Kansas Bokaisen Project, Park Jaeyoung

Park Jaeyoung’s artwork exists in the contested space between fiction and reality. His installation Kansas Bokaisen Project is part of an ongoing project that explores the mutant creature known as bokaisen. According to Park’s elaborate backstory, the bokaisen was discovered in the early 1980s by zoologist John A. Fancier on a South Pacific Island. The installation recreates the laboratory of Fancier’s research partner, Japanese scientist Dr. Segiguchi, who, as explained in the FBI memoranda displayed on the light box, has been on the run with several stolen bokaisen species. A disheveled desk includes half-smoked cigarettes and a tepid cup of tea, suggesting that Dr. Segiguchi has just left the room. The laboratory is made entirely of everyday materials that can be found around the house or purchased in local stores. The slumbering bokaisen, which breathes slowly within an incubator, has characteristics unique to local wildlife. Its bushy tail recalls the squirrels seen
throughout Lawrence, and its small antlers reference the legendary jackalope, a hoax propagated by a virus that causes hornlike growths to protrude from the face of infected rabbits.
Park’s use of faux scientific equipment to study fictional creatures stimulates intrigue while also prompting viewers to question the authority of scientists.
In addition to assuming the guise of a laboratory, the Kansas Bokaisen Project exploits stereotypical assumptions about Japan. Park created a scent that permeates the installation, which he said is meant to approximate the “exotic scent of East Asia.” Stashed on top of a shelf, perhaps for a late-night snack, are two bowls of instant ramen noodles. Additionally, throughout the installation much of signage, which approximates Japanese katakana writing,
is intentionally illegible.