Kumi Kaguraoka: The Body & Restraints, Contemporary & Future Beauty

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Our clothing/body environment is rapidly changing due to technological advances and alterations in the global environment. Under these circumstances, what does making, wearing, and delivering fashion in today's world involve? To commemorate the renewal of Fashion Tech News, we delve into the shifting technological and social conditions surrounding clothing and the body, and the future perspectives they outline, through interviews with five individuals.

PROFILE

Kumi Kaguraoka

Since 2015, I have been active as an artist under the statement: "The body is a tool to communicate with the world." In the same year, I received the grand prize for my work "Pick the Light" at "SICF 16." Recently, I have participated in the exhibition "９人の眼 -9人のアーティスト" under the supervision of Tomio Koyama and recommendation of Makoto Takeuchi, and have held solo exhibitions at galleries, art centers, and the Seibu Shibuya store. My works and interviews have been featured in fashion magazines "NUMERO BERLIN" and "VOGUE MAN HONG KONG," and I have contributed to both domestic and international media. I have also organized group exhibitions and workshops at museums. In 2021, I was selected as an overseas trainee artist by the Yoshino Gypsum Art Foundation and plan to begin activities in New York.

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Today's Fashion Culture & the Environment Surrounding Clothing and the Body

"Transforming the Body with Restraints"

I am currently creating a series of works titled "The Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies." This involves making casts that design the body from the skeleton to the ideal form through "restraint," visualizing the aesthetic values (aesthetic values) that have been constructed in human society. I considered that beauty or aesthetic value ranks fourth following wealth, intellect, and physical strength in human society. There is a history of the body constantly changing due to aesthetic values, and by looking back at the past, it becomes clear that bodily transformations and actions towards the body have long persisted due to fluctuations in aesthetic values. I realized that these actions include "restraint" and "decoration." Both have their allure, but this work focuses on "restraint." When unraveling history, it's evident that people have voluntarily chosen things that involve pain, extreme stress, and even life-threatening situations due to the cultural, religious, and gender dynamics of the time, giving rise to "transformations of the body through restraint."