Human Sushi
Year: 2013–ongoing
Format: Installation / Participatory performance
Dimensions:
Sushi roll, including fillings: W2000 × H100 × D1800 mm
Sushi geta display stand: W3000 × H450 × D2000 mm
Materials: Fabric, cotton, urethane foam, polyethylene sheet
Human Sushi is a participatory artwork in which participants can become a giant sushi roll.
Participants choose several fillings—such as tuna, egg, denbu, or kanpyo—to be rolled together with them. Holding the selected ingredients, they lie down on a giant mat of rice grains. The artist, dressed as a sushi chef, then energetically rolls them up, transforming them into a giant “Human Sushi.”
After becoming a sushi roll, each participant is photographed on site. The printed photograph is attached to a wooden menu board, where the participant writes their own menu name, such as “___ Roll.” The completed menu board is then displayed in the exhibition space, allowing the participant’s experience to remain as part of the artwork.
The work invites participants to enjoy unusual actions that rarely occur in everyday life, such as rolling in front of others or becoming food. Beyond the physical experience itself, participants also become part of the work through the menu boards, which can create moments of communication between those who have been rolled.
Using the familiar motifs of sushi rolls and cooking, Human Sushi explores how participation can playfully transform relationships: between viewers and artworks, viewers and the artist, and viewers themselves. Rather than simply looking at an artwork, participants enter into it, become part of it, and share the experience with others.
To date, approximately 2,500 people have participated in Human Sushi in Japan, Korea, and France.
