1) Copy, copy and copy 2) Will Takashi Murakami be outdated?

1) Copy, copy and copy
Have you realised that how everyone is copying how each other pose - sigh ~
From model Karolina Kurkova:












To Jessica Alba:












To JLo:












Photos from http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/photos/

But who does it better than Queen Madonna?
From Ringu 2:







Photo from http://www.mandiapple.com/snowblood/ring.htm

To the Hollywood remake:












Photo from http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hv&id=1808510183&cf=pg&photoid=583532&intl=us

To Madonna:









2) Will Takashi Murakami be outdated?
This morning a friend told me that the work of Takashi Murakami will go out-of-date quickly. I know that those ugly and furry turtle-neck jumpers are out-of-date but can a comtemporary artwork be outdated? They may be forgotten or stolen, but ummm... I dunno.

For god's sake, people are still debating about the identity of Mona Lisa (my guess, Da Vinci's neighbour who merely wanted her picture 'taken'). I know animations are different, but look at the oldest cat on Earth, Felix-the-Cat. Extravagant in Hong Kong is still selling the Cat's clothes and collectibles to human beings!

Photo courtesy of http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/03MURAKAMI.html?ex=1270267200&en=7f2505d23b302648&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

Takashi Muarakami's work is unique, distinguishable, something you would say 'now I can die as a happy man' after you have seen it. He is a fine artist; not one of those boring manga one. Mr Murakami's most famous work are the "Hiropon" and "My Lonesome Cowboy". One of his artwork which I adore the most is the "And then, and then and then and then and then, Red" .

Hiropon

And then, and then and then and then and then, Red.

Pictures courtesy of http://www.jca-online.com/murakami.html

Mr Murakami has had exhibitions at various galleries around the world including New York and Paris. In 2003, Louis Vuitton collaborated with Takashi Murakami to create this monogram:

Picture courtesy of http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424338899/takashi-murakami-eye-love-superflat-black.html

This line was a great success with sales reported at around US$300 million.

In an interview, despite all the smiley faces in Takashi Murakami's work, he mentioned that his artwork represents the struggle of the discriminated people in the Japanese community, and it 'saved' a lot of otaku.

Otaku refers to people who are overly obsessive in certain thing - for example, anime otaku = someone who watches animation all the time. This term carries a somewhat negative connotation in Japan because it is believed that the increase of otaku is due to the strong suppression from the Japanese government on its community .

Even though Mr Murakami has received international recognition as a renowed artist, he stated that his work would not be acceptable in Japan because, in his words, 'who wants to buy anything that reveals discrimination within society?

With such courageous views and talent in his profession, I doubt his work will EVER be outdated.

References:

http://www.felixthecat.com/multimedia-2.htm

htt://www.jca-online.com/murakami.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku

http://www.artnet.com/artwork/424338899/takashi-murakami-love-superflat-black.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/03MURAKAMI.html?ex=1270267200&en=7f2505d23b302648&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland