Top image: Freshwater fish caught gutted and eaten raw with soy sauce. Anti Cool was unaware, when she returned to Art Gene with her haul, of the British tradition of anglers throwing back fish and found the concept quite alien and difficult to comprehend.

 

Anti-Cool – Tomoko Takahashi (Japan)

Since graduating in 1997 from the Digital Art Department of Techno Media Academy Japan, Anti-Cool has exhibited extensively, her first participation performance called A Crowd No.1 formed part of NIPAF ‘00′ at Kid Ailack Art Hall, Tokyo, Japan, August 2000 and since this time she has worked throughout Japan, Europe, as well as in the USA.

In Lady Fisherman, Japanese performance artist ‘Anti-Cool’ tried to catch fish during her residency at Art Gene.

She first spent time with local people: teenage boys and adults learning how and where to fish. The artist spent a total of 18 hours rod fishing in the sea and freshwater ponds and caught six crabs and six fish. She then made a print from each fish, gutted, cooked and ate them.

 

Image above: Lady Fisherman, 2006, Performance by Anti-Cool: Roa Island, Barrow-in Furness

 

Ideal Foreigner Living In England

During her time in Barrow she also made a performance in Furness General Hospital where she worked alongside other staff as a cleaner. When asked about the experience she said with a characteristic smile “They made me work really hard”…

Anti-Cool intended to experience up to seven different kinds of jobs that are mostly undertaken by migrant workers coming into the U.K. A developed country such as the U.K. has various ethnic groups however it is not easy to become involved with migrant workers and their communities or even to work along side them unless you are of the same race or have a connection.

Anti-Cool believes if a person can associate with any and all communities freely, this can be a future Utopia. Not only because this provides a person with a means to survive, but also it can provide experience of the wider world, attaining useful information and developing a variety of choices, this possibility comes only after conquering difficult situations. Anti-Cool feels that is what makes this Utopia much richer.

 

 

Image below: Anti-Cool as hospital cleaner, Furness General Hospital