Thank you Celeb Project - I'm BOKAN Thank you Celeb Project – I’m BOKAN

A journey with a six-member Japanese group named Chim↑Pom－they have created numerous works over the years that approach social phenomena with curiosity and spontaneity, using urban spaces as a stage where they overturn existing values. The work shown here, ‘Thank You Celeb Project－I’m BOKAN’ is one of their earlier projects. One of the members, Ellie, had a dream of becoming a celebrity; ‘to be a celebrity means to do charity work and to do charity work means to clear landmines’, and with this concept in mind they set off for Cambodia. Next they decided to use one of the landmines they had cleared to destroy a precious, personal possession which they would then auction off as an ‘art work’ and donate the money to charity. In the course of the project Chim↑Pom came into contact with the children who live in areas that remain infested with landmines and discovered the social reality of their lives. In this work, we will look at the ‘alchemy’ created through ‘art’ and ‘celebrity’, tracing Chim↑Pom’s journey to discover what they were able to give and what they gained.