Takashi Murikami

Takashi Murikami was one of the first artists to promote the idea of creating a unique cultural identity in Japan after the US occupation. This and many other ideas present in my current project are a direct reaction to Murikami-san's ideas presented in The Inevitable Japanese Experience , which I picked up at the SMCM library. Murikami presents the idea of a uniquely Japanese appreciation of things that western viewers might consider childish and pedantic. Murikami explains that "growing up" in Japan has a completely different meaning than what it does in the united states. This translates well into Takashi's work in which he both applauds Japanese ideologies and critiques western cultural influences. Like Warhol, Takashi is also interested in commercial and material consumption but unlike Warhol, Takashi is also concerned with ideas of cultural imperialism and how the export of material and cultural goods out of japan both increases the awareness of a unique japanese identity abroad while at the same time putting the culture at risk of outside influence. an example of the cultural disemination that murikami references would be Poke'mon cards/toys and the new western obsession of anime and manga. To make the connection between cultural imperialism and commerce even more obvious Murikami designed two helium balloons for the macy's thanksgiving day parade.