Ei Arakawa-Nash Revisits Their Namesake and Collectivity in ArtAsiaPacific Essay

In a 2026 essay for ArtAsiaPacific, critic and friend revisits a 2007 dictionary entry on performance artist Ei Arakawa-Nash (b. 1977), who came to New York in 1998. The original text distinguished them from the older conceptualist Shūsaku Arakawa (b. 1936, d. 2010). Nearly two decades later, Ei Arakawa-Nash (they/them) has built a prolific global career and changed their name after marrying a US male in 2023, hyphenating to Arakawa-Nash. The essay proposes revised entries for "Arakawa" (name) and "Collectivity," noting that name is a significant theme in their work, as seen in the 2005 video Make Your Name Foreign, which reflects on On Kawara's signing practices and diaspora identity. The couple decided to hyphenate surnames to raise children via surrogacy.