“Breathe something sincere and beautiful.”
What inspired you to get involved in The Inside Out Project?
I’m a big TED nerd and have lurked around watching, I’m not kidding, probably half of the 900 or so videos. I’m always been interested in the TED Prize winner and what his/her message is. I am a huge fan of Jaime Oliver, a past TED Prize winner, and his series on Channel 4 in Britain. So his successor, JR had to be great. And when I watched JR’s talk, it really was incredible and inspirational. I truly appreciate that he is a powerful public speaker because that helped sell the idea for me. As well, I already was a big admirer of other social/street artists, in particular Banksy, and all kinds of old guerilla propaganda art. Finally, as an elementary school teacher, I’ve organized large-scale murals with teams of kids before–so I know the transformative power of group action and art. But bottom line, I believed in JR’s ambition and simplicity about art changing the world. We were also lucky that TedxTokyo was quick to support us with funds for paste-up materials, and donating to the Sapling Foundation on our behalf, so there was NO excuse not to do it!
How did you determine what statement to make?
In Japan, it was really hard to distill what messages would matter–this year, of all years, it’s a mess. But, rebuilding and the future were the big ideas. We thought: what concepts would REALLY help rebuild the Japan for the future? So, we thought of preventing a declining population with Babies; Volunteerism (as not to wait around for this creaky government); and Anti-Bullying because bullying psychologically damages individuals who could be our next leaders or even just taxpayers. We’re pretty practical.
How did you recruit people to participate?
I went on Facebook primarily and banged a pan there. I also tried Flickr photographer groups and even put out ads on Tokyo’s Craigslist! But Facebook did the trick fast.
Did it take a lot of time and effort to find the right walls? To get permission?
In Tokyo, permission is crucial in order NOT to get arrested or hassled. But, being a non-native Japanese person, speaking in rapid confused English helps to get out of sticky situations, I have to admit! So, that is *one way* to get a wall. The next is to ask architects who do a lot of construction and put up walls for months. I’ve spent billions of Amish hours, no joke, using a 3-D sketching program to show architects how this poster project would look on their walls. The issue is, we have about 10 posters in each series which we want to keep together for impact, so if we’re offered a tiny wall, it is an amazing offer, but it doesn’t work.
What was the community’s reaction to your action?
Our Facebook page is “liked” by a majority of people no one on our team has ever met. We get 20-30 new people a week from all over the world. For a local project in Tokyo to be liked by someone from Croatia or Ecuador, that almost makes no sense, but it’s amazing! They are all supportive and have chosen to be updated on our news. How weird is that? I love it. When we did the paste-ups, people walking by were shocked that we would have faces of people who were bullied speak out against bullying–who does that in Japan? And as for the participants, the volunteers in our posters have gotten the due attention they deserve every time we talk to the local media, come interview or make paste-up films of them. They are flattered and hopefully, more purposeful in what they are doing because they know we saw, and appreciated them.
What conversation do you hope results from your group action?
There are serious, growing crises in Japan. This year, we had a devastating physical tsunami. But, in the future, with a blessed aged population—the longest living in the world—it will be our curse not to realize that without addressing the declining population; we will be sentencing our future young people to bear this social weight disproportionately. This stands to be the future economic tsunami, which will devastate Japan, the oldest in the world. All of our projects aim to address the question: What can I do to help make the future of our country better? It is serious.
Why do you feel art, and particularly the Inside Out Project, was the best way to express your statement?
Showcasing the faces of individuals matters in a society like Japan where group consensus rules and there is a sea of racially and socio-economically homogenous people. This particular project highlighted individuals with tiny stories to tell, blown up big. The dichotomy of scale is exactly what is needed to focus on personal, social messages. Have you ever been to Tokyo? All messages are corporate–bland slogans that just spam the horizon to whomever, whatever casts a lazy gaze over to it–very impersonal and decreasingly effective.
What piece of advice would you give to someone else who wants to organize a group action?
Are you making excuses as to why you
Do you think art can change the world? Why?
No, not a piece of art itself because one person’s treasure is another’s trash, surely. However, the passion, conviction and single-mindedness to realize something that all great art represents CAN change the world. We limit the idea of art to paintings etc., but it is also action, movement and any beautiful realization of a concept that was once nothing. Once that concept is breathed into the ether, the universe is irrevocably changed. So, breathe something sincere and beautiful.
