A schooling in sci-fi chic, courtesy of Mariko Mori. The Japanese artist’s multidisciplinary practice explores “universal questions at the intersection of life, death, reality, and technology”, in the words of Sean Kelly Gallery. Up until 1998, she would frequently insert herself into her work, sporting a variety of guises, while riffing on Japanese motifs and traditions. This 1995 performance, Tea Ceremony, saw her put an otherworldly spin on the prototypical Japanese female office worker, adding metallic tights and Martian ears to a formal work suit and mechanically pouring tea for businessmen as they passed her on the street. Futuristic feminism at its finest.
