Takashi Murakami Global Artist:

You Should See Me in a Crown

Natalie ShanoffIndependent StudyNovember 15, 2020

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Takashi Murakami is a contemporary artist from Japan who practices multiple mediums

styled in a pop-culture idiom. As a global artist, he crosses cultural borders and mixes art

practices, not disrespectfully, but to unite and bring understanding to other countries around the

world.1 Broadening the definition of art through his practice and writing, Murakami specifically

focuses on bringing the art and craft divide together.2 His works are created in two-dimensional,

three-dimensional and digital formats. Murakami is an artist that uses his career to increase the

knowledge of art to a global audience, and not just to people in Japan. His artistic partnership

with pop music icon, Billie Eilish, to create the music video You Should See Me in a Crown is

one instance of his pursuit of diversity and desire to make his art accessible to a broad and global

audience.

Early in his career, he realized that one of the most accessible mediums is digital or

animated art. In the 1990s he created animated characters embodying cartoons from Japan,

Europe, and the United States.3 The creation of these characters was the beginning of his use of

artistic symbolism. One example is the animated character DOB (Figure 1). His creation is

inspired by world wide cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and a Japanese slang word

meaning “why”. Japanese culture and globalisation have been paramount to Murakami’s career

and were included in his book and his manifesto, Superflat.4 He explored the connections

between Japanese historical art and anime pop culture idioms to create a cross contamination of

low and high art, social critique of contemporary art, traditions, and inspirations.5

5 Darling, “Superflatness,” 77.4 Michael Darling, "Plumbing the Depths of Superflatness." Art Journal 60, no. 3 (2001): 85.

3 Gagosian, “Takashi Murakami”. April 12, 2018.https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/.

2 Maet, “The Artist as Anthropologist of the Current Globalism,” 312.

1 Frank Maet, “The Artist as Anthropologist of the Current Globalisation: A View on thePresent-Day Cultural Imagination in the Artworks of Xu Bing, Takashi Murakami and ShahziaSikander.” Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies 30, no. 3 (June2016): 312.

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The Superflat movement is defined as a collection of Japanese “flat” art and the unique

anime trend following World War II that has evolved into a worldwide phenomenon. An example

of Murakami’s Superflat art is Wink (Figure 2). In 2001 he installed inflated balloons in Grand

Central Terminal in New York. The monumental sculpture was not only accessible but almost

unavoidable due to its size. Wink displayed Murakami’s trademarked Jellyfish Eyes (Figure 5)

and Flowers (Figure 6) depicting a representation of Japanese animation. The winking eyes on

the balloons are intended to capture the attention of people passing, making eye contact

inevitable. Wink was inspired by Murakami’s past work, Mr. Wink (Figure 3). In contrast, Mr.

Wink was a plastic sculpture of a cartoon character sitting on top of a globe of flowers that

infuses bold colors and shapes.6

In 2002 he began to work with mass production companies to globalise his works. Marc

Jacobs and Murakami worked together to redesign the Louis Vuitton monogram.7 Murakami has

used the Louis Vuitton design in many of his artworks following this collaboration. Through his

activity in mass produced items, he has gained recognition in the fashion, food, and beverage

industries, generating a certain accessibility to his works, not only to varying age groups and

cultures but also to galleries and other exhibition venues.8 Murakami acknowledges the

importance of working with all mediums of art as it allows artists to shift with trends of

pop-culture.9

In 2007 he worked with Kanye West to design the cover for the new Graduation album

(Figure 4). The bear from the previous album, Late Registration, is given a new look as it shoots

9 Gagosian, “Takashi Murakami”. April 12, 2018.https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/.

8 Arthur Lubow, “The Murakami Method,” The New York Times (The New York Times, April 3,2005), https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/the-murakami-method.html.

7 “Takashi Murakami: MoMA,” The Museum of Modern Art,https://www.moma.org/artists/8480.

6 Darling, “Superflatness,” 85.

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out of a rocket into a colorful abstract unworldly space. The artistic choices were essential to

Kanye’s rebranding. Murakami’s artistic themes are reflected in his changes to the bear's design.

For example the eyes of the bear resemble his Jellyfish Eyes.

Murakami recently collaborated with American music pop-star Billie Eilish to design the

animation music video for her song You Should See Me in a Crown. Which features an animated

version of Eilish, along with many of Murikami’s past art creations, styles, and techniques. Even

though Eilish is only 19 years old, she's known globally as a pop sensation and has accumulated

many prestigious awards. She is known for her dark lyrics and baggy clothing as she has

unapologetically worked her way to the top of the music charts, producing award winning hits

without changing how she defines herself. There is a darkness to her work that resembles

Murakami’s.

The You Should See Me in a Crown video is disturbingly beautiful; Murakami finds a

way to animate the lyrics with symbolism. The animation starts with a silhouette of a simple

male stick figure that moves as the music starts, only to multiply and become details on Eilish’s

animated character’s shirt. Her character is very identifiable throughout the video because her

hair stays relatively the same color and style (Figure 7). She is located in what looks like a

control center sphere, implying a higher being or deity, which is fitting as the lyric alludes to her

being in power. Her focus returns to the camera as the video continues. She stands and moves

more like a robot until the refrain of the song builds, then she starts to dance as more color

surrounds her. The contorted green stick figure, commonly known as a symbol for Billie Eilish,

returns as a backdrop. A notable change happens to the heads of the stick figures, as Murakami’s

JellyFish Eyes take their place. The eyes break down the stick figure so only the Jellyfish Eyes

remain, chaotically bumping into each other (Figure 8). The video moves to a scene of Eilish

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circled by empty hosts of herself, some of which display Murakami’s Flowers and one with the

mix of stick figures and Jellyfish Eyes (Figure 9). She chooses a black host with red lighting,

places her hand on the shoulder and puts on the new ensemble, which gives the viewer a

foreshadowing of what she will become. The focus circles to the back of the shirt where a red

stick figure appears and morphs, adding two extra arms on each side, foreshadowing a change in

character.

Symbolising an elevation in power she rises over a city grid taller than the skyscrapers.

Webbing surrounding her feet in presage. She jerks around and the view goes to Murakami’s

Flowers that open in the streets and the stick figures walking around. The morphed stick figure

on the back of her shirt explodes suddenly, as she mutates into a skeletal spider zombie (Figure

10). Her transformation is jarring as the animation scans the creature's body and the background

noticeably adjusts to reds. As the monster extends and reshapes, she swings from a web, moving

towards the viewer as if it is her intention to consume, then is abruptly taken back and attacks the

city. Pedestrian flowers go from smiling and perky to cowering and shocked, as she crashes over

the buildings.

Throughout the course of the video, Eilish’s character makes eye contact with the viewer.

The monster does so again as it devours the flowers and stick figures. Their remains float down

around her mouth to the ground as she continues to chomp, open mouthed and her eyes become

increasingly unhinged. Consistent with Murakami’s past work, the repulsive content is colored as

she vomits all that she has consumed. The flowers lose their life and turn gray, all indicating

defeat as an army of red mutated stick figures rise from the flames of her tracks to take over the

city. The video ends with a startling view of the monster's glowing eyes.

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The animation is very complex but does not stray from traditional Murakami art. Despite

the similar gridded background that only changes color, the rest of the animation changes

constantly, keeping the viewer engaged. The rapidly changing perspective shifts from the point

of the viewer, to the bird's eye view, to worm's eye view. These shifts add layers to scenery and

depending on the angle produced, a different response. Eilish’s animated character is another

continually evolving feature in the video, beginning with her normal self and transforming into a

terrifying monster. As the transformation occurs, many identifiable elements from society are

being taken over by abstract or intangible creations. Some examples of this are when the

JellyFish Eyes break down the green stick figures and when Eilish transforms into the creature.

Murakami’s works are intended to give the viewer an overwhelming feeling, whether it

is anticipation, panic or discomfort. He usually achieves this through changing basic details of

symbolism or identification. It can be as small as changing a color or position of a thing most

people can identify. He also symbolizes the destructive use of power by a dark source that is

captivatingly ominous, bright yet apocalyptic. In work like You Should See Me in a Crown,

Murakami expresses profound and urgent subject matter in a style that allows his work to be

accessible to people all over the world. In Murakami's Superflat manifesto he toys with the idea

that music and poetry should be added to the definition of art. His artistic collaboration with

Eilish blends old and young, east and west, cute and barbaric, while exemplifying the power of

joining multiple art forms to reach a broader and more diverse audience.

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Figure 1. Takashi Murakami, DOB, 1996, https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/.

Figure 2. Takashi Murakami, Wink, 2001, https://creativetime.org/projects/wink/.

Figure 3. Takashi Murakami, Mr. Wink, 2000,http://www.artnet.com/artists/takashi-murakami/mr-wink-a-cEbgRBzq8ZvcmUts3a8Shg2.

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Figure 4.Takashi Murakami, Graduation Album Cover, 2007,https://news.artnet.com/art-world/takashi-murakami-kanye-wests-kid-cudi-album-art-1298195.

Figure 5. Takashi Murakami, Jellyfish Eyes, 2003,http://www.artnet.com/artists/takashi-murakami/jellyfish-eyes-IAwugCEh31JvxH6oX25ARA2.

Figure 6. Takashi Murakami, Flowers, 2002, https://www.artspace.com/artist/takashi_murakami.

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Figure 7. Takashi Murakami, You Should See Me in Crown, 2019,https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcoLerbRvgsQ&psig=AOvVaw02235vS-Nadu5A33kc0lDp&ust=1607022157033000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjAnuaX_q_tAhWPNuwKHaIjCqoQr4kDegUIARCiAQ.

Figure 8. Takashi Murakami, You Should See Me in Crown, 2019,https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcoLerbRvgsQ&psig=AOvVaw02235vS-Nadu5A33kc0lDp&ust=1607022157033000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjAnuaX_q_tAhWPNuwKHaIjCqoQr4kDegUIARCiAQ.

Figure 9. Takashi Murakami, You Should See Me in Crown, 2019,https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcoLerbRvgsQ&psig=AOvVaw02235vS-Nadu5A33kc0lDp&ust=1607022157033000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjAnuaX_q_tAhWPNuwKHaIjCqoQr4kDegUIARCiAQ.

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Figure 10. Takashi Murakami, You Should See Me in Crown, 2019,https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DcoLerbRvgsQ&psig=AOvVaw02235vS-Nadu5A33kc0lDp&ust=1607022157033000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=2ahUKEwjAnuaX_q_tAhWPNuwKHaIjCqoQr4kDegUIARCiAQ.

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Citations

Darling, Michael. "Plumbing the Depths of Superflatness." Art Journal 60, no. 3 (2001): 76-89.

Horwatt, Eli. “On The Clock and Christian Marclay’s Instrumental Logic of Appropriation.”Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media 54, no. 2 (2013): 208–25.

Lubow, Arthur. “The Murakami Method.” The New York Times. The New York Times, April 3,2005. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/03/magazine/the-murakami-method.html.

Maet, Frank. “The Artist as Anthropologist of the Current Globalisation: A View on thePresent-Day Cultural Imagination in the Artworks of Xu Bing, Takashi Murakami andShahzia Sikander.” Critical Arts: A South-North Journal of Cultural & Media Studies 30,no. 3 (June 2016): 307–21.

“Takashi Murakami.” Gagosian, April 12, 2018. https://gagosian.com/artists/takashi-murakami/.

Pepperell, Robert. 2003. “Towards a Theory of Conscious Art.” Technoetic Arts: A Journal ofSpeculative Research, 1 (2003): 117–34.