Mariko Mori

The futuristic, sci-fi like scenarios created by the artist Mariko Mori in her photographs and video installations often include Mori herself, dressed in outlandish costume, and are intriguing and imaginative works which combine elements of Japanese popular culture, such as Japanimation, as well as fashion, cyberspace, and video art. Mori, who studied fashion in Tokyo and art in London and New York, has become one of the freshest young artists working in the '90s, and this book, which is the first on her work, comprehensively catalogs her upcoming exhibitions. Recent video work by Mori has included such works as Nirvana (shown at the '97 Venice Biennale), in which the artist depicts herself making symbolic Buddhist hand-gestures as she floats above the Dead Sea. Still another piece is a video in which Mori, in futuristic space wear, rolls a crystal ball through an airport to the haunting melodies of a Japanese song. These works involve a surrealistic interplay of imagery which suggests something akin to the art of Yayoi Kusama, the costs of funk icon George Clinton, science fiction, and the film works of Matthew Barney.