and express herself in a society governed by uniformity, Mariko chose to spend her later teenage years working as a fashion model in Tokyo. However, she soon realised that fashion, like any other consumer industry, was manipulated by supply and demand and gave her none of the freedom she desired. As with the Otaku, who are disenchanted with reality, Mori also began to indulge in fantasy.

The silver body stocking, black latex, armoured catsuit, hot pink mini-dress and plastic school uniforms worn by the cyberfems were all designed and made by Mariko. These outfits appear extravagant and otherworldly only to viewers who have not experienced a stroll down the Takeshita dori in the popular Harajuku area of Tokyo. This area, the most popular tourist stop on the JR Yamanote line, is home to Japan's youth culture. Nowhere else in the world can you find such innovation and design expressed by teenagers as young as twelve. Shoichi Aoki has photographed and documented the elaborate and extreme styles that have developed in Harajuku over the last ten years in his monthly publication, FRUiTS. Often members of the Otaku, are heavily influenced by the pop culture around them, these teenagers enjoy dressing up as their favourite anime hero/heroine. This tradition, known as kosupure or 'costume play', is very popular in Japan and probably influenced Mariko's earlier work:

I think all kinds of fantasy and dreams are very important to our life.
(Mariko interviewed by Blair 1995).

The colours and clothing worn by the teenagers along the Takeshita dori are bright and fun in appearance, however, in the early 1990s, with the expansion of consumer commerce, the Yamanote district was "infiltrated by sex-industry voraciousness" (Fouser 1998). The appearance of young girls in baby-doll dresses clutching teddy bears and lollipops, was no longer cool and innocent as it had been in the previous decade, instead, "high school girls in uniform, waiting to be fondled in 'image clubs,' became emblematic of the dark Yamanote of today" (ibid).
This less optimistic vision of reality is what inspired Mariko to produce her next set of photographs that I have gathered together under the term 'Aliens':

After this series I am now thinking of work which would remove me from the experience of everyday living
(Mariko interviewed by Sugiura 1998).

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