Consuming bodies

"Consuming Bodies" focuses on the current resurgence of the imaging of sex and consumerism in contemporary Japanese art and the connections they establish with the wider historical, social and political conditions within Japanese culture. Engaging with a range of artistic practices incorporating performance, digital media, painting, sculpture, installation and popular culture, the essays in this book examine the contradictions and areas of ambivalence embedded in the Japanese experience of modernity and the continuing effects of commodification for the individual and the nation state.Inextricably linked to issues of power, gender, class and race, the analysis of the imaging of sex and consumerism moves far beyond the gallery into the private and public spaces of the city and the nation, where the complex network of relationships surrounding gender, sexuality and commerce are directly encountered in both the fast-changing consumer marketplace and the dominant ideologies within Japanese society.Bringing toegether a range of writers, including art historians, cultural historians, curators and artists, these specially commissioned essays provide unique and wide-ranging perspectives on this little-researched area of contemporary Japanese art practice and the critical issues it uncovers. The book includes a wealth of illustrations of contemporary Japanese art, a glossary of Japanese words and a full bibliography.