Manko+Kayak+-+Megumi+Igarashi


 * [[image:vagina-boat.jpg]] ||
 * Process and performance photos of Manko Kayak ||

Title: //Manko Kayak// Artist(s): Megumi Igarashi ( alias Rokudenashiko) Date: 2013 Period: Contemporary Country of Origin: Japan Cultural/Ethnic Affiliation: Japanese Medium: 3D scan of genitalia, polystyrene cut, kayak Dimensions: 2 meter manko on 3 meter kayak
 * Artwork Identification **

Megumi Igarashi was born March 14 1972 in the Shizuoka prefecture. She became a mangaka, or manga artist, because someone told her she was good at it and wasn’t really sure what else to do. She did many low-brow comedic pieces until she was married in 2002 then switched to comedy about her relationship. In 2011, she had labia reduction surgery and wrote a story about it. When her editor asked her to do more on the subject, she created a mold to see her newly reduced labia. As she found it to be boring, she decorated it. The reaction of those around her, especially from men, set her on the path to be a manko artist. (Manko is the Japanese word for vagina.) Her marriage came to an end in 2012 when her partner didn’t support her manko themed art and asked for her to stop. By 2015, she had a book published (in English and Japanese) about the ordeal she had gone through for her art, including her fight with the law, imprisonment and how her art began.
 * Introduction**

The piece Manko Kayak consists of a scan of the artist's vagina that was increased in scale and attached to surround the seat of a kayak. The vaginal motif on the kayak was made by 3D scanning her vagina then cutting polystyrene based off the digital file. Igarashi did not know how to 3D scan her vagina herself so she had to hire a technician, and the cost of that as well as the polystrene was prohibitive, so she decided to crowd fund the piece online. All of those who sponsored the project got a temporary file of the 3D vagina scans to print the same motif on other objects. Some of her suggestions were objects such as phone cases and lids. She purchased a regular kayak to place the manko on. On the finished kayak, the Manko was 2 meters long and the whole kayak was 3 meters long. She painted the polystyrene to match the kayak, and then the names of some of the sponsors that gave more than 50,000 yen were written on the kayak on the day of the revealing party. For the revealing party, there was a performative aspect where she rode the kayak. They kayak was then shown in Shinjuku Ophthalmologic Gallery in Tokyo.
 * Descriptive Analysis**

Meguim Igarashi, who goes by the pseudonym Rokudenashiko which means good-for-nothing girl, is a self proclaimed Manko (or vagina) artist. Her art started off as a whim but now has a strong drive to prove that the vagina and vagina art are not obscene. Her artwork seeks to remove the stigma around the vagina by decorating and incorporating it into non-sexual contexts (such as her vaginal dioramas). The Manko Kayak is a prime example of her desexualizing the vagina by taking an enlarged version of her vagina and adhering it to a fully functional kayak. In Japan, there are obscenity laws that ban the sale, distribution, or display of obscene objects, but these laws are often unfairly used against works showing vaginas instead of works showing penises. In contrast, there is the annual penis festival that takes place at the Kanayama Shrine in Kawasaki, Japan where people carry out large phallic totems, and there are uncensored penis illustrations, candy, clothing, and even a parade. This large penis paraphernalia is not considered obscene yet her work is. Igarashi faced constant legal trouble for her work. She was arrested for her work in 2014 and all of her artwork was confiscated. She was let out on bail and had to pay a fine. After that she had constant court battles, but while her case was still going on she was arrested again. She was ultimately convicted and she appealed her case to the Japanese High Court, who backed up the ruling of guilty. She was convicted only for the digital file she distributed through her crowdfunding campaign and not the dioramas or the manko kayak. Another artist who works with similar concepts is Casey Jenkins, an Australian artist. (Jenkins uses they/them pronouns.) Their piece Casting Off My Womb is a performance piece where they knitted a scarf by inserting a spool of yarn into their vagina each day, and then knitting the scarf by pulling the yarn out of their vagina as they went. Jenkins is also interested in removing the stigma around female genitalia. Jenkins wants their work to result in the association of the vagina with something soft and warm like a scarf. Jenkins also made a point of knitting even while menstruating to also remove some of the negative association society has with menstruation. Jenkins knitted the scarf directly at the gallery each day as the act of knitting from their vagina was integral to the piece. Jenkins is also interested in subverting the fact that knitting is an art often associated solely with women. Both Igarashi and Jenkins are working to make a point about the stigma in their cultures surrounding female genitalia, and remove some of the context to show that the vagina and vulva are not something that is inherently obscene. They also both incorporate performative aspects in their work.
 * Formal** **and Contextual A****nalysis**
 * [[image:https://6d745.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/img_9853.jpg?w=625]] ||
 * Manko Kayak on display at the German Hygiene Museum ||
 * Relevant Artists**
 * [[image:http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/12/04/article-2518107-19D779E200000578-70_644x439.jpg caption="For her performance piece, each day Casey inserts a ball of wool inside herself and begins to knit using it"]] ||
 * Casting Off My Womb by Casey Jenkins ||


 * Other Work by Megumi Igarashi**
 * [[image:https://6d745.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/e38395e382afe382b7e381bee38293.jpg]] ||
 * Fukushi-man Manko Diorama by Megumi Igarashi ||


 * [[image:https://6d745.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/485369_391581130949170_1990637651_n.jpg]] ||
 * Manko Diorama by Megumi Igarashi ||

Online Sources: Print Sources:
 * References**
 * Cabinet Secretariat, "Penal Code." 
 * Japanese penal code.
 * Igarashi, Megumi. Mangaka Rokudenashiko. 
 * Artist's website.
 * Igarashio Meguimi. Campfire, "Support 3D scanning of my "middle" to make the world's first manko dream boat!" 
 * Crowdfunding page for artist's project.
 * Japan Times, "High court upholds guilty ruling for obscenity case of vagina artist Megumi Igarashi." 2017. 
 * Article on most recent ruling on the artist's legal case.
 * Kikuchi, Daisuke. Japan Times, "‘Vagina artist’ Megumi Igarashi continues her battle with Japan’s definition of obscenity." 2017. 
 * Article on artist's legal troubles over time.
 * Masanori, Takano. Change.org, "We demand the immediate release of Japanese artist Rokudenadeshiko! #20141203 ‪#‎FreeMegumi‬."
 * Petition for release of the artist after her arrest.
 * Winter, Katy. Dailymail.com, "She didn't learn THAT at WI: 'Vaginal knitter' spends 28 days making scarf from wool stored inside her." 2013. 
 * Article about Casey Jenkins's work.
 * Jenkins, Casey. Casey Jenkins, "bio". 
 * Casey Jenkins's biography on their website.
 * Rokudenashiko (2016). //What is obscenity? the story of a good for nothing artist and her pussy//. Toronto, Ontario: Koyama Press.
 * Artist's manga about her artwork and her struggles with the law.