Micropop, and what it says about Japan
Jul. 7th, 2007 11:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imomusMidori Matsui is Japan's most important art critic. I thought today I'd tell you a little about her concept of Micropop. I think it's an interesting way of framing not just the current generation (mostly people born in the mid-70s) of Japanese artists and the way they feel about art and life, but also a way of framing Japan's sense of where it stands in the world -- though that's changing.
I arrived in Japan this May just a couple of weeks too late to see the big group show Micropop: The Door Into Summer, curated by Midori Matsui at Art Tower Mito. It included the artists Yoshitomo Nara, Tam Ochiai, Chihiro Mori, Masanori Handa, Taro Izumi, Koki Tanaka, Hiroshi Sugito, Kaoru Arima, Ryoko Aoki, Aya Takano, Mahomi Kunikata, Shimabuku, Rika Noguchi, Hiroyuki Oki and "KK", an artist who doesn't wish to reveal his or her identity. Parco published a book by Midori and others called The Age of Micropop to coincide with the show.
So what is it that these artists have in common? According to Matsui, it's "a small-scale avant-garde approach" she compares to Deleuze and Guattari's concept of "minor literature" (explained in their book "Kafka: Towards a Minor Literature"). With Kafka, that was all about making a quietly subversive niche for oneself in between all sorts of major power blocs -- the German and Czech languages, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Jewish and Gentile worlds, the major capitals of Europe and the provinces, capital and labour (don't forget that Kafka was employed at the Workers' Accident Insurance Bureau), and so on.
"Micropop," says Matsui, "attempts to create a new aesthetic consciousness and norms of behavior through the combination of fragments of information gleaned through one's own experience, in an age where history has come to be viewed in relative terms, and in which those spiritual statements that once served as the source or stronghold of various values have lost their authority. That approach can be described as a "small-scale attempt at survival".
Taking a cue from a Matsui article in ArtForum, I described three Japanese artists (two of whom are in the Micropop show) as Supereveryday. I described how these artists "emphasize the trivial, the idiotically comical, the throwaway, the yuck. They mostly make video art, shading into installation and performance. They work without money or ambition, shooting pigeons, balloons, combinis, making what sometimes seem like private jokes for their friends. There's a strategic unshowiness about their work". I also described how this new work was a kind of low-key, deadpan reaction to the pomp and hype of Takashi Murakami's 90s generation. The Micropoppers are closer to Cute Formalism than Superflat.
Let's look at some of the words Matsui has been using to describe the Micropop thing. It's peripheral, she says. It's new. It deviates and wanders, rephrases and recodes. It's something that happens at the end of big narratives, something that embraces fluidity and indirection. It's how you live after the dominant, compelling stories are played out -- by exposing your personal fetishes, perhaps, making private jokes. Think of a post-religion Beckett having Molloy rotate sucking-stones between his pockets and his mouth. It's personal and small and trivial, but not un-lyrical, and not without its own weird private rituals. It accepts fragmentation and relativism. It's interstitial and tactical (Matsui drops Certeau's name in her essay, of course) and obliquely, even autistically, defiant. The artists of Micropop have something in common with children, immigrants and consumers.
If these new artists are weeds springing up in the cracks between major power blocs, it's tempting to think of one of the cracked flagstones as Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki organization, somewhat tarnished by overheated sales, over-eager commercialization, and over-hype. While Matsui certainly does have a bit of an attitude towards Kaikai Kiki, she hasn't denounced them. Two of the jimusho's artists appeared in her Art Tower Mito show.
There's also, I think, a parallel and a continuity between the theme of Murakami's Little Boy show at the Japan Society New York in 2005 and what Matsui is telling us about Japan's sense of itself today. Both Murakami and Matsui talk of a Japan infantilized by its post-war dependence on the US, a junior partner stuck in an eternal childhood, perhaps reaching a perverse and orgasmic adolescence but never able to go beyond that into any sort of adulthood. The passive aggressive strategies (the Certeau-style "tactics") of much of the Micropop work just confirm a certain sort of shifty adolescent behaviour.
But we mustn't forget the other elements of the Micropop description: the breakdown of big narratives, and the embrace of flux and flow. Things are changing, and the old power blocs are crumbling. The United States, for instance, has (as we note every time the Pew publishes a Global Attitudes survey) taken a big hit on its credibility over the course of this decade. In response, Japan is now seeking to establish an independent military and start pulling its weight in the world. This is either the "little boy" growing up, or frightening right wing militarism and a reversion to the values of World War II, depending on whether you look at history from the perspective of the last century or this one.
Either way, it looks as though tomorrow's Asian artists will have plenty of new power blocs to push up fragile leaves between.
I arrived in Japan this May just a couple of weeks too late to see the big group show Micropop: The Door Into Summer, curated by Midori Matsui at Art Tower Mito. It included the artists Yoshitomo Nara, Tam Ochiai, Chihiro Mori, Masanori Handa, Taro Izumi, Koki Tanaka, Hiroshi Sugito, Kaoru Arima, Ryoko Aoki, Aya Takano, Mahomi Kunikata, Shimabuku, Rika Noguchi, Hiroyuki Oki and "KK", an artist who doesn't wish to reveal his or her identity. Parco published a book by Midori and others called The Age of Micropop to coincide with the show.
So what is it that these artists have in common? According to Matsui, it's "a small-scale avant-garde approach" she compares to Deleuze and Guattari's concept of "minor literature" (explained in their book "Kafka: Towards a Minor Literature"). With Kafka, that was all about making a quietly subversive niche for oneself in between all sorts of major power blocs -- the German and Czech languages, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Jewish and Gentile worlds, the major capitals of Europe and the provinces, capital and labour (don't forget that Kafka was employed at the Workers' Accident Insurance Bureau), and so on.
"Micropop," says Matsui, "attempts to create a new aesthetic consciousness and norms of behavior through the combination of fragments of information gleaned through one's own experience, in an age where history has come to be viewed in relative terms, and in which those spiritual statements that once served as the source or stronghold of various values have lost their authority. That approach can be described as a "small-scale attempt at survival".Taking a cue from a Matsui article in ArtForum, I described three Japanese artists (two of whom are in the Micropop show) as Supereveryday. I described how these artists "emphasize the trivial, the idiotically comical, the throwaway, the yuck. They mostly make video art, shading into installation and performance. They work without money or ambition, shooting pigeons, balloons, combinis, making what sometimes seem like private jokes for their friends. There's a strategic unshowiness about their work". I also described how this new work was a kind of low-key, deadpan reaction to the pomp and hype of Takashi Murakami's 90s generation. The Micropoppers are closer to Cute Formalism than Superflat.
Let's look at some of the words Matsui has been using to describe the Micropop thing. It's peripheral, she says. It's new. It deviates and wanders, rephrases and recodes. It's something that happens at the end of big narratives, something that embraces fluidity and indirection. It's how you live after the dominant, compelling stories are played out -- by exposing your personal fetishes, perhaps, making private jokes. Think of a post-religion Beckett having Molloy rotate sucking-stones between his pockets and his mouth. It's personal and small and trivial, but not un-lyrical, and not without its own weird private rituals. It accepts fragmentation and relativism. It's interstitial and tactical (Matsui drops Certeau's name in her essay, of course) and obliquely, even autistically, defiant. The artists of Micropop have something in common with children, immigrants and consumers.
If these new artists are weeds springing up in the cracks between major power blocs, it's tempting to think of one of the cracked flagstones as Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki organization, somewhat tarnished by overheated sales, over-eager commercialization, and over-hype. While Matsui certainly does have a bit of an attitude towards Kaikai Kiki, she hasn't denounced them. Two of the jimusho's artists appeared in her Art Tower Mito show.
There's also, I think, a parallel and a continuity between the theme of Murakami's Little Boy show at the Japan Society New York in 2005 and what Matsui is telling us about Japan's sense of itself today. Both Murakami and Matsui talk of a Japan infantilized by its post-war dependence on the US, a junior partner stuck in an eternal childhood, perhaps reaching a perverse and orgasmic adolescence but never able to go beyond that into any sort of adulthood. The passive aggressive strategies (the Certeau-style "tactics") of much of the Micropop work just confirm a certain sort of shifty adolescent behaviour.
But we mustn't forget the other elements of the Micropop description: the breakdown of big narratives, and the embrace of flux and flow. Things are changing, and the old power blocs are crumbling. The United States, for instance, has (as we note every time the Pew publishes a Global Attitudes survey) taken a big hit on its credibility over the course of this decade. In response, Japan is now seeking to establish an independent military and start pulling its weight in the world. This is either the "little boy" growing up, or frightening right wing militarism and a reversion to the values of World War II, depending on whether you look at history from the perspective of the last century or this one.
Either way, it looks as though tomorrow's Asian artists will have plenty of new power blocs to push up fragile leaves between.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
New skin for the old ceremony
Date: 2007-07-07 10:15 am (UTC)I thought Japan's policy tended towards sheltering under the US umbrella rather than development of an independent military. If a national 'defence' policy is being implemented does this in any way dovetail in with Japan's lower house passing legislation requiring the teaching of patriotism as part of compulsory school education? Is neo-nationalism on the rise in Japan according to your perceptions or is there a risk of reading to much into these developments?
Thomas S.
Re: New skin for the old ceremony
Date: 2007-07-07 10:27 am (UTC)Re: New skin for the old ceremony
Date: 2007-07-07 06:01 pm (UTC)Thomas.
Nance
Date: 2007-07-07 10:16 am (UTC)Re: Nance
Date: 2007-07-07 10:24 am (UTC)I only shared flats with women in the 90s, hardly watched any TV, and have never entered a cereal competition. Tell a lie -- I think I entered a Weetabix contest aged 8.
Re: Nance
Date: 2007-07-07 10:44 am (UTC)Re: Nance
Date: 2007-07-07 10:54 am (UTC)I hope he's got a bit better at washing the imaginary dishes. Oh, the rows we didn't use to have!
Re: Nance
Date: 2007-07-07 11:09 am (UTC)Re: Nance
Date: 2007-07-08 12:26 am (UTC)Re: Nance
Date: 2007-07-07 01:11 pm (UTC)someone could do that in an artspace and it would be art,.. or why not just at home? then it could be private art :)
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-07 10:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-07 10:41 am (UTC)But he looks pretty good for his age! And that's not a bad kind of role to have -- a sort of evergreen avant-uncle. Not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything!
R.I.S
Date: 2007-07-07 12:12 pm (UTC)Re: R.I.S
Date: 2007-07-07 12:25 pm (UTC)"Music is dead"
Date: 2007-07-07 12:41 pm (UTC)Re: "Music is dead"
Date: 2007-07-07 01:36 pm (UTC)I mean, I AM!
Re: "Music is dead"
Date: 2007-07-07 09:26 pm (UTC)Re: R.I.S
Date: 2007-07-07 07:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-07 01:18 pm (UTC)I feel as though this kind of movement is happening not only in Japan, but probably anywhere with similar social conditions.
I was thinking about this the other day - about myself and other friends in my age group (20-40). Our parents worked hard in order to provide us, their children with educations and opportunities that they could have never afforded. I feel as though this is the first generation where there HAVE been alternatives to getting married as quickly as possible and raising another brood of humans. We have had the chance to, in effect, extend our "childhoods" - , play, study, travel, ... we are definitely a very playful generation. We still can find enjoyment in small things in a child-like way - because we haven't had to worry about where our next mouthful comes from.
It's a lucky time to live and play, and a great time for art, because it seems to be more about personal expression rather than ego.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-07 01:35 pm (UTC)It's also not such a big leap from personal expression to ego! After all, there's an argument to be made that standing up in public to say something small, personal and trivial is even more egotistical than standing up in public to say something big, political, and earth-shakingly important!
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-07 02:09 pm (UTC)And the power structure are hardly falling. The young artists here (Tokyo) have to throw off the boring senpai like Nara and Murakami and just do their own thing.
also, although not connected, Japan's military has been in top-five for expenditure for the past 30 years, thanks to continuous right-wing governments. US and China are just excuses to talk about it.
In jokes between friends
Date: 2007-07-07 02:17 pm (UTC)Inverse Money-Guilt Creation between friends
Date: 2007-07-08 09:48 am (UTC)1. My flatmate is writing his second novel.
2. The first, written purely for fun, concerns two young men hungry for fame and fortune via alt.country.
3. The new one, written as part of a commercial contract, concerns anti-capitalists terrorists in Berlin.
4. I wonder if this is an example of Inverse Money-Guilt Creation.
5. The ironic rule of IMGC might be ‘the more we create for the money the greater the likelihood it will require a veneer of the opposite’.
Is this self-consciousness by the backdoor, and is it, like being 'minor', just another way we avoid having a completely free voice (surely the main thing)?
Re: Inverse Money-Guilt Creation between friends
Date: 2007-07-09 10:16 am (UTC)Re: In jokes between friends
Date: 2007-07-08 10:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-07 02:42 pm (UTC)But I'm glad to see Aya Takano is still busy doing her thang.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-07 04:12 pm (UTC)Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan
Date: 2007-07-07 09:35 pm (UTC)One to watch out for is Grayson Perry's talk about craft in the information age. He'll be joined by Nicole Rousmaniere, director of the sainsbury institute for the study of Japanese art and culture. He might even turn up dressed in a kimono, who knows.
I just got back from the British Museum today, and they were showing previews of the ikebana -- lots of very experimental ceramics, great stuff.
Another one to check out is the Japanese Leather Paper workshop. Ueda Takashi will be leading the workshop, showcasing kinkarakami. Apparently he's the only practitioner of kinkarakami left in the world so its quite rare. The British museum is pretty much billing this workshop as a once in a lifetime experience to see a skill thats about to disapear from humanity.
Also, something a little more low-brow (lol 4 the animu geekz) -- The British museum will be showcasing anime, including Oshii Mamoru's "Ghost in the shell 2" which was nominated for Cannes film festival's prestigious palme D'Or. The British Museum is playing Anime as legitimate art; Who'd have thunk it?
Re: Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan
Date: 2007-07-08 03:10 am (UTC)