Island Fishing is a video loop created from digitally composited, handmaid stop-motion animations. It uses traditional Japanese kirigami forms (cut and glue origami) to manipulate depictions of human bodies as represented in free tourist magazines distributed across Waikiki. The narrative depicts a moment from the myth of the god Māui as he hauls up the islands of Hawaii. Māui’s magic hook is baited with a wing from the goddess Hina’s favorite bird, and cast deep into the ocean where it is caught by the reef goddess and pulls up the Islands. This myth is shared as a creation narrative throughout Polynesia, and will soon be canonized in pop culture via Disney’s upcoming 2016 animated release ‘Moana’. The interplay of materials and narrative explores an aesthetic commodification of Hawaii through the lens of tourism and its interaction with the representation and identity of the Islands.

Duration: 6:08 min