Pidgin [noun]
pi-jen:
A simplified speech used for communication between people with different languages*
“Pidgingo” refers both to “pidgin language” and “after pidgin” (“go” meaning “language” and “after” in Japanese). The parakeet (Inko in Japanese)—an evolving character in my work for nearly a decade—is a metaphor for immigrants who mimic language and a satirical figure that reflects the repetition of history. More broadly, “pidgin” denotes a contact language that naturally arises between local populations and foreign traders to enable communication.
The Taro Okamoto Museum of Art video installation features videos with 5.1-channel sound viewed inside and outside a bamboo cage resembling a large human birdcage.
pi-jen:
A simplified speech used for communication between people with different languages*
“Pidgingo” refers both to “pidgin language” and “after pidgin” (“go” meaning “language” and “after” in Japanese). The parakeet (Inko in Japanese)—an evolving character in my work for nearly a decade—is a metaphor for immigrants who mimic language and a satirical figure that reflects the repetition of history. More broadly, “pidgin” denotes a contact language that naturally arises between local populations and foreign traders to enable communication.
The Taro Okamoto Museum of Art video installation features videos with 5.1-channel sound viewed inside and outside a bamboo cage resembling a large human birdcage.
Installation views at Taro Okamoto Museum of Art
Courtesy of Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki
photo by Makoto Matsuno
Courtesy of Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki
photo by Makoto Matsuno
This sci-fi satire video installation aims to update on "war" in modern society. How does war relate to our daily lives? Where do wars originate? Why do we repeatedly wage war? And why do we rarely think deeply about or discuss war? I have focused on cultural approaches impacting people's impressions, thoughts, and visions of science and technology.
This story depicts the history of American weapons development, including nuclear and chemical weapons, AI surveillance systems, robots, and drones, as well as the consequences and voices of their victims. It also incorporates numerous references to Western and Japanese science fiction pop culture, including science fiction illustrations, novels, comics, and films, to show how these have unintentionally or intentionally contributed to the development of technologies of mass destruction.
Another distinctive feature of this work is its interweaving of texts and images from different periods and places, interweaving multiple wars while highlighting their commonalities. The works draw the viewer into the heart of this exploration by constructing a nonlinear narrative that connects multiple events: the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Manhattan Project's nuclear development, the exploitation of mineral resources from colonies, the atomic bombings, the collapse of the Japanese Empire, Korean War that started during occupation for Japan under GHQ, the ongoing suffering of the victims of the nuclear bombings, the hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshall Islands, the Vietnam War which marked turning points in chemical and technological warfare, and the censorship and repression we face in Gaza, the West Bank, the Congo, and the United States today.
The Risograph-printed flyer, featuring motifs such as frogs dressed as uranium miners and two kinds of cages, is a piece viewers can take home with them. In today’s world, where AI-based internet censorship is rampant, there has been a resurgence of Risograph and old print media as anti-war expression in New York. I have once again realized the potential of multimedia. The frog motif recurs in my work. In Japanese, the word “kaeru” has multiple meanings, including “frog,” “to change,” “to return,” and “to hatch.” I often use wordplay in Japanese to add the unknown meaning of the symbols familiar to Western culture.
This story depicts the history of American weapons development, including nuclear and chemical weapons, AI surveillance systems, robots, and drones, as well as the consequences and voices of their victims. It also incorporates numerous references to Western and Japanese science fiction pop culture, including science fiction illustrations, novels, comics, and films, to show how these have unintentionally or intentionally contributed to the development of technologies of mass destruction.
Another distinctive feature of this work is its interweaving of texts and images from different periods and places, interweaving multiple wars while highlighting their commonalities. The works draw the viewer into the heart of this exploration by constructing a nonlinear narrative that connects multiple events: the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Manhattan Project's nuclear development, the exploitation of mineral resources from colonies, the atomic bombings, the collapse of the Japanese Empire, Korean War that started during occupation for Japan under GHQ, the ongoing suffering of the victims of the nuclear bombings, the hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshall Islands, the Vietnam War which marked turning points in chemical and technological warfare, and the censorship and repression we face in Gaza, the West Bank, the Congo, and the United States today.
The Risograph-printed flyer, featuring motifs such as frogs dressed as uranium miners and two kinds of cages, is a piece viewers can take home with them. In today’s world, where AI-based internet censorship is rampant, there has been a resurgence of Risograph and old print media as anti-war expression in New York. I have once again realized the potential of multimedia. The frog motif recurs in my work. In Japanese, the word “kaeru” has multiple meanings, including “frog,” “to change,” “to return,” and “to hatch.” I often use wordplay in Japanese to add the unknown meaning of the symbols familiar to Western culture.
Video - Pidgingo-no-Inko
|
Pidging-no-Inko excerpts
|
2025
20 min This work explores the cycle in which these weapons and systems have historically been tested overseas, reimported into the country, and used to capture activists and immigrants who are inconvenient to the state. Researching the history of nuclear weapons required me to visit many sites and interview Hibakusha(global nuclear victims) to understand the history and ongoing suffering. The video builds on my research trips to the nuclear-related facilities in the United States and Japan, interviews with survivors and specialists, and my ongoing research using books and digital media. The end credits list the facilities and locations photographed in the video: Historic Wendover Air Field (UT), White Sands Missile Range (NM), Sandy Hook Nike Missile Range (NJ), El Paso-Juárez Border (TX), and the National Border Patrol Museum (TX). The end credits do not list all the locations I visited: the science and history museums and facilities in Los Alamos and Albuquerque, the Hanford Site, Historic Wendover Field, Pearl Harbor, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those locations do not appear as photographs, but are in my paintings used in the video—30 paintings and drawings — and narrate background information about these locations visually. Adding to these processes, in a rapidly unfolding world war, our reality as we watch livestreams has become mediated via digital media. In this work, I also centered on words and stories I heard from friends I met at protests in New York and survivors and their families still under blockades, bombings, forced relocations, and famine. |
Featured paintings and drawings in the video
Einstein Letter
2024
Sumi ink, Gouache, and color pencil on paper
22 5/8 x 30 1/8 in (57.5 x 76.5 cm)
This drawing highlights an overlooked point in the famous Einstein-Szilard letter requesting President Roosevelt's support for uranium research and a nuclear development program in 1939. I happened to reread it at Christie's auction in the collection show of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2024. I portrayed the physicists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard as humanoid monk parakeets, based on an archival photograph of the two discussing the letter. Behind them, I depicted the humanoid golden eagles in the uniforms of the Nazi Party's forces, to depict the famous point of warning of the possibility of Germany’s atomic bomb development in this letter. My focus was on the part: "the most important source of uranium is in the Belgian Congo." I have never imagined that the scientists were the ones to indicate the location of the materials to the government. The humanoid Congo peacock uranium miners are standing atop the letter. Around them are the common kestrel with the wig of Edgar Sengier, a director at the mining company in the Belgian Congo, and two humanoid bald eagles representing Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project, and Kenneth Nicholas, an officer and civil engineer who negotiated with Sengier. In the foreground, a child laborer mining coltan in modern-day Congo is depicted.
Einstein and Szilard prepared two versions of the letter, one shorter than the other. Both describe Congo. They sent the longer one to President Roosevelt, and Paul Allen owned the shorter version. It was beautifully displayed in a glass case alongside his other collections, including space race, SF illustrations, and computer history. The winning bid was USD 3,922,000.
2024
Sumi ink, Gouache, and color pencil on paper
22 5/8 x 30 1/8 in (57.5 x 76.5 cm)
This drawing highlights an overlooked point in the famous Einstein-Szilard letter requesting President Roosevelt's support for uranium research and a nuclear development program in 1939. I happened to reread it at Christie's auction in the collection show of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2024. I portrayed the physicists Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard as humanoid monk parakeets, based on an archival photograph of the two discussing the letter. Behind them, I depicted the humanoid golden eagles in the uniforms of the Nazi Party's forces, to depict the famous point of warning of the possibility of Germany’s atomic bomb development in this letter. My focus was on the part: "the most important source of uranium is in the Belgian Congo." I have never imagined that the scientists were the ones to indicate the location of the materials to the government. The humanoid Congo peacock uranium miners are standing atop the letter. Around them are the common kestrel with the wig of Edgar Sengier, a director at the mining company in the Belgian Congo, and two humanoid bald eagles representing Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project, and Kenneth Nicholas, an officer and civil engineer who negotiated with Sengier. In the foreground, a child laborer mining coltan in modern-day Congo is depicted.
Einstein and Szilard prepared two versions of the letter, one shorter than the other. Both describe Congo. They sent the longer one to President Roosevelt, and Paul Allen owned the shorter version. It was beautifully displayed in a glass case alongside his other collections, including space race, SF illustrations, and computer history. The winning bid was USD 3,922,000.
Conqueror Hat
2025
Sumi ink, Gouache, and color pencil on paper
22 5/8 x 30 1/8 in (57.5 x 76.5 cm)
"Conquer Hat" juxtaposes an illustration from H.G. Wells' science fiction novel "The War of the Worlds" (1898) and an archival photograph of atrocities committed in the Congo Free State (1885-1908), under the absolute rule of Belgian King Leopard II: the amputation of Congolese civilians. I got the basic idea from realizing that the pith helmet (safari helmet), the standard headgear worn by colonial troops in the 19th century, resembles a UFO. Critiquing this "father of science fiction" 's claim that the brutal Martians in the story are a metaphor for the empire, I aim to reveal the victims in reality who don't appear in this fictional world.
The boy reading on a cherry tree is Robert H. Goddard, who became interested in space after reading this book and dreamed of a device to reach Mars. Twenty-eight years later (1926), he invented the world's first liquid-fuel rocket. In the empire, adult colonizers steal the land and resources, and their popular narrative could allow children to dream without seeing the negative aspects. The right corner of the hat depicts a scene from Steven Spielberg's 2005 film adaptation of this narrative, which also addresses the same problem of omitting the real victims.
The central golden cup depicts a robin, the national bird of the United Kingdom, and Palestinian sunbirds surrounding oranges. Below it, a black bowl representing the Empire of Japan flies in with a jet to catch the dropped oranges. Inside the cup, the Marshallese bow to the emperor. I aim to depict the history of Japan's post-World War I position: The Empire of Japan, Britain, and France participated in the division and partition of the territories and colonies of the defeated nations, Germany and the Ottoman Empire. This was a mutual recognition deal between the victorious empires.
2025
Sumi ink, Gouache, and color pencil on paper
22 5/8 x 30 1/8 in (57.5 x 76.5 cm)
"Conquer Hat" juxtaposes an illustration from H.G. Wells' science fiction novel "The War of the Worlds" (1898) and an archival photograph of atrocities committed in the Congo Free State (1885-1908), under the absolute rule of Belgian King Leopard II: the amputation of Congolese civilians. I got the basic idea from realizing that the pith helmet (safari helmet), the standard headgear worn by colonial troops in the 19th century, resembles a UFO. Critiquing this "father of science fiction" 's claim that the brutal Martians in the story are a metaphor for the empire, I aim to reveal the victims in reality who don't appear in this fictional world.
The boy reading on a cherry tree is Robert H. Goddard, who became interested in space after reading this book and dreamed of a device to reach Mars. Twenty-eight years later (1926), he invented the world's first liquid-fuel rocket. In the empire, adult colonizers steal the land and resources, and their popular narrative could allow children to dream without seeing the negative aspects. The right corner of the hat depicts a scene from Steven Spielberg's 2005 film adaptation of this narrative, which also addresses the same problem of omitting the real victims.
The central golden cup depicts a robin, the national bird of the United Kingdom, and Palestinian sunbirds surrounding oranges. Below it, a black bowl representing the Empire of Japan flies in with a jet to catch the dropped oranges. Inside the cup, the Marshallese bow to the emperor. I aim to depict the history of Japan's post-World War I position: The Empire of Japan, Britain, and France participated in the division and partition of the territories and colonies of the defeated nations, Germany and the Ottoman Empire. This was a mutual recognition deal between the victorious empires.
Land of Profane
2025
Sumi ink, Gouache, and color pencil on paper
22 5/8 x 30 1/8 in (57.5 x 76.5 cm)
The central image depicts the plutonium core and encasing block developed during the Manhattan Project, along with the ears and body of Charles Allen Thomas, an American chemist. Thomas developed a method to isolate polonium, the rare element functioning as the detonator codenamed "urchin" for the plutonium bomb in 1943. This was used for the Gadget in the Trinity test and for the Fat Man bomb in Nagasaki. He continued his career at Monsanto, serving as a director, vice president, and president in 1942 and eventually as chairman until his retirement in 1970. During this time, Monsanto's annual sales grew from $34 million to $1.9 billion, and research expenses increased from $6.2 million to $101.4 million. Surrounding him are Monsanto's controversial products, including DDT with gas masks, Agent Orange cans, recombinant corns, bovine growth hormone, and a white phosphorus bomb with an IOF soldier. The smoking figure lying on the glass slide is from a social media video of a Palestinian hit by white phosphorus bombs. Below it, there is a 19-year-old Palestinian student, Lama, with the face of a Palestinian sunbird. She is one of the people who have spoken to me via social media from Gaza, and dreams of becoming a surgeon. Only three companies in the world manufacture white phosphorus munitions: Pine Bluff Arsenal, Monsanto (Bayer), and Israel Chemical Company. Using white phosphorus munitions as a weapon against humans is a violation of international law. Two of the companies are American, and one is Israeli. Looming from behind are the deformed faces of children from Hiroshima and Vietnam.
2025
Sumi ink, Gouache, and color pencil on paper
22 5/8 x 30 1/8 in (57.5 x 76.5 cm)
The central image depicts the plutonium core and encasing block developed during the Manhattan Project, along with the ears and body of Charles Allen Thomas, an American chemist. Thomas developed a method to isolate polonium, the rare element functioning as the detonator codenamed "urchin" for the plutonium bomb in 1943. This was used for the Gadget in the Trinity test and for the Fat Man bomb in Nagasaki. He continued his career at Monsanto, serving as a director, vice president, and president in 1942 and eventually as chairman until his retirement in 1970. During this time, Monsanto's annual sales grew from $34 million to $1.9 billion, and research expenses increased from $6.2 million to $101.4 million. Surrounding him are Monsanto's controversial products, including DDT with gas masks, Agent Orange cans, recombinant corns, bovine growth hormone, and a white phosphorus bomb with an IOF soldier. The smoking figure lying on the glass slide is from a social media video of a Palestinian hit by white phosphorus bombs. Below it, there is a 19-year-old Palestinian student, Lama, with the face of a Palestinian sunbird. She is one of the people who have spoken to me via social media from Gaza, and dreams of becoming a surgeon. Only three companies in the world manufacture white phosphorus munitions: Pine Bluff Arsenal, Monsanto (Bayer), and Israel Chemical Company. Using white phosphorus munitions as a weapon against humans is a violation of international law. Two of the companies are American, and one is Israeli. Looming from behind are the deformed faces of children from Hiroshima and Vietnam.
Holiday, 2024
Sumi ink on paper 14x11" |
Four Eyes, 2025
Sumi ink on paper 14x11" |
WP, 2025
Sumi ink on paper 14x11" |
731, 2025
Sumi ink on paper 14x11" |
Onijtaiji Series
Click here to read the detailed explanation of each piece.
Click here to read the detailed explanation of each piece.
Memory Bug Series
Click here to read the detailed explanation of each piece.
Click here to read the detailed explanation of each piece.
© 2015 Gaku Tsutaja