Ghost Self
うつし身
2014
multi-media installation; (single channel video [7'30"] and single channel video [13'25"]), chromogenic colour print, Japanese blade knife
multi-media installation; (single channel video [7'30"] and single channel video [13'25"]), chromogenic colour print, Japanese blade knife
Ghost Self was inspired by the Abe Sada incident, a bizarre murder which happened in 1936. The occurrence involved a 32-year-old housemaid named Abe Sada who strangled her extramarital lover, severing his penis and carrying it on her person. At the time, the bizarreness of the incident became a media sensation. To this day it is one of the most memorable murders from the Showa period. In the 1930s, when the incident occurred, the Great Kanto Earthquake had occurred, the Peace Preservation Law had been enacted and Japan began its period of militarization.
