“zoe”
I spent many years taking photographs at a Hokkaido dairy farm run by my mother’s side of the family, and as I did so I began to think about the lives of cows. I began to wonder what a cow lives for. All that happens to them is that their milk gets taken from them and then they get turned into meat. What on earth does “life” mean to a cow? This simple thought led me to decide to take some photographs at an abattoir, that other place that all cows are destined to go to.
When I actually visited the abattoir, the first things to hit me were the shrieks of the cows and the smell of blood. Another thing that left a deep impression on me was the fully automated and highly efficient process for breaking up the animals. There’s a gap between “the shrieks and the smell” and the process which was controlled and managed to a very high degree. I felt that the gap was the “life” in the squeaking, groaning, and trembling of these “animals that are eaten.” There was bared “life” of “animals that are eaten.”
A friend told me that in ancient Greece, the concept of “life” was expressed using two words, zoe and bios. The first word, zoe, was used for all living things, while the second, bios, referred to the unique, socialized lives of human beings. If other organisms live a “life” that is directly connected with nature, then human beings live in the medium of socialized “life.” Zoe and bios. With the “life” of “animals that are eaten” being managed in modern society, I feel that zoe is being controlled by bios to a greater degree than is necessary.
2005: Graduates from the Department of Design, Faculty of Design and Fine Arts, Tokyo Zokei University (majored in visual communications) Currently enrolled in the advanced artistic expression course at the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts
2003: Becomes a finalist in the 21st Hitotsubo competition
2004: Becomes a grand prize winner in the 22nd Hitotsubo competition
2007: Wins the 32nd Miki Jun Award
2008: Wins a prize for newcomer professionals in the 8th Photo City Sagamihara awards
Selecting judge: Kotaro Iizawa
I felt this energy that she is trying to destroy the scale of the subjects she has photographed in the past, that she is trying to go in a new direction. She’s also put a lot of thought into the production and editing of the book. Because this is a work with a lot of impact, it needs to be displayed in a cool fashion to ensure that it does more than just surprise those looking at it. It needs just the right environment to ensure that the bloody scenes still leave room to make the viewer think. This is something she needs to work out as she develops as an artist. We are in an era now in which Japanese artists are becoming increasingly active on the international stage, so I selected her work in the hope that she will perform to the best of her ability.
