I am still thinking about the Neoteny art show that was at the Akita Museum of Modern Art, in Yokotoe. Apparently so are others.
This is a book review with an article on one of the artists from the show (the two white skinned women with the large textured lizard).
http://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Art-Contemporary-Japanese-Artists/dp/4770030312/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1#reader_4770030312This is from PoNJA-GenKon, a group studying modern Japanese art.
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Oh, it's 2010, already? Really?? I was just thinking...
....some creatures mature very slowly and keep their childlike appearances throughout their lifetime. This slow process of transformation is called neoteny, and recently Dr. Ryutaro Takahashi, one of the most important collectors of contemporary Japanese art, used this zoological term to describe uniqueness of contemporary Japanese art. Anyone who’s interested should read Dr. Takahashi’s essay, “What is Neoteny Japan?”, in exhibition cat. Neoteny Japan: Contemporary Artists After 1990s---From Takahashi Collection (Tokyo: Bijutsu Shuppan-sha, 2008).
Neoteny, for example, is seen in animals like axolotls (yes, wooper looper!) and toy dogs with their cute babyish looks with large heads and short limbs on small bodies. Humans are also considered neotery; because of their slow maturation, humans require an extended period of nurturing and protection by their parents (well actually, it sometimes turns us into, not human but, Parasites, I guess…). Their immature and vulnerable appearance is, in fact, an inbuilt strategy of self-protection and self-preservation. It’s a nature’s program! The result is a necessary formation of familial or tribal bonding as an enforced defense system. It also increases the brain mass, and as the direct effect of this cerebral improvement, humans have a great emotive communication skills and creativity.
Dr. Takahashi didn’t really apply this biological terminology to theorize art for the sake of formal analysis of many contemporary Japanese art works in his collection although this theory does seem to coincide with the “minor” quality in Japan’s Neo Pop, or Micropop, with strong influence of subculture like manga and anime, initially intended for minors (please read Midori Matsui). Dr. Takahashi did so, rather, to encourage today’s Japanese artists (and also critics and curators) to think of the painfully slow development of autonomous art in Japan as an ultimately advantageous condition, like the one neotenical creatures have. Canonical, or fully matured, “Art” exists outside Japan. Facing this grown-up looming large over its head, Japan has been, since the end of nineteenth century, treading slooooooooooooowly along its own, unique way to the destination of maturation, however immature it may seem on the surface.
So how much would Japanese art mature this year? We have such a great subject to study, don’t we? Happy New Year, everyone!
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Michael
