Electric Dress by Atsuko Tanaka

The Gutai member’s best known work was constructed by fashioning vividly painted light bulbs into a dress. The piece consists of only light bulbs and their cords. A re-imagination of the traditional kimono, Electric Dress represented modern Japan’s embrace of the new in society as well as art. This aligned perfectly with the aims of the Gutai group, seeking a radical departure from the past, which had been largely marked by turmoil and war for decades. The group also sought to blur the lines between everyday life and art, another way Tanaka’s Electric Dress exemplifies the movement. It would not be for several more years before European groups like New Tendencies began making such calls. An important predecessor to electronic art, the dress embraced elements central Tanaka’s career and Gutai: change, movement and interactivity. It was also an important step in the development of electronic art as an interactive Light sculpture.