Twelve students from the Graphic Design department took part in a ten day student exchange to Japan through the Kakehashi Project: Bridge for Tomorrow program. Traveling to three host cities in Japan—Tokyo, Gifu, and Nagoya—this exposure served as an unforgettable inspiration for all. In response to their journey, the students designed artwork to showcase their individual, and collective experiences from this program. Meant to uphold the sponsors’ mission of building opportunities between America and Japan, this exhibition also allows the students to express their gratitude through a new cultural perspective.
The "Cultural Swarm" installation uses the Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle, an invasive species to the US, as a vehicle to identify the movement of Japanese subcultures spreading out into western culture the way Japanese culture became westernised in the past. Each Beetle covered in Manga, Japanese graphic novel, which is tied in closely with much of what is becoming more popular in the states. The insects interact with the space by traveling outwards from the main introduction point into the space and even other projects.
As a takeaway, exhibition visitors were given a small beetle to take with them. This reflected the inspiration that I've taken home with me from participating in the Kakehashi Project and also to empart such a positive experience with visitors to the space.
On the east facing wall lays a field of Manga, Japanese comics, that I was exposed to from my early teens. This beggining point represents Japanese media within it's own culture and ccontext. The beetles end up blending and camoflauged in similar surroundings.
Thier counterparts crawling down the western wall, representing my home in the United States, stand in stark contrast on the white backdrop. An allusion to how these subcultures still stand out very much even though they've been in our own media circulation for decades,
