Nikki S. Lee, The Tourist Project (13), 1997
NIKKI S. LEE
The Tourist Project (13)
From the series "Projects"
1997
Fujiflex prints
28 ¼ x 21 ¼ inches
© Nikki S. Lee
NOT ON VIEW
From 1997 to 2001, Korean-born artist Nikki S. Lee worked to immerse herself in a range of communities across the United States. The resulting “Projects” series presents the artist posing as part of 12 different subcultures. In each “Project,” Lee transforms her appearance and behavior, enacting a performance of participation in a group identity, such as “yuppy,” “punk,” or “lesbian.” She then photographs herself crossing ethnic, sexual, and class lines. The project gestures toward postmodern notions that a person is a series of multiple performances and images rather than some integral and essential self.
Katie Weng, UMD ‘16 English, Art History
In this acclaimed series of work, Nikki S. Lee pictures herself posing as a member of various social scenes and cultural groups—hip-hop artists, senior citizens, skateboarders, yuppies, punks, exotic dancers, tourists, and rural white Americans. Lee transforms herself through clothing and makeup, gesture and demeanor, to integrate into each target group. Here she makes herself into the stereotype of a tourist by donning sunglasses, fanny pack, and camera bag. She performs a role in this imaginary Ohio household with blonde hair, jean shorts, and automobile-oriented pose. Lee’s photographs question the structures through which identities are determined, asking whether identity may be more fluid than such demographic categories assume.
Stamp Gallery, 2016
More from the series "Projects":
