Mariko Mori (born in Tokyo in 1967, lives in New York) is considered one of the major young representatives in the contemporary art scene. Her first international breakthrough came in the mid-nineties with her innovative approaches in the field of multimedia art, most notably her 3-D video work "Nirvana," which she presented at the Venice Biennial in 1997.

In her photographic work as well as in her video and architectural installations, Mori deals thematically with the border zone between utopia and reality. Her work spans vast time periods, combining Japanese tradition and religion, motifs from Eastern and Western art history, as well as contemporary phenomena like fashion, music, science fiction, comic strips, computer games, and hi-tech culture.

Her art is a synthesis of opposites: reality and fantasy, seriousness and humor, man and machine, technology and nature, science and religion. Just as the Shinto and Buddhist religions coexist in Japan, so are these bipolarities as a synthesis of East and West also manifest in Mariko Mori's work.

The enchanting images in her art communicate the experiences of transformation and transcendence. Her work, like that of Andy Warhol or Jeff Koons, is indeed communicative. Delight, and temptation are an inherent part of all her works, which coax the viewer away from reality and lead him/her off into another world.

In her early work, Mariko Mori often depicted herself. Wearing bizarre costumes and make-up, she would celebrate herself as an imaginary icon of the fashion or music industry. In her large-format photographic works, she was wont to slip into different roles. In the urban public spaces of Tokyo, we see her riding the subway, wearing a shiny hi-tech spacesuit ("Subway,"1994), or she appears as an extravagant sci-fi being outside a computer game store ("Play with Me," 1994) or in the midst of office buildings transformed into an extraterrestrial maid-in-waiting offering tea to passers-by ("Tea Ceremony III," 1994). With a clear sense of reality, Mori gives a both, humorous and sociocritical picture of contemporary Japan. She uses visual hyperbole to create her portrait of the kitsch and the lifeblood of Tokyo and to process anime and manga elements, as well as the image of the role of young Japanese women. In her 3-D photo installation "Birth of a Star" (1995), she shows herself as a singing, dancing pop star. By fusing the fine arts, dance, music, fashion, and video into a perfect performance, she presents herself as a living and complete work of art.

The role of the make-believe star evolves into a kind of stylized spiritual being. Her message is that we need to believe in utopias. Her fantastical visions are trips to an esoteric realm, expeditions to a universe where the rules of modern civilization have been annulled. On a similar cosmic level is her photograph "Last Departure" (1996), which is closely tied to the video work "Miko no Inori" (1996). Like a praying futuristic shaman girl getting ready to go on a spiritual trip to the gods, Mori poses at the hypermodern Kansai Airport in Osaka. In the 3-D video work "Nirvana" (1997), the artist is depicted as a Buddhist deity hovering in a pink paradise, as Bodhisattva, as a being in search of enlightenment. She seems to beckon her viewers to join her in search of Nirvana.

More recently, Mariko Mori has attracted attention with her architectural installations that visitors can enter, such as "Dream Temple," which was shown in 1999 at the Fondazione Prada. Mori's construction, which is a homage to Japan's oldest Buddhist temple (Yumedono), is a place for meditation, one that should allow the visitor to look deep into his/her soul.

In her artificial environments which also include the installation "Wave UFO" being shown at Kunsthaus Bregenz she constructs visions of an ideal world: a fusion of hybrid virtual realities, and models of the future. They are complex, aesthetic creations that evoke the vanishing of spirituality in the face of the ever-increasing influence of the mass
media.

Wave UFO
Kunsthaus Bregenz is showing the premiere of Mori's spectacular new "Wave UFO" project before it goes on a tour starting in New York and moving on to hit several American museums. "Wave UFO" is a distillation of all Mariko Mori's work over the past few years. It is a dynamic sculptural form that hovers on the border between large-scale sculpture and bio-amorphous architecture. As a futuristic version of an integral work of art, it offers participants a multi-faceted experience involving physical, mental, and aesthetic perception. "Wave UFO" is a space with seductive qualities, it lures us away from the reality of everyday life and takes us on a journey to an esoteric cosmos.

"Wave UFO" is a visionary work, which brings together art, science, performance, music, and architecture in an integral work of art. In this project, Mariko Mori has fused new technologies, computer graphics, video projections, and engineered structures in order to expand the art experience. The visitors participate in the artist's conceptions of interconnected dream worlds. In a capsule within a huge architectural sculpture of whale-like proportions (approx. 5 x 11 x 5 m), which can only be accessed via a staircase, three people can recline in seats for seven minutes. The images projected on the dome screen of the capsule are generated by a kind of interactive bio-feedback loop that reads the brainwaves of the participants. In a computer-animated video projection, Mori sends the "travelers" on
a trip to a spiritual cosmos.

The concept of the work is based on the idea that all things in this world are interconnected. This should convey to the audience the vision of a "newer" world, a world in which man appears to have overcome all cultural barriers. Reverberating unmistakably in Mori's statement, "'Wave UFO' believes that human beings as collective living beings shall unify and transcend cultural differences and national borders through positive and creative evolution," are allusions to the Buddhist vision of Nirvana. This view of the world is also manifest in the other works being shown at Kunsthaus Bregenz. In addition to "Wave UFO," which can also be seen as a model, Mariko Mori shows paintings and drawings that seem like formations from outer space or the visualization of enlightenment. Moreover, Mori has also created a series for the Kunsthaus which consists of sculptures of alien-like figures. As a distinct group, these "travelers from the future" symbolically seem to challenge visitors to travel to unknown places and overcome borders. Thus, the utopian dream expressed here does not only tie Mori to the historical desire for a unity beyond national identities, but also reflects her identity as a Japanese woman.

This complex work was custom-built in Turin in an automobile factory and is now being shown in Bregenz, where it will be presented to the public for the first time. Lighting management for "Wave UFO" was provided by Zumtobel Staff.

After its premiere at the Kunsthaus Bregenz, "Wave UFO" will be shown from May 8 thru August 8, 2003, at the Public Art Fund in New York.

An artist book on the "Wave UFO project" and the exhibition in Bregenz is being produced and will contain texts by Mariko Mori, Eckhard Schneider and Tom Eccles.