I don’t have any problems with how the US is embracing the pop culture stylings of the Far East, but I can’t help but get a little disappointed when I see once talented artists give in to a trend for a profit.
Now I hate to go against the grain of what’s popular today, but I’m sure you’ve heard of Takashi Murakami. He was once a talented and hard-working artist, who studied the traditional style of the old masters. At the end of his scholastic career, however, he shifted gears and became very interested in the longevity of corporately marketable cartoons.
His creative mind currently rests on an island somewhere between Japan and the States and, along side his oompa loompas design team, he mashes-up pre-existing cartoon characters, exaggerates their most outstanding characteristics, and ships them off to Rockefeller Center, MOCA, or some other happening destination.
The shock value, generated by the contrast of cuteness and questionable content, is generally enough to keep the hipsters swooning while they order up a limited edition (5k USD) Louis Vuitton bag with eyeballs on it, designed by Murakami of course.
The bright colors, clean graphic lines, the characters, they are in fact very beautiful and Murakami’s works do stand as wonderful pieces of art. The problem is that I’ve seen it all before. I was raised watching this stuff on videotapes, shipped to me by relatives in Tokyo. In more recent years I’ve seen more twisted versions of these cartoons in trendy shops such as Giant Robot and f you’re lucky enough to visit the streets of Akihabara, you’ll see more of the same merch in their novelty stores. With all previous criticisms aside, it was pretty discouraging to see these characters outlandishly butchered in uninspiring ways and so obviously exploited for profit. If it was art pour l'art it would’ve been okay, but art for self-indulgent profit? It doesn’t sit well with me.
I can respect him as a great marketer, but his public persona clouds my view of, what could be, amazing work.
*Update: This past weekend my little sister invited me to an art show at California State University Los Angeles. There I saw a piece riddled with Murakami’s sunflower decal by a student from CSU Long Beach, Pakorn Sukiphaiboon, a great Visual Communications student and an active member of the local VCDA (Visual Communication Design Association). On it was an excerpt from this article by Jeff Howe of Wired Magazine. It was actually quite a relief to realize that someone else, at least in part, thought a little like me.
No comments:
Post a Comment