No matter what era we live in, it seems we as humans are unable to escape our obsession with looking good.
Whilst most of us are content with mastering the art of make-up, there will always be others who choose to dive in at the deep end in order to modify their bodies beyond recognition for the sake of “beauty”.

This concept itself is nothing new, with body alterations having been a part of human culture and society throughout recorded history. The spectrum is large, but on the more accepted end we have tattoos, piercings and implants, whilst on the other more extreme end there are the customs of foot and/or cranial binding, tightlacing (a more extreme version of corset-wearing) and tooth sharpening. It is in the more extreme situations that humanity has had to question our ideas of what “beauty” really is, as these versions of body modification have often led to the disablement, injury or illness of the bearer.

Whilst body-binding alterations may be a thing of the past, the reality is that society continues to unethically tell us what we “should look like”, with the standards of beauty constantly evolving to fit an ever changing concept of “perfection”. Despite push-back from individuals both in and out of the beauty industry, even today, we are spoon-fed the idea that long slender bodies, small faces and delicate limbs are what we should strive for – and it is this encouragement which sees people dangerously try to morph their bodies into something that it is not.

Artist Kumi Kaguraoka aims to challenge the distorted expectations society puts on us to ‘look a certain way’ through her work which realises devices that can transform bodies to “aesthetically please”.

These contraptions designed by Kaguraoka can be seen at her solo Seibu Shibuya exhibition “The Metamorphoses of Beautiful Bodies. - About the Aesthetic Body of the Future” until the 6th of March.

Examples of these devices include an apparatus that ‘raises the nose by pulling bones over the cranium’, a cast that ‘lengthens the legs’, and a helmet that applies pressure with screws to ‘make the head smaller’. Though extreme, these traits are considered to be somewhat ‘aesthetic’ in the modern age, with those born naturally with the features praised for their beauty, whilst those without them seek ways to attain them.
Therefore, Kaguraoka’s work highlights the perversion, pain and desires of those who crave ‘the perfect human body’, and the cruel beauty of her devices raises the question what is beauty?.

Through her work, Kaguraoka also questions what the aesthetic body may be like in the future. Based on cultural and anthropological research, Kaguraoka anticipates the global environment 1000 years from now; and imagining a world characterised by rising climate temperatures and dryness, she envisions the aesthetic body of the future as strong and able to survive even in the harshest of environments.
“This is the process of human evolution”, Kaguraoka explains. “I take inspiration from the idea that a pioneer was born to the weak, and through them, the human race continued to survive and evolve.”

Kumi Kaguraoka – The Metamorphosis of Beautiful Bodies – The Aesthetic Body of the Future

Date: Wednesday 16 February – Sunday 6 March 2022
Venue: 8th Floor Art Gallery, Seibu Shibuya B Building
*Kaguraoka’s work will also be exhibited on the shop window display on the 1st floor of Seibu Shibuya A Building until the 14th of March 2022.

For a further look into the work of Kumi Kaguraoka check out her instagram account.