Chapeau!

 

Exhibition :
Two Shoes Many Hats

2011.05.07 - 05.18 WHITIEPROJECTs, Paris, France
with artist collaborator Danielle Adair (USA)

Open studio
2012.12.18 MeetFactory, Prague, Czech Republic

This installation is a part of research-based collaborative project "Two Shoes Many Hats".

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Proverb or saying are quite interesting. If you don't know the proper meaning of these expressions, they might evoke very strange image sometimes.

Work "Chapeau" is inspired from an English saying – 'Wearing many hats' – and a Japanese proverb – 'Nisoku no Waraji wo haku', 'Wearing two pairs of Waraji (traditional straw sandals)'.

The English saying 'Wearing many hats' means: having many responsibilities or roles. And the Japanese proverb 'Nisoku no Waraji wo haku', 'Wearing two pairs of straw sandals' means: the same person holds two kinds of professions.

These expressions explain similar ideas by using different metaphors - hats or shoes.

Today, our societies are highly observant of the actions and reactions of international communities. There are subsequently many misunderstandings and wrong translations in the meeting of cultures. Sometimes a phrase containing complicated metaphors, can double in its significations, and reveal another sense. Culturally, historically, to understand something "directly" may not be what is "intended" or perhaps may not be possible at all.

However, the persistence of a direct translation can lead our reality to more imaginative and creative avenues for thought. Error sometimes creates something not otherwise expected or arrived at.