Why Not Hand Over a "Shelter" to Hermit Crabs?


2009
Resin, HD video(5min.47sec.), photo(lambda print with acrylic, 220×170×20mm each)


I worked on this piece when I took part in “No Man’s Land”, a group exhibition held at the French Embassy in Tokyo.
In Japanese, Hermit crabs are called “Yadokari”, which literally means somebody living in a temporary dwelling. This Japanese phrase and the notion mentioned above are closely connected.
I connected my study of the hermit crab’s transformation to the self-adaptation of humans, whether it be in acquiring a new nationality, immigrating, or relocating. In this project I wanted to explore whether we really can choose the place or country where we live.
I used CT scanning to capture highly-detailed, three-dimensional rendering of an unoccupied seashell, which one of my hermit crabs had abandoned. Based on the tomography of the interior of the shell, I prototyped with rapid prototyping and produced several types of habitable shelters, Tokyo house-style and Paris apartments. I gave those shelters to my hermit crabs.


  • Why Not Hand Over a “Shelter” to Hermit Crabs?
  • Why Not Hand Over a “Shelter” to Hermit Crabs?
  • Why Not Hand Over a “Shelter” to Hermit Crabs?Installation view from "No Man's Land" at Former French Embassy, Tokyo, 2009
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