artless: About Japanese Essentials

From the number series for video

 company company WOW’s artbook, “1.”

Japanese artist Shun Kawakami create the typographic,there is a short interview from (www.pingmag.jp)

Q:Japanese culture plays a greater role in your overall work. Any specific reason for that?

A: I always keep the idea of presenting my works overseas in my mind, so I try to stress my originality based on the fact that I am Japanese. Then I use motifs that really interest me at the time, such as Ikebana, Bonsai, and calligraphy on top of that.

Q: How come? Is there any incident or story to it?

A: When I participated in an exhibition for +81 magazine in New York, I wanted to make something surprising for the locals, something that made me aware of the ideas that only the Japanese can come up with.In the past, I used to create works that were aiming at Western styles. However, once I had stepped out of the country, I noticed that there were so many doing the same sort of stuff and that made me realise that there is probably no need for me as a Japanese to do the same… So since then, I started studying about Japan and began to look at Japanese ink and wash paintings with particular attention to spacing and compositions. I’d always liked Japanese paintings, but I became even more fond of it since.