Chu Enoki
Seriously. Chu Enoki is freaking amazing. I don’t know a whole lot about him because his biography is entirely Japanese. Except for the numbers, those are entirely in American. Jokes aside, Enoki practices my favorite kind of art. Art that meets the basic aesthetic requirements to be pleasing to the eye, but has the majority of its creator’s effort based in thought or thinking about what the piece is. So not necessarily paints or even surfaces. They may be photographically based art (capital A) or they may simply be cheap photographs on disposable cameras to document a moment in all time that the artist created.
I love the piece to the right, called 2.3.7.8 TCDD Propagation Dioxin a lot. Only slightly more than RPM 1200 (above it), even though RPM 1200 is clearly a labor of love. It’s basically comprised of a bunch of scrap metal, drill bits, discs, all polished and shined (and I’m thinking painted?) and turned into a cityscape. Ridiculously cool. He makes my brain smile.
Kataude Mashin Gâru
Japan gets it right again. I don’t know what’s up with American cinema that causes them to either be constipated by the undigested regurgitation of every other movie ever, but I’m glad that Japan is okay with getting creative. Not that this doesn’t have similar elements to Army of Darkness and that Grindhouse movie I didn’t want to see. And not that the idea of revenge isn’t as familiar as forbidden love or hyperpatriotism (which are the only premises on which an action film can be built, mind you). But that they won’t pull any punches while doing it and will commit to film for perpetuity the image of a woman with a drill bra hugging another girl while blood and sinew spray festively about as ninjas and yakuza draw still more blood. Thanks for not taking yourself too serious and, at the same time, taking it way too far, Japan. The world is totally sweet now, thanks to you. Boosh!
Hope & Anchor 