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Why Artist Simon Fujiwara Rebuilt Anne Franks

House Inside an Israeli Gallery
The heady artwork is actually a poignant critique of capitalism.
Hili Perlson (https://news.artnet.com/about/hili-perlson-261), September 11, 2017

Simon Fujiwara. Courtesy of the artist.

Artist Simon Fujiwara does not shy away from controversyand his latest
piece may be his most controversial yet. In Dvir Gallery in the south of Tel
Aviv, Israel, Fujiwara is showing Hope House, a life-size reconstruction of
the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

But the Berlin-based artist does not pursue provocation for its own sake.
Quite the opposite, in fact: He sometimes finds the material for his
ambitious works, which often blur fact and fiction, in public scandals and
simplistic reactions to the complexities of the human condition.

His video piece Joanne (2016), for example, delves into the story of his
former art teacher Joanne Salley, who resigned from Harrow School for Boys
in London due to a sensationalist tabloid story blown out of proportion
in 2011. Topless photographs of her, taken by a female photography
teacher, were discovered by pupils on a hard drive, distributed around the
school, and then sent to the yellow press.

With observations about incidents such as this, Fujiwara turns the mirror
towards his viewers, urging them to contemplate the nature of their
reactions. An astute maker of seductive environments, Fujiwara creates
scenarios that physically lure his viewers into serious engagement with
uneasy questions.

His new work is no different. The installation is based on a 3-D model of the
Anne Frank House sold at the houses gift shop. Not unlike a toy dollhouse,
the model is cut down the middle so that both the exterior and interior are
visible. Fujiwara blew up the model and put together the pieces of the
puzzle inside the four-story gallery so that each floor of the building
corresponds to one-and-a-half floors of the Anne Frank House.

Viewers are invited to walk around the exterior and enter individual rooms.
Inside, a fully functional house awaits, complete with power outlets and
furnitureas well as a slew of historically inaccurate items. And while these
artifacts may at first confound viewers, they in fact hold the key to the
artists canny message.

We caught up with Fujiwara ahead of the works debut to find out howand
whyhe made it.

Simon Fujiwara, Hope House (2017). Exhibition view at Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv, 2017.
Photo Elad Sarig, courtesy the artist and Dvir Gallery.

The Anne Frank House isnt a site that I would immediately associate
with the issues you often deal with in your work. What made you want to
do this project?

I never thought about working with this material and I never read the book
growing up, but I was teaching in Amsterdam and wanted to take the
students to see the house as we were discussing monuments and how
ideology translates into material language. Like everyone, I had my own
image of what the Anne Frank House is, what it would ask me to feel, and
how it would make me behave, but I wanted the students to try and look at
the house as objectively as possible, as sculpture.

The Anne Frank House has become something akin to a holy pilgrimage site;
it is one of the few places where every mundane detail of a homedoor
handles, wallpaper, floorboardstranscend their material status and
become symbols of tragedy and hope. There is a three-hour queue outside
the house each day and I came to understand that, like all experiences on
this level of populist appeal, the house offers the visitors a very clear
product-experience. The completeness of the Anne Frank narrative, how it
ties into the clear-cut narrative of WWII, good and evil, hope and tragedy,
are extremely appealing on a mass scale due to the sense of clarity and
simplicity it offers consumer-visitors. In this sense I started to think of the
house as a kind of readymadenot a house that is lived in and evolves, but
a time capsule, untouchable.

Can you describe your first-ever visit?

Inside the house, I was told by the guide that almost nothing of the original
house remains except for the structure. That the house was only purchased
after the making of the first Hollywood film about Anne Frank and that it had
since undergone several renovations to make it look as authentic as
possible. I asked about the wallpaper in the room we were in, which looked
very clean but was obviously not of our time, and I was told that it came
from Germany and was produced under the GDR [German Democratic
Republic]. It was chosen for its color and texture matching.

I thought, What are the ethics of having communist German wallpaper

lining the Anne Frank House? I found it extremely exciting to encounter this
pragmatism in a house that is so clearly ideological. Discovering that the
houses interiors and atmosphere were not authentic but were largely
staged only made the house more interesting and beautiful to me because
they spoke of a human truth: the nature of our pragmatism. That felt more
authentic than a pure narrative of hope. That was the message I took from
the house.

How did you end up with the model of the house?

By the time I got to the gift shop I was very moved and excited and bought
almost everything they had, including the model of the building. Sometime
later I began constructing the model and couldnt get my head around the
product. It was so beguiling. I felt uncomfortable having such control over
its construction, but I also felt invited to participate, almost as if the
process of making the model house offered permission to make it my own.

The fact that the museum makes a product of the house might make some
people uncomfortableeven if all proceeds go to their charitybut for me it
was a perfect snapshot of the times we live in. The dominant ideology that
we have created today is capitalism, and nothing can escape ityou
participate or die. The foundation must know that, in order for the story of
Anne Frank and its message to survive in the 21st century, it also needs to
offer a product and the sense of participation. It made me marvel at the
power and agility of capitalism to really consume everything, but also the
truly equalizing, democratic fact that before marketing, we all stand naked
and defenseless. Even Anne Frank.

Simon Fujiwara, Hope House (2017). Exhibition view at Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv, 2017.
Photo Elad Sarig, courtesy the artist and Dvir Gallery.

Did you at any point of the process involve the Anne Frank House
directly or inform them that you would be doing this?

No. I made a conscious decision not to contact the house or foundation for
the simple reason that I didnt want to enter a relationship with them. I knew
that once I spoke to a human, got to understand their objections or their
support for my project, it would begin to work on me and affect what I
wanted to say, which is not really about the Anne Frank house at all. I read
the basics about the history of the house, the diary publication, etc. But I
am not an artist who is interested in research. I know how much I need to
know to make a workthe rest is all feeling, listening, and craft.

In this work, then, are you criticizing the way in which the Anne Frank
House actively participates in these processes? Are you asking if its OK
for them to engage in this kind of branding and sell merchandise?

No, I am not criticizing the house or the foundation. I dont have a personal,
one-line take on what they are doing, but I try to approach it with openness.
Im looking at it from a historical perspective, saying to myself, This is
happening today. Why? Im trying to understand the decisions made by the
people who are behind products like the model. Its not a judgment; I am
driven by curiosity. I wonder if the foundation, producers, and designers of
the model had doubts or concerns about what they were doing and how
they justified it or narrated it to themselves. And when I imagine those
discussions, they mirror what I think a lot of people are questioning within
themselves today, or at least I am.

Like the Anne Frank House, we as individuals today are asked to market
ourselves, to present ourselves increasingly simplistically, as products, and
to utilize what may once have felt sacred and personal to move ourselves
forward. Can I be a brand and still be a human? Where is the line drawn? I
believe this is one of the dominant concerns that were going to be facing
as individuals this century.

Although this question has existed in some form since time immemorial,
technology has changed everything and there is no way back. Im disturbed
and excited about it. I want to understand and record it, which is the
privilege of being an artist and living in this age.

Related Articles

Curator A
Understa
Complexi
Durhams
(https://new
(https://news.artnet.com/opinion/anne- ellegood-jim
Simon Fujiwara, Hope House (2017). Exhibition view at Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv, 2017. ellegood-jimmie-durham-1033907)
Photo Elad Sarig, courtesy the artist and Dvir Gallery.

Speaking of branding, celebrities visiting the Anne Frank House, or

other symbolic places and memorials, is something of a social media
trope now. But its a risky onesometimes it can go very wrong. Im
thinking of the Justin Bieber scandal. (https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/marguerite-
humeau-riddles-origin-story-1030961)
Bieber visited before his concert in Amsterdam and wrote in the guestbook,
She was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber
Simon
(https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/14/justin-bieber-anne-frank-
About
belieber) (as in, one of his fans). It caused a huge social media storm. Sham
People were outraged by his personalization of the Anne Frank experience. (https://
It doesnt offend me because I dont expect pop stars to act humbly or fujiwara
(https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/simon- 637541
selflessly since what we celebrate in them is largely their self-absorption.
fujiwara-art-teacher-for-latest-work-
However, I found it interesting that so many people were ready to take 637541)
offense on behalf of someone they have no relation to in a place they may
not have even visited themselves.

The most important aspect of the story is the fact that the Anne Frank
House posted the Bieber guestbook entry on their own official Facebook
page first, and in this respect were approving his comments. I dont have a
position on whether they were right or wrong to do this. Their motives are
clearit attracts more attention, from a young audience, to a cause they
want to promote.

Interestingly, the House is often seen as a litmus test of celebrities

humanity. When celebrities post images of themselves visiting the Anne
Frank House, they are in part sending a message that they are humble,
human, and, in the face of great historical events, also equal to us.

Bieber is a white, entitled rich male and is on the other end of the
ideological spectrum from Beyonc (black, female), whose visit to the house
was largely celebrated
(https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/03/beyonce-anne-frank-house).
Beyonc, who is extremely studied and in control of her image, understands
that you dont wear Givenchy when you go to the Anne Frank House. She
wore a sky-blue casual trouser suit by Topshop. She took tasteful photos in
the areas where youre allowed to, and posted pictures of herself crouching
low under images of Anne Frank.

Within 40 minutes of her Instagram post, the Topshop outfit was sold out
internationally.

One of the first items I wanted to show in Hope House, my reconstruction of

the house, was this outfit, but as it was no longer possible to buy it. I had to
have it hand tailored with fabric that I personally sourced in Italy. This was
the first of many documents, objects, and products that I began producing
or sourcing to fill Hope House. I wanted the house I created to present the
perversity, complexity, and contradiction of the world we live in today,
where every object we own contains an ideology, every shred of material is
a product. I wanted it to speak about how controlled we are by the ideology
of capitalismand how much we enjoy it, desire it, even if we know deep
down something is wrong.

Youve chosen to debut the work at your gallery in Israel, where the
language around the memory and singularity of the Holocaust is
inseparable from national identity. In using the house as a framework
for a critique of capitalism, arent you worried you might be asking too
much of your viewers?

No, Im not worried. Im confident that people who experience the work will
be able to interpret it because Im confident in my ability as an artist to
translate what I want to say into material. I believe that experiencing my
artwork is not only an intellectual experience but a physical one, and since
we all have bodies and share a similar biology, then everyone can get
something from the experience, whatever your education. That is why I am
so obsessively focused on the sculptural, physical experience of my work.

If you ask me about the reception of the work by people who havent
experienced it, then, yes, I have concerns. In the process of making the
work I asked several people what they thought about this proposition of
bringing an updated version of the Anne Frank House to Israel, because on
the most basic level that is how one could describe the project. Almost all
Europeans and Americans reacted with discomfort, and many questioned my
motives. When pushed as to why they felt this, many said they were worried
that Israelis would be offended by the work. But every Israeli I spoke to in
the lead-up to the show said, This is something I want to see. They were
curious.

It confirmed to me that humans are much better at making quick judgments

and being offended on behalf of others. From an outside perspective, the
Israelis were cast in a narrative of the victim, which is tied up with the
Holocaust narrative, and this work was seen as distasteful. The Israelis I
spoke to clearly didnt think of themselves within this victim narrative, didnt
see this as a threat, and therefore didnt feel the need to defend or protect
themselves. Its interesting that one of the very ideas at the root of Hope
House was to question this very impulse we have to judge from a distance.
It confirmed to me the importance of making this work.
 Simon Fujiwara, Hope House (2017). Exhibition view at Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv, 2017.
Photo Elad Sarig, courtesy the artist and Dvir Gallery.

Have you had any doubts along the process of working on this piece, or
any concerns about this work being attacked by someone in the way
youve just describedbeing offended in someone elses name?

A couple of months into working on this project I started to panic, as it

dawned on me the enormity and complexity of the subject. I was also
confronting how important it was to me to confront the increasingly
ideological world we live in and its stifling of questioning and curiosity. I
knew that by making the work I could be seen as arrogant, entitled,
insensitive, etc. Regardless of how good or complex the artwork might be, if
the wrong photos and text from the exhibition were to go viral, it could be
totally misunderstood.

It was presented to me as a risk by everyone around me, and although the

people who care about me personally agreed that my approach to the
SHARE
project was not actually inflammatory or controversial, the world today
might not see it that way. I sweated. But in my gut, I knew the work needed
! to be made and the fact that the internet-fueled world of public opinion
might be extremely simplistic was not a reason for me or my work to
" become simplified.

If art cannot master, alter, expand the environment it exists in, the
+ environment will control and consume us all. Although the work is not about
the person Anne Frank, ironically, this is the message I took from reading
$ her diary.

What would you do if this backfiredif indeed, an Instagram post, or

% even this interview, gets misinterpreted?

Its difficult to say as it hasnt happened, but its definitely not something I
want. I am not looking for controversy. The reason I was drawn to art and
the art world in the first place was because it is not about sensationalism at
' its core. It operates over a longer time, over centuries in some cases, and
sensation is momentary and fixed to historical context. I think on a level its
noble that people argue against the elitism of art, but I also wonder if this
comforting narrative of all art being able to be understood and accessed by
all people is yet another capitalist-fed, pseudo-democratic ideology that
subdues our anxieties about the increasing polarization and divisions in the
world.

They say that you need an education to appreciate art, but I feel like I
discovered art through curiosity. Nobody in my family introduced me to art
and I dont come from wealth. It has taken me years to be able to talk about
art and to understand its effect on me. I think I was drawn to it for this
reason: its complexity and the slow, elastic time frame in which it operates.
 So, to answer your question, even if the mainstream media or the internet
decides to make a shit storm about this work, I know there will be viewers
who will confront it on their own terms. The beauty of art is that it creates a
space where everybody is actively seeking contradiction and consensus
simultaneously, which in itself is a contradiction. Thats what I fell in love
with, and its what I fight for.

Origin Story is a column in which we examine the backstory of an

individual work of art.

Simon Fujiwara, Hope House (http://dvirgallery.com/exhibition/hope-

house/) is on view at Dvir Gallery, Reshit Hochma st. 14
Tel Aviv, 6135302, Israel from September 2October 21.

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European Editor
(https://news.artnet.com/about/hili-perlson- (https://twitter.com/HiliPerlson)
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curatorial focus.
Janelle Zara (https://news.artnet.com/about/janelle-zara-246), September 8, 2017