Sunday, October 29, 2006

Louis vuitton "superflat monogram": A genius work of art

I was looking around in youtube the other day and was surprised to find this cute 2003 ad campaign for Louis Vuitton by Mamoru Hosoda. I'm a child at heart and anything animated really catches my attention, plus the fact that it is louis vuitton only made me more curious! As described by the creator, it is sort of 'an updated alice in wonderland, in which a girl searching for her lost cell phone floats in a dizzying world of the company's logos'. The video is based on characters created by famed superflat artist Takashi Murakami (I know you all love your limited edition murakami lv's), and turns out to be quite charming.

The Louis Vuitton store featured in this video is the Omotesando in Tokyo, Japan.


However, as I was on the process of downloading the video, the term "superflat" made me a wee bit inquisitive so I googled the darn thing (see the comments in the youtube page). It turns out that superflat is a postmodern art movement founded by the artist Takashi Murakami. 'The central influence on the concept of superflat is the japanese cartoon culture of manga where enthusiasts are lured into a magical world that is divorced from reality'.

Perhaps most of us do not realize it (some probably don't even care) but this cartoon-slash-ad indeed is a satirical expression of murakami and his peers! Here is another sentence that had me in awe.

'The insistent two-dimensionality of manga often results in an overall patterning of colors and shapes which provides a parallel space in which to escape from the pressures and expectations of society at large'.

I know this is starting to sound confusing. But it's quite mind-blowing that I now understand more clearly why the japanese so adore anime, takashi murakami, and louis vuitton. Gosh, there are people who share the same sentiments all over the world (I am one of them!).

All I know is this. When I'm depressed, bored, or tired, I just go inside a louis vuitton store (and gucci too. *wink*) and everything just seems to be all better. So what if half of the world will judge me by buying a ridiculously priced handbag? That bag is a dream. And I want to own it.

So, are you curious yet?

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