~KAWS . . JAPAN
NEW YORK ARTISTS – ON THE MOVE
well, everybody knows KAWS went to Japan.
what’s amazing . . is:
1. what a ‘cult’ hero’s welcome KAWS got over there.
BRIAN DONNELLY actually showed up, (or had to) in person to camp / more like tent,
with the lucky ones who won tix to pitch cookie-cutter style tents & roast marshmallows in tiny identical bonfires . . around ‘Companion’, as if the blown-up sculpture was . . a water fall ?
well, come on, the view of Mt Fuji – is amazing.
the great HOKUSAI – is probably rollin’ his eyes, from the grave !!
but it’s so damn so flat plastic graphic, he’d love it.
2. the cross transfer of this solitary, angst-ridden lonely figure going over, so huge in Japan, esp among the leading edge designers, while Hello Kitty cousins, aunts & uncles, rainbow unicorn ponies, powder puffy girlies, anime sailor cuties, and glitter-trippy mushrooms of all sizes . . have fractured into a gazillion million cultural take-over pieces, esp among the youngest here ?
I mean, the KAWS . . ‘Companion’ Macy’s Thanksgiving Day balloon, was only shown / flown . . once, in 2012, the year it was made made, and presented with great fanfare, btw.
it was a big fail / ‘too negative’, lol.
there’s d-e-f-i-n-i-t-e-l-y a cultural ‘thesis’, waiting to be written – there.
bet, NARA . . is bawling his brains out – with jealousy.
*NARA as in one-word name, (you know – like Madonna),
doesn’t even google anymore – without his full moniker: Yoshitoma Nara.
Nara was pumped up to be a big art star in the 80s.
how the once mighty – fall.
ditto: Murakami.
like I said: waiting for the grand thesis / that I don’t have the patience to do in full.
writing a blog ? / stuck in the fast lane.
and, yet maybe that’s all you need / the heads-up.
Image via Instagram @kaws #repost @arr.allrightsreserved #KAWSHOLIDAY