| Mariko Mori was born in Tokyo in 1967 and became a | | | | Continuing the topic of cyborgs and women, that |
| Japanese outstanding photographic and video artist. | | | | blended the controversial and traditional approaches, |
| When she studied at Bunka Fashion College, Mariko | | | | Mariko Mori created "Subway", "Play with Me" and |
| Mori worked as a model and this fact influenced her | | | | "Tea Ceremony III". |
| early works greatly. One of such her works is "Play | | | | Untraditional elements were added to habitual roles of |
| with me". Her work operates the most recent | | | | women in the present society in order to evaluate and |
| technologies and frequently is rather expensive to | | | | analyze the position of women in the traditional |
| produce. The main topic of her masterpieces was | | | | Japanese society. For instance, in "Tea Ceremony III" |
| presented by the combination of the Western | | | | Mariko Mori is wearing a white wig and a blue dress |
| influence and Eastern traditions with the widespread | | | | offering some tea to the men passing by in the middle |
| exploitation of digital imaging and photography. | | | | of a full of activity street. |
| Among her most famous and earliest works can be | | | | The theme of cyborgs is quite evident in other |
| stressed "The Birth of a Star" in which Mori describes | | | | numerous Mori's works. For instance in her Empty |
| herself as a schoolgirl in vinyl costume with big | | | | Dream, Mariko Moris describes four figures of herself. |
| headphones on her head. She looks so carefree and | | | | the background is digitally composed of biggest indoor |
| playful, and there are multi-colored balloons floating | | | | man-made beach of Japan. Evidently, in the real life |
| around her. She stares at everything that surrounds | | | | such a situation would be simply impossible, and that |
| her through blue eye-lenses and smiles in a charming | | | | bears the idea of cyborg. |
| way. However, in this apparently pop-culture motivated | | | | In Mori's creation entitled "Beginning of the End" we can |
| work, the artist creates a technology-inspired, | | | | found one more cyborg. There a human-being is |
| contemporary type of cyborg. If a cyborg of traditional | | | | placed inside a capsule which is located in the centre |
| type presented by a mixture of a living being and a | | | | of a busy street in Tokyo. The person is floating within |
| mechanism, a creature of the real life and creature of | | | | a technological device which represents either a |
| fiction at the same moment, Mori's cyborg version is a | | | | secure place to conceal from the around world, or a |
| hybrid of contemporary conceptions of femininity and | | | | way of transportation. At any rate, this cyborg is a |
| fiction and it is inspired by the current pop-culture in | | | | symbol of hi-tech life of Tokyo. |
| Japan. Also this image contradicts the general idea of | | | | Right through the whole range of her work, Mariko |
| a common Japanese woman and depicts her as a | | | | Mori widely uses self-portraits and the cyborg digital |
| perfect combination of the Western influence and | | | | images to concentrate the attention on the way the |
| Eastern beliefs. | | | | technology transmits to the identity and its role in the |
| During one of the interviews, when Mariko Mori was | | | | modern hi-tech society. She observes the position of |
| asked about the constant happiness of women | | | | women in the relation to society on the whole and |
| depicted in her works, she underlined that they are | | | | new opportunities and technologies in particular. |
| cyborgs, not women and that's why they are happy. | | | | |