In areas where national borders have been repeatedly redrawn, the geographical distributions of ethnic groups and national boundaries do not necessarily correspond. In some cases, people who became minorities due to changes in borderlines were forced to leave their lands and become refugees. Such tragic incidents that occur between ethnic groups reveal a profoundly sad universal trait in human nature.
If news photos of people embroiled in ethnic-related problems were deprived of their backgrounds, which provide clues and context to the pictured incidents, then the sole focus would be on the emotions of the subjects/people. In this work, Maruyama randomly erected acrylic panels so that they overlapped and created a circular form. The panels were printed with such portraits of people in that isolated construct. The outlines of the panels overlapped; thus, several of them happened to be caught between the narrow gaps. Such random coincidences dictated whether or not a given pictured ethnic group became a minority. The work speaks to the idea that if we have been fortunate enough to not be an ethnic minority, it is only out of a lucky coincidence.
Maruyama also added the portraits who feel estranged in today’s society in this work.