OK Everyone Im Back Now

Sorry, sorry. I still have a cough and sound like Im talking into a box, but Im back to form. First things first: as promised, pictures of Murakami and some of my thoughts on the show. Lots of people have been talking about how Murakami is the new Andy Warhol, but Murakami goes deeper than Warhol ever did. First, Warhol explicitly said that his work was only skin deep--there was nothing behind it and nothing to interpret. Murakami is fairly upfront about the nuances of his work and does a bit of wordplay in naming and talking about them. Also, Murakami actually does run his studio like a factory, to the point where he engineers the design for his pieces so that any one of the graphic designers each know their particular role and can work on them independently of others--a kind of human mechanization of the assembly line. Murakami employees swipe their ID cards to punch in and out of KaiKai Kiki Ltd. and in addition to Murakami's prints, they also design and market a long line of collectibles like figurines, jewelry, stationary, books and clothing that bear the Murakami trademark. Warhol called his studio The Factory, which hinted at the repetitive nature of producing silkscreen prints, but the analogy does not go much deeper than that as the Factory was simply a loose confederation of artists and drug enthusiasts.

Anyway, yes, I think Warhol is important and all--no angry emails please. I just think that Murakami has achieved a critique of culture that was promised in early pop but never delivered.

Whoa, that went a lot longer than I expected. At any rate, enjoy!