"Aesthetic of Dependence and,
To Which Direction Does Art of Asia Go"
Kitten, Bear, Penguin and White Rice
When we drop in at any of the ordinary stationary and gift shops in East and Southeast Asia, it will be hard to escape from smiley little cute faces on products. Or sometimes in some cities these are the only products that we can find in any shop, that leaves us no option but to use them, whether we like them or not, or whether one is man, woman, infant or grown-up. These cute goods are notebooks, pens, erasers, mugs, lumps, mouse pads, photo stands that carry pictures of kittens with ribbons, pandas with hanging ears, frogs with hats, well-baked buns with eyes and mouths, and even white rice that speak. And these characters are all cute. But this is not all. They are mostly accompanied with incomprehensible texts (and in wrong English) that we have no idea what they are for and what they mean.
One notebook made in Thailand, for example, features two raccoon dog-like smiley animals. Above them is a title that says “Things I do to cheer you up.” In a babble that comes out of the animal is a pseudo-poem that says: We try no preconceptions.
We are always looking for surprising yet accessible visual solutions that are just a little ahead of our time. In addition, there is even a motto-like text on the top of the notebook that writes:
Seek what dreams reveal. Find what matters.
Face what was hidden. Embrace what fuel the soul.
After examining numbers of “cute” products, I found the following common features among them:
1. Use of cute characters that usually have round faces and bodies, round and/or drooping eyes and/or ears
2. Some characters are unidentifiable creatures, such as Mr. Matches, Flying Pigs, and White Rice.
3. Use of phrases that apparently have no meaning. Phrases are apparently not related to the nature of the product.
4. Phrases, in some cases, explain about the character, but in many cases phrases and characters have no apparent relationship.
5. Almost all the “cute” products are designed in such a way for the owner of these products to believe that s/he has friends, and is loved. Many phrases are put for that effect: “When I need you/ I just close my eyes/ and I’m with you/ and all that/ I saw wanna give you/ it’s only heart/ beat away,” or “The days went by and the pain is grown/ You must have known what I was going through/ You know what I never even heard a word from you/ Is that what good friends do?”
These cute products are now made in many Asian countries: China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, but the origin of this booming Asian new industry can be found in “Hello Kitty” products created by Japanese Sanrio co. Born in 1974, appeared for the first time on a mini-purse, this cat character now has grown to command almost every product that Japanese use in their daily life, from a kitchen knife to a car. Her products sold worldwide, her fan base spread out of Japan; it looks like nothing can stop her from creating a vast cat empire. Nowadays, she has become the must item for the gold, diamond and platinum industry, and we frequently hear news about a new Kitty diamond cut, a new Kitty platinum statue, and a like -- Kitty the status symbol thus has become a norm. Even the government and more no-nonsense corporations have started to take the little cat seriously, a bank has issued Kitty bankbook, there is now Kitty credit card, and there is a whole range of Kitty public transport: Kitty train, Kitty bus, and Kitty jet (by Taiwanese Eva Air*). Soon we will witness a Kitty rocket traveling to space orbit. And, has been appointed as a UNESCO ambassador three times already, there may be a day when she will make a debut in a political arena. In Western countries, however, Kitty has been regarded more as a Japanese subculture icon.
Japanese Art Today
In the late 1990s, observing several marketable stars in Japanese contemporary art, the Western art world began to recognize that they can no longer dismiss these cute characters as just another cartoon for kids, unfit for fine art for the sake of profound contemplation. One of the Japanese artists that extensively draws and paints cute figures is Yoshitomo Nara. Studied art in Germany, Nara had made name with his signature character: angry young girls. These girls, aged perhaps around 5 to 10, all are with piercing eyes that look like they can look through ills of the society, upset by them, and rebellious against the world of corrupt adult. Volitional yet vulnerable, spicy yet sweet and forgivingly cute. These characters created by Nara have become popular beyond the art circle, featured in magazines, graffiti, and numerous commercial products. One of them, a cover of a new book on the Japanese Constitution, shows one of the Nara girls, looking less sarcastic than usual, looks into future with her visionary eyes.
Another artist, Takashi Murakami, from the beginning has incorporated the consumerism culture in his various cartoon-like characters, such as Mr. Dob, Kaikai & Kiki, Oval Buddha and Tongari kun. It’s considered Pop Art per excellence, but the difference between American pop art in the 1950s and the ‘60s is that Murakami came out of the particular environment of Asia where boundaries between art and craft, fine art and applied art are not as clearly defined as they are in the West. As well, these generations of Japanese pop artists were born into the realm of Anime and Manga, and Takara and Nintendo**. Sometimes this blurriness of the boundary is considered as a provocation against the Western establishment. When MOCA organized a huge retrospective of Murakami from the end of 2007 to the beginning of this year, Louis Vuitton boutique (Murakami has been appointed by L.V. to design for the French brand for years) that was set up within the exhibition space stirred a controversy. In the pop art language, though, Murakami, by inserting his cartoon characters – low art – into the established L.V. logo – high value brand – accomplished a certain subversive-ness.
“Cute” characters that have emerged from the Orient, thus now became a subject for art critics, Western and Eastern wise. They are no longer confined in a narrow cage of the children’s world.
Economic Growth in Asia and Aesthetic of Dependence
The Asian industry of “cute” products has been grown as the Asian economy strengthened. The apparently meaningless phrases symbolize non-essentiality of the products, hence suggest purchasing power of Asian consumers that are now afford to buy practically non-essential products.
The curious phenomena that I’ve noticed in this new market environment are restricted within Asia. The stronger power society acquires in economy the more people desire “cute” aesthetics. I call this aesthetics, which was in the past only appreciated in the children’s world, “aesthetic of dependence”, or even aesthetic of indulgence. By showing yearning for the aesthetic like this, adults look like they stopped being mature, while the economy grows and grows. Then why do Asian grown-ups want to stay aesthetically indulged? One clue can be found in the concept of an exhibition held in 2001 at Art Tower Mito, Japan, entitled “Promenade in Asia – Cute.” The exhibition that featured young generation of artists from China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan stated as the following as the reason why the curator chose “cute” for the subject:
With the relentless advance of economic development in recent years, people’s lifestyles have become more uniform. Particularly, the countries of East Asia, lying in close geographical proximity, are gradually coming to resemble one another. Although Japan used to look upon its neighbors as “near, but far” countries, it would perhaps be better now to call them “near, and near.” The people of East Asia in the current era can be said to share the following perception in common: they are all happy in the present moment, thanks to economic prosperity, but at the same time they are vaguely anxious about what the future has in store. That leads us to the theme of the exhibition: we have chosen the term of “cute” to describe the ambiguous feeling (happiness combined with anxiety) held by many Asians today. We are not using “cute” merely in the sense of being charming, lovely, or sickeningly sweet, but also to mean the fervent desire of artists to impart their works with the evanescent feeling of being happy “right now and here” -- a feeling that may be lost at any moment. Altogether the works of nine artists will be introduced.***
Among the presented artists is Minako Nishiyama whose works are known because of the extensive use of pink color that is set in a fragile environment. Her work in this exhibition, “Sugar Crown” is literary a crown made of sugar, white egg and gelatin and put in a room of pink walls and ceiling. Fragile, vulnerable and ephemeral are the feelings that are attached to this piece. Another Japanese woman artist, Wakako Kawakami, presented an installation work entitled “jam-aid.” For this work she uses one large room, filled it with a human image in the form of a human (in pink color – starker than that of Mishiyama’s). In the center of the room are hundreds of large human images giving small ones a piggyback in a fenced enclosure. According to the exhibition catalogue, the artist “says that making what she calls “human image” or being surrounded with many of them makes her feel at ease.”**** The photography work of another artist, Pak Hongchum from Seoul, “To Alice,” uses ultra-long exposure time of a camera. With this technique the artist manages to make people disappear from a scene. He photographed in amusement parks and zoos when these usually crowded spaces with families were deserted; the feeling of lonesomeness is highlighted. The curator of the exhibition finds this “anxiety felt in the atmosphere is certainly the implication of cute.”*****
When we turn our attention from the art scene to theater, we notice this anxiety-cute relationship even more in many plays. “Henna Has Not Menstruated For Five Years Since Loved By A Spaceman!,” Theatre Annees Folles’s 2003 production for example, shows a group of loosely-related people of various nationalities – or rather, nationality here is of no relevance – living in a space-like colony. A woman claims to have not menstruated for 5 years because she made love with a spaceman. A man then instead becomes pregnant. It’s presenting a picture of the future in which everything becomes hybrid – and Japanese society is certainly ahead of others in driving into this direction. In this future picture, or even now when the society is heading towards it, people seem to be struck by a feeling of anxiety, uncertainty, and insecurity. In this theater play, the players, embraced in these feelings that they don’t know what to do with, wear cute costumes, some of them – boys -- even bunny suits and play like children. Even Takashi Murakami, whose characters look rather innocent and optimistic at a first glance, talks about his art as “I express hopelessness.”
When we think of the observation no. 5 on the cute products, most of the products emphasize the premise that the owner of the product will have lots of friends, will be loved by amiable characters. This appeals to the Asian consumers who started to posses a loneliness or indescribable anxiety in the midst of the rapid economic growth. The products are designed to provide the consumers with a sense of ease. The reason why Kitty has no mouth, Sanrio co. explains, is to make viewers believe that she is sharing a feeling with them. The design of this kitten was created after vigorous study, and three designers have worked on modifying it in different periods over the last 30 years. In the last half a decade, the trendiest phrase in Japan is “healing.” From a personality to music, anything that offers people a sense of “being healed” has been proved to sell well. That includes the latest trend in make-up -- the cosmetic industry is huge, powerful and influential in Japan -- what they call “expansive form” as a healing design. The industry claims that a human face can be divided into two forms: “centripetal form” and “expansive form.” On the former face, eyes and eyebrows are situated towards the center of the face, and on the latter face, they are directed towards outside of the face. This, they explain, offers a viewer a kind of healing effect more. The characters of “cute” products all without exception match to this type of face. Blythe, a doll that was first introduced in the mid 1970s in U.S. but failed then, has made a come back recently with an effort of a Japanese toy company that recognized the potential “healing” effect on her round and expansive type of face. The Blythe-mania then quickly spread into other Asian countries.
Looking at all these trends and products, one cannot help but to get an impression that many people in the industrial part of Asia – what is called Asian dragons and tigers -- are exhausted, worn out, and want to be healed. “Cute” characters thus have developed into an icon of this era, offering people a sense of ease, warmth, healing, and soothing. Moreover, in the time of anxiety when the rapid economic growth and urbanization is destroying the traditional family and community, they can make people feel like they are not alone; they are embraced, and familiarized. When Central Asia joins the dragon or tiger group one day, we might then witness cute characters emerging onto surface. This time may come soon.
* Eva Air has offered the first-class customers Kitty Beaujolais Nouveau wine.
** Murakami himself has been quoted as “When I consider what Japanese culture is like, the answer is that it all is subculture. Therefore, art is unnecessary.”
*** http://www.arttowermito.or.jp/art/cuteasia.html
*** Ibid.
***** Ibid.
Keiko Sei, Japan-Germany-Thailand
©SCCA 2001-2002 |