Hou I-Ting
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Exchange Residency Program
(International creators from abroad)
update: 2019.10.24
Hou I-Ting
| Participating Project | Exchange Residency Program (Creators from abroad) |
|---|---|
| Activity Based | Taiwan |
| City | Tokyo |
| Period | 2016.1 - 2016.3 |
Purpose of the residency
In this project, the bento box serves as the point of convergence between modern society and culture, and so it is used to explore cultural phenomena.
The main goal of this project is not only to investigate the bento box phenomenon in Taiwanese or Japanese society, but also to re-present the bento box culture, to explore the ways in which we view the social phenomenon around the correlation of "bento box" and "labor" within the culture of food consumption.
This project will attempt a deep reading of the context of bento boxes as the product of society, as a sort of social text, especially since the bento box is an important part of the food culture of Asia.
Plan during the residency
In order to revitalize Japanese economy, Shinzo Abe proposed the "three arrows" fiscal reform policy, aiming to improve the declining economic situation. One of the "arrows" has to do with the female workforce. In the official blog promoting policies pertaining to the female population, the Japanese mom who works hard to produce anime-character- themed bento boxes is featured. The blog also paints a picture for the future: a shiny, comfortable urban lifestyle for women; first order of business is to improve the cleanliness and quality of the bathroom at home. During the three months of residency, as an outsider, I'll try to piece out the roles Japanese women played in history and are playing in modern society, as well as paint a portrait of the Japanese woman-as-laborer, as dictated by the economic system. I plan to visit Kyoto to see the traditional kimono and embroidery craftwork, to understand the female labors in the past and how the industry of kimono changes today. In this project, I hope to conduct preliminary research on the labor/bento box social phenomenon, and transform my observations into art-as-action or photographs.
