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Penetration in Oakland City Hall

installed at Oakland City Hall installed at Oakland City Hall installed at Oakland City Hall installed at Oakland City Hall Area 51 (shown as part of the installation) Nuclear Power Pland (shown as part of the installation) installed at Oakland City Hall installed at Oakland City Hall installed at Oakland City Hall installed at Oakland City Hall installed at Oakland City Hall installed at Oakland City Hall this is how it looked before I decided to destroy the sculpture installed once at a different spot for photo-shooting installed once at a different spot for photo-shooting
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Penetration in Oakland City Hall

2012
corrugated cardboard (sculpture), archival pigment print (photographs)
dimensions variable
See the Video Documentation


Penetration is an installation which consists of a cardboard sculpture, series of photographs and possibly video. Penetration is still an on-going project. I assemble a cardboard sculpture at various locations, document both administrative and installation processes, and photograph the results. Locations have been a peaceful residential neighborhood in Vermont, Area 51, Nevada, marijuana field, California, a nuclear power plant, etc., and I am in the administrative processes with a public school, another nuclear power plant, one of Mormon temples, etc.

I focus on how invisible power structure penetrates into our everyday life and becomes inevitable support system of our society. The structure drives our social, political, psychological and religious practices. The presence of the cardboard sculpture suggests such a structure hidden underneath the environment where I document. The structural vehicle is a ghost of our support system.

This iteration of the installation happened at Oakland City Hall. It was challenging to work with the architectural character of the Beaux-Arts style building. I ended up "destroyed" the sculpture to suggest more rich narratives around self-destructive nature of perfectionism in our support systems. Also I lay out cut-out remains of cardboard along the eight-pointed star preexisted as an architectural motif.

Following is the inscription on the plaque of erection


The people of Oakland

Erected this edifice as the seat of municipal government - a monument dedicated to civic loyalty and to the just and equal administration of those ordinances which make for social and political betterment in community life • On November fifteenth nineteen hundred nine at a special election bonds were authorized for its construction - the board of public works selected a plan and appointed the architects by public competition - ground was broken may tenth nineteen hundred eleven by the grand lodge of California F•&A•M• in the presence of William Howard taft president of the United States of America building was completed nineteen hundred fourteen.

© Taro Hattori, Studio Islander, All Rights Reserved