| Sato’s commission ran for six months between 11th October 2005 and 11th April 2006 and was an extended performance that came out of her ongoing alter-ego the bunny girl - Yoshikobunny. This slightly hapless character is Sato’s examination of what is expected of her as an artist and a Japanese woman in western society. Therefore Yoshikobunny is romantic, not very technically adept and passive but is an expert at using her charms to get what she wants. Sato employs this stereotype as the situation demands and it is not always immediately apparent whether she is in character or not. This leads the viewer (if they are conscious of the performance) to question the way in which they create the assumptions on which they base their interactions.
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In this instance Yoshikobunny has turned her attention to painting as she feels that maybe she could make some money in this manner, she also longs to be an artist, as it seems to be such a cool thing to do. MILL-WORKERS therefore took on the role of a commercial agency, the commission fee was paid to Sato as a gallery retainer and a contract was drawn up giving MILL-WORKERS fifty percent of the selling price of the works. Yoshikobunny produced a series of paintings that she believed would sell which were then marketed by MILL-WORKERS, this marketing took the form of putting the work on www.buynewart.com, one of the many websites that act as agencies to sell art over the internet. During the six-month duration of the contract the works were not to be exhibited or sold without MILL-WORKERS permission. In this situation MILL-WORKERS would stand to make a considerable amount of money for a minimal outlay and very little actual work: a financial arrangement not confined to the visual arts. As usual Yoshikobunny has managed to come out of the situation quite well, in MILL-WORKERS she found an agency that, while not very active, was well meaning and did not actively take advantage of her. For six months she was able to live the illusion that she was an artist represented by a gallery and that even if it didn’t work out this time maybe it will next... |
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