Fuyuhiko Takata has crafted an idiosyncratic artistic language, mostly through short satirical videos that effortlessly bring together a mixed bag of cultural references. These tend to merge with queerness, which is itself composed through disparate streams—from Disney characters that have become gay icons to erotic tension spurting out of the BL (Boys’ Love) media genre. Equally central, throughout his practice is a playful yet confident critique of power—expressed through gender systems or other hegemonic structures, including US dominance over Japan. In JAPAN ERECTION (2010), Takata wears a wig in the fashion of an ancient Japanese hairstyle and transforms himself into the character of Susanoo, a Shintō god who appears in the Japanese creation myth. The oversized erection between his legs is in the form of a clumsy Japan-shaped penis that moves about gracelessly and devastatingly in an improvised artist’s studio. This video entered the public consciousness in Japan in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami that struck in 2011, a year after the video was made. The ensuing era brought about profound changes in Japanese society, including rising nationalism and renewed ideologies of male supremacy, echoing their toxic, dangerous, and childish past iterations. The slapstick comedy and derision in this video are some of the most powerful tools available to counteract the global rise of fascism: exposing its simultaneous ridiculousness, absurdity, and appetite for destruction.

Works in the exhibition: JAPAN ERECTION (2010), 1-channel video, sound, 2' 8"; prop for JAPAN ERECTION, paper clay, wire, acrylic paint, 114 × 42 × 12.5 cm. Courtesy of the artist and WAITINGROOM