Oasis (2011)

Part bedroom, part cave, Oasis explored the Japanese phenomenon of hikikomori or ‘shut-in syndrome’. After experiencing a social trauma, hikikomori confine themselves to their bedrooms for days, months and in extreme cases, years on end, existing on a diet of anime, manga, gemu (video games), online chats and forums. Over one million hikikomori exist in Japan, with at least that number of family members supporting, feeding and clothing their reclusive (and typically male) child.

Oasis references the nest-like bedrooms of hikikomori, the Shinto myth of the sun goddess Amaterasu; and Masaki Kobayashi’s Kwaidan (1964). Nest is a collaboration with renowned Japanese butoh performer Yumi Umiumare.