I ask people to give me their socks with holes and I’ll make them stuffed dolls. And I take photographs of people with socks before and after making it as stuffed dolls. And if the person trusts me to carry his/her phone, I’ll put the phone with the stuffed doll. I’ll travel one day on a bus which has his/her favorite numbers.
Taking off socks means lots for me. That represents releasing from moulds or labels. When I climb a tree, I always take off my socks.
Having holes on my socks is a shame. That could be a symbol of poorness. Showing my socks to people
There are two different selfs, according to a book wrote by aTaoist. “The first I” which is the one before belonging to the society and “The second I” which is the one adopted to the society. “The first I” didn’t wear any socks and even if the one gets cold, he/she didn’t feel guilty of resting(wasting time) or being cared by someone(stealing time). In this society, “The second I” tends to get bigger than the initial self. We were almost born to be belonging to this society. Nevertheless we are not supposed to be controlled by the society. Is the society more important than human being?
When I had a week without my phone, I felt a day got longer and I experienced many coincidences or miracles because I became more aware of things surrounding me. I tend to check my phone a lot. “I might get some messages from my friends in Japan”, “What time is it?” or “I want to look back some memories”. When I am with my phone, my time gets stolen by the Men in Grey from Michael Ende’s MOMO. I think that my phone is useful and pretty so I want to respect her lots. So it should have some vacation sometimes. My phone and also the owner will be released from the thief of time.
The title of artwork : Release your feet and hands
1st day : I ask people to give me their socks (sometimes with holes) and I make stuffed dolls from them.
2nd day: I bring the doll to the socks’ owner and let the owner to pass me her/his mobile phone.
3rd day: The sock doll carries the phone to travel one day on a bus which has his/her favorite numbers. I have a monthly bus ticket so I can go almost anywhere in Bergen.
4th day: I return the sock doll with the mobile phone to the owner with a diary about the home staying
Our feet and hands are occupied so long time. And also mobile phones and socks has been trapped for long too. LET’S RELEASE.
FEET: Taking off socks means a lot for me. That represents releasing from moulds or labels. When I climb a tree, I always take off my socks.
Having holes on my socks is embarrassing. That could be a symbol of poorness. Showing my socks to people is showing naked. I've never seen second hand shop selling socks, that might be because no one wants to buy something too personal, the symbol of individual identities. Socks show how you walk and behave. They are good recorders of our human habits. If you remove the socks, you won’t be trackable. So you always need to stand in the present moment.
HANDS: Mobile phone has been helping our human society. Its functions are getting expanded more and more. On the contrary, the ability as human is getting deteriorated because we don’t need to memorize and carry many things. Sometimes, I open my mobile phone for setting alarm, but I found photo album or instagram, and I forget the initial purpose. Marshall McLuhan said that medias are extension of our human senses. Now we got an online presence. And we can double(or more) our identities in the online world. There are many people confused the gap in-between the presence in online world an the real life. So if you remove the online existence, you need to face the real life fully.
future and past tracks (socks) + online existence (mobile phone) =SHADOW OF THE PERSON
Inviting the sock doll with the mobile phone to my home is always like inviting a real human guest. I make tea for the doll, show my room around and introduce to my friends. It’s seriously like carrying the shadow of the owner.
The number for the bus trip signifies the personality of the owner. And also that is the dice for me to decide the fate of the bus trip. The bus trip has no purpose because sometimes socks and mobile phone should have rest from their duty. I usually take the doll to the final destination and just go back home.