Superflat Super Cool

Japanese pop-cultureaesthetics are presented incontext as a new art movement

By COREY JACKSON
Artistic View Editor

From "Pokémon" to the "Powerpuff Girls," the aesthetics of Japanese popular culture have become a constant presence in American entertainment. The insistent two- dimensionality, bright colors and decidedly graphic look constitutes an entire artistic movement, aptly referred to as Superflat by many of the artists themselves. The Museum of Contemporary Art's new exhibit at the Pacific Design Center looks at different aspects of Japanese animation, comic art, paintings and photography that could be defined as "superflat." The result is Supercool.
Legions of hazard-orange civil soldiers greet the audience at the door with bright young smiles. Each one, in perfect step with the rest, puts his best foot forward in a frozen march that echoes a Brave New World. It is an ironic twist on the popular conception of the crowded, hurried and stressed-out Japanese as they readily embrace their rank-and-file identity with blank smiles reminiscent of Lego toys.
As a contrasting backdrop to this sight, Yoshitomo Nara exhibits his beautiful portraits in a surreal distortion of the traditional superflat aesthetic. The earthy colors and flowing human lines are more closely related to traditional Japanese art, but Nara maintains the large doll eyes and cartoony look of its Superflat kin. The result is a much deeper and quiet meditation on a flashy artistic style.
While climbing the stairs to the second level it is impossible not to be overwhelmed by the iridescent blue glow of Chiho Aishima's digital mural. The massive piece, "Red Eyed Tribe," depicts a group of women wandering through a garden populated by butterflies, insects and small dinosaurs. The deep blue tone of the background gives it an underwater look, which is accented by Hokusai-style trees that resemble coral formations. The women seem to float through this world, piercing it with their highly contrasting bright red eyes.
The proud centerpiece of the upstairs gallery is an awkwardly crumpled full-scale replica of an airplane, ZERO type 52, assembled by Katsushige Nakahashi from more 15,000 color photographs. The close-up photographs of the actual plane, detailed to every bolt, are taped together in such a way that they correspond to the actual logos and rivets of the World War II-era warplane. The hanging plane, slightly dented and torn in places, is itself a memory, comprised of many more.
Masafumi Sanai's wall of photography, "Hard Folk Photo", shows hundreds of intersecting narratives on life, assembled like a giant crossword puzzle interspersed with ashtrays, sunglasses, TV movies and a decidedly western take on the young and hip of Japan.
The fashion display is even more hip, inspired by robotech-style space uniforms and bright design aspects of animated characters. Contemporary Japanese styles are represented by 20471120 and the fashion syndicate Tokyo Recycoutoure with clothing racks and videos of runway performances.
The animation and comic art on display is probably one of the most interesting aspects of the show. Downstairs are two classics directed by Yoshinori Kanada, "Galaxy Express 999" and "Armageddon." These epic films flex the anime technique's action muscles, featuring the fantastic explosions, and dragons and speed-freak fighting sequences that make the genre so popular. The adjacent wall is wallpapered with frame by frame still shots from these movies, so the intensity of the action can be seen more clearly.
Koji Morimoto graces the exhibit with clips from his fantastic animated films as well as sketches, studies and pencil tests that contributed to their development. His futuristic cities are works of art on their own, resembling circuit boards and factories and junkyards all at once.
Manga, the ultra popular genre of comic books that have been a staple of Japanese culture for the last half century, are represented by displays of inked pages and poster stills. Hitoshi Tomizawa's sci-fi comic novel Alien 9Q2 is an incredibly detailed story of girls turning into space aliens and fighting legions of bizarre monsters. The inability to read the Japanese text made the art that much more powerful, as there was no other means to decode the engaging action.
The exhibit wouldn't truly be addressing the culture of animé without the clichéd anime girls. Terminally cute, perpetually young, massive eyes and Barbie-doll proportions are the standards for every girl. Multi-media artist Mr. exhibits a collection of these little girls in swimwear, sexy outfits and engaging poses with appropriate titles such as "Strawberry Make Up" and "I love lip gloss."
The porcelain dolls by Bome, each representing a girl's fantasy, are an excellent addition to the show. When presented in three dimensions there is a clearer element of cartoony realism, in particular the highly exaggerated anatomy and pose. Metalfighter Miku, with her robotech body armor (but complete with a hair bow) poses next to the super glam rocker Naya who explodes in her flamboyant purple costume, contrasting with popstar Morikama Yuki next to her in a schoolgirl dress. The porcelain sex dolls, complete with chains and bondage and little-girl smiles, are an expected twist on the world of anime girls. To an even greater extreme, Henmaru Machino illustrates the cute little girls engaging in sexual activities with octopi and frogs.
Japan's fast-paced society depends upon its art as a release from the pressures of an incredibly complex society. The culture of manga and anime are magical worlds of terminal cuteness and peaceful patterning of colors and shapes that provide a serene environment into which one can escape. The term superflat emphasizes not just these design qualities, but the characteristic attitude of this art style. Even more than just Superflat, MOCA's exhibit is supercool.
"Superflat" is on exhibit at the Museum of Comtempory Art Gallery at the Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., through May 6. The museum opens from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Thrusday. Tickets are $3 and free from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday. For more information, call (213) 626-6222.

Copyright 2001 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 142, No. 08 (Monday, January 22, 2001), beginning on page 7 and ending on page 11.