Joker ジョーカー

TAKADA Akiko and Masako (1978-), an artist unit comprised of twin sisters, have continued to produce works that re-question the meaning and value of objects through transforming daily necessities in our surroundings into completely different motifs both in terms of size and content by the remarkable proficiency of their handwork. The work Suit Heart and Joker takes a set of 14 playing cards ranging from 1 to King plus the Joker, which are each hand-embroidered in an attempt to transform them into a series of Persian carpets woven with an array of elaborate patterns. This endeavor to make an ordinary set of playing cards that are available anywhere look like expensive Persian carpets instills a sense of surprise and incongruity in the viewer through the unexpected combination of materials and motifs. What is conceived is a unique viewing experience in which conflicting elements such as small and large, everyday and extraordinary, modern and classic, temporary and everlasting coexist within one work. Paired with they way in which their appearance changes from moment to next like a trompe-l’oeil, they serve jolt our thinking and sensibility that are bound by various standards, all the while flexibly liberating us from preconceptions.