Conceived by Kensaku Shinohara / kotorimomo

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Designed by Tomoko Shinohara and Zhen Zhen Zhong

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Distributed in Brazil, Japan, China, USA, Netherlands and Germany.

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COVID has changed our lives. Our previous “normal”—when we once used to share space, breathe the same air, come together to form a crowd, spontaneously go to a random bar or restaurant after finishing an in-person meeting—is gone. The time that used to allow and be allotted for these activities have become refocused on “online strategies.” At the same time, we can’t forget that there are many people who do not have access to these these online resources; and in turn, there are people that we cannot access online. These new ways of living and relating to others, however, have not eliminated creative work. Artists are continuing to create and share their work, but in a manner adapted to this new context. My current project, STAYHOME POSTURES, is one such response.

STAYHOME POSTURES is a stylish, playful, pink “dance” poster with 15 unique bodily postures represented by people of different ages and backgrounds. Each posture has a unique name such as “unicorn” or “squid” (currently in English, Chinese and Japanese); however, the postures do not embody the names as literal representations  because I want people to enjoy the space of imagination in these home “performances.” With this simple game using a poster, people cannot only hold something physical in their hands, they can also rebuild imagination and communication and move their bodies during the pandemic. All the collaborators offered great ideas and commitment in this challenging time, and we all enjoyed creating this poster. Their responses made it clear that we were all wanting to live creatively no matter what was happening.

Currently, this poster has been distributed in six countries including the U.S., Japan, Brazil, China, Netherlands, and Germany. Some people are sending us pictures of their kids using the postures, and some teachers are including this poster in their classes. I am so happy that this poster is functioning as a new communication tool. My next plan is to expand the distribution so that more people can engage with it in unique ways, then to develop the second and third versions with more models.