Takashi Murakami

If there's one thing that has always irked me about the art world, its that certain elements seem set on making it an exclusive, inaccessible thing with a clear line drawn between pop art for the plebs, and high art for some group of well-educated elites. I've always felt that art should be for everyone, and that's a mentality that Takashi Murakami also has.

I only recently became aware of his work after watching a Fantastic Plastic Machine video (Different Colors). The vibrant colors in the video, the strange creature that the girl in it meets, and the world it takes her to peaked my curiosity, and I just had to know who made this video. After a few quick Google searches I had my answer, and was introduced to the colorful, "superflat" world of Mr. Murakami.

By and large, what appeals to me the most about his work is the use of color, and the carefree, happy undertones in a lot of his work. The otherworldly, yet approachable characters he creates, and the strange, yet intriguing worlds the live in make me want to start at his prints for hours.

As I mentioned earlier, Murakami likes to make his art accessible to as many people as possible. Throughout his career he has strived to blur the line between high and low art. One of his most recent examples of this is the work that he has been doing of late with various companies ranging from bubble gum, to figurines, to even working with Louis Vuitton. While some may cry bloody murder over taking a commercial route with one's art, what it boils down to is that Murakami's work has become incredibly accessible to all walks of life as a result. In an interview a couple of years ago he had this to say on the matter:

You’ve done work with Louis Vuitton and others that straddles the line between art and commercial products. Do you think there are dangers to mixing art with branding and merchandizing?

I don’t think of it as straddling. I think of it as changing the line. What I’ve been talking about for years is how in Japan, that line is less defined. Both by the culture and by the past-War economic situation. Japanese people accept that art and commerce will be blended; and in fact, they are surprised by the rigid and pretentious Western hierarchy of “high art.” In the West, it certainly is dangerous to blend the two because people will throw all sorts of stones. But that’s okay—I’m ready with my hard hat.

Takashi Murakami has gotten me interested in a a very colorful, engaging style of art that very much appeals to me. Since coming across his work, I've also started to look more into other artists who have delved into the Superflat style such as Chiho Aoshima and Yoshitomo Nara, but more on them another time. Before signing off, here is the video he did for Fantastic Plastic Machine:

Ikiru - Akira Kurosawa

Like a lot of people, my first exposure to a Kurosawa film was Seven Samurai. It was an interesting mix of action, and social commentary, and the more I researched it, the more I realized its impact on film in America and elsewhere. However, I recently sat down and watched Ikiru, and that is now by far my favorite Kurosawa film out of all of those that I've seen.

The movie follows an older bureaucrat / widower, Kanji Watanabe, who has spent the last thirty years working for the government, when he is suddenly diagnosed with stomach cancer. This causes him to seriously re-evaluate his life. First he looks at his job and realizes that he wasn't so much working as he was acting like a machine rubber-stamping paperwork, or sending it to different departments. At one point Watanabe says, "I can't remember a single thing that I've done" when looking back on his job. His job was his life, but he was never really living, and this comes back to the film's title, "Ikiru" which is Japanese for "to live". Watanabe comes to the conclusion that he never really lived, and that before he dies he must now do his best to live life to the fullest.

From here he does everything from going for a night on the town with a carefree novelist, to spending time with a young female, to what would be his final, and greatest achievement: building a new park for a local community.

Following Watanabe on his quest to live is truly inspiring. He really tries to change the way he goes about things now that he knows he will die. Seeing his dogged persistence to get that park built as he gradually becomes weaker is bittersweet. Most interesting is when his co-workers realize that Watanabe knew he was dying but persevered to finish the park, then swearing to live more like he did, but ultimately failing. It showed just how difficult change can truly be. The story is such that it's difficult not to want to re-evaluate one's own life after watching Ikiru.

Takashi Shimura deserves a lot of praise for his portrayal of Watanabe. He really sold the roll throw body language, facial expression, and the way he spoke. There's this mix of sadness, and yearning to make things right in his performance that is very special. One scene in the movie where he sings an old song called Gondola no Uta about how precious youth is that is absolutely moving. Shimura did an amazing job in this role.

A lot of westerners mostly know Kurosawa for his samurai movies, but it is well worth delving in to the rest of his work. Ikiru is one such movie that should be a must-see for everyone.

Ken Ishii - Flatspin

I was perusing the local Book Off the other day, and stumbled across Flatspin by Ken Ishii, promptly snapping it up. I've mentioned before that I quite like his music with its very mechanical sound. A couple of things that I like about this album are that a number of the songs have a way of keeping this mechanical vibe going, but there's this sense of exploration at the same time. "Gap Accelerator" has one melody that and beat that stays prevelent throughout the song, while the track regularly slams to a halt, only to start up again re-invented. "Drums in Friction" has very organic-sounding drums, while the accompanying instruments are anything but (a nice juxtaposition of sounds). Both Mirage and Moonquake make nice use of pads where the first acts as a mellow mid-section to the album, and Moonquake feels like perfect night driving music. "Frozen Reminiscence" is a nice, laid back jazzy track, while Iceblink is more traditional Ken Ishii fair. About the only area that is a bit hit-and-miss for me on the album are three "Flatspinning Loop" tracks that feel more like beats that Ishii liked, but wasn't quite sure what to do with, but put them on the album anyway.

Overall, I very much liked this album, and it'll be sitting on my iPod for quite some time I think. I also picked up Sleeping Madness by Ken Ishii, but more on that in another post.