Murakami Podcast - Script:
Known for vibrant, colorful, cheery works, Takashi Murakami rose to fame in the contemporary art world in the most recent decades.
Collaborating within the consumer market, Louis Vuitton, Supreme and celebrities such as Billie Eilish, Pharrell Williams, and Kanye West have helped expand his influence and art throughout the world.
Because his business approach compares to that of Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, critics continue to slander the art itself for its use in branding, pop-culture and enterprises.
In the 2000s, Murakami curated Superflat, a Japanese contemporary art movement that featured techniques and works influenced by manga and anime.
The art itself can mostly be described as cute, psychedelic and sometimes satirical.
However, behind the cartoonish and seemingly friendly figures, is a critique on post World War II Japanese culture.
The Otaku, is a term often described for those that have consuming interests in mostly Anime and Manga.
Murakami repeatedly claims in his writings and interviews that Japan was infantilized by the U.S. presence and that Japan was
“kept from participating fully in global geopolitics, Japanese aesthetic-political impulses imploded into fantasies of monsters and superheroes, galactic wars, cyborgs, and schoolgirls - all the displays of anime, manga, video games."
He claims for this to have had a devastating effect on Japanese culture,
and as a result, everyone became obsessed with youth, cuteness, and with it, a darker and violent sexual manifestation of this obsession.
Through his art, Murakami sets up a subtle critique of Japan’s contemporary art culture and the West's intruding influence upon it.
Known for vibrant, colorful, cheery works, Takashi Murakami rose to fame in the contemporary art world in the most recent decades.
Collaborating within the consumer market, Louis Vuitton, Supreme and celebrities such as Billie Eilish, Pharrell Williams, and Kanye West have helped expand his influence and art throughout the world.
Because his business approach compares to that of Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons, critics continue to slander the art itself for its use in branding, pop-culture and enterprises.
In the 2000s, Murakami curated Superflat, a Japanese contemporary art movement that featured techniques and works influenced by manga and anime.
The art itself can mostly be described as cute, psychedelic and sometimes satirical.
However, behind the cartoonish and seemingly friendly figures, is a critique on post World War II Japanese culture.
The Otaku, is a term often described for those that have consuming interests in mostly Anime and Manga.
Murakami repeatedly claims in his writings and interviews that Japan was infantilized by the U.S. presence and that Japan was
“kept from participating fully in global geopolitics, Japanese aesthetic-political impulses imploded into fantasies of monsters and superheroes, galactic wars, cyborgs, and schoolgirls - all the displays of anime, manga, video games."
He claims for this to have had a devastating effect on Japanese culture,
and as a result, everyone became obsessed with youth, cuteness, and with it, a darker and violent sexual manifestation of this obsession.
Through his art, Murakami sets up a subtle critique of Japan’s contemporary art culture and the West's intruding influence upon it.
R E f l e c t i o n
The overall experience creating this was rewarding and challenging. While I might go overboard with the requirements necessary, I enjoy daring myself to experiment with software, learn new tools and occupy my time with something positive. In 2015 I learned about Takashi Murakami’s master techniques during a school assignment at Bakersfield College. Knowledge of tools were incredibly limited, in a one-horse town, but I worked hard to grow during those years. I regard one of my milestones as an artist to that project that seemed big at the time.
It felt appropriate to reflect upon my artistic abilities and revisit encouraging figures that motivate myself and others forward.
It felt appropriate to reflect upon my artistic abilities and revisit encouraging figures that motivate myself and others forward.