Essays about...: At home, at ease? (May Lyn L. Cruz)
At home, at ease?
(of "Where do we go from here?")
By May Lyn L. Cruz
Few cultures have the same notoriety for formality, propriety, and decorum as Japan. It remains steadfast in its observance of age-old customs that regulate conduct and behavior, yet it also has an equally strong popular culture which peacefully coexists with it even as it attempts to escape from it, if not undermine it. This dynamics of Japanese society and culture easily piques the interest of anyone outside of it.
Singaporean photographer Wei Leng Tay’s latest exhibit zooms in on the domestic spaces in Fukuoka, where she temporarily lived for three months as an artist-in-residence of the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.
Her captured images attest to the pervasiveness of controlled demeanor even within the home, which is considered to be a private and personal space, a comfort zone and a sanctuary.
Two sets of photographs of 22 Fukuoka locals, randomly met and invited by the artist to participate in her project, are presented in the exhibit: first, individual portraits shot inside the studio; and second, images taken inside their homes, with or without them in the pictorial frame. The studio shots are presented with short statements by the individuals about themselves, which is compiled in a slideshow at the entrance of the gallery space. Here, the artist cleverly interchanges the conventional role of the photograph types. The studio sessions serve as casual introductory snapshots, while those taken inside the home assume a more formal character.
Among the images of domestic spaces shown, the family photographs are particularly interesting for the restrained movements and emotions in the midst of what are usually fun, animated, and relaxing family activities. Wei Leng pictures the young children having quiet, orderly meals with their parents at the dinner table; an old couple in a somber routine of having tea; and mothers and parents in perfunctory tasks of feeding, playing with, and looking after their young.
The dissociated expressions, gazes and gestures and the incongruous physical positioning of family members within the domestic space are uncomfortably magnetizing to look at and ponder upon. In the living room, a wife, caring for a baby, smiles widely at her husband, who is fully preoccupied with his laptop. In another photograph, sitting side-by-side but in obviously separate worlds is a grandfather slouched asleep, his wife in kimono sitting upright, and the little granddaughter absorbed on her video game. Another photograph shows the husband playing with the baby on the floor on one side, and the wife standing in the kitchen sink washing the dishes on the other. This particular photograph is most powerful for its laminae of undertones and allusions reinforced by a very strong spatial composition and lighting balance, all captured by the artist in a spontaneous moment.
Apart from the family photographs, Wei Leng shows several solitary shots of Fukuoka residents in their homes. Ironically, one does not sense awkward loneliness in these individual photos as much as in the family scenes. The quiet isolation, whether in a cramped and cluttered corner, in the bedroom, or in a spacious living room with minimal furniture, are projected positively. The idea that solitude may sometimes be a better alternative to company is something that is universally understood.
Every single photograph in the exhibit is but a second in the artist’s hours-long encounter with her subject in his/her abode. In every picture is a snippet of what a resident allows to be revealed, what interests the artist to zoom on, and what we, the viewers, care to see. Perhaps the rigidity of this society is ubiquitous even within the domain of the home; perhaps it exists more strongly in the outsider’s perception.
May Lyn L. Cruz is the Exhibition and Education Programs Manager of the Metropolitan Museum of Manila. She was invited by the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum for a research residency in February – March 2009.