KEYWORD
＊1 Chaos*Lounge
Modern art group centered around artists Kazuki Umezawa (Umelabo), Uso Fujishiro, and art critic Yohei Kurose. Members include artists active on web networks including pixiv, and in a broad sense, include over 200 people. They became the center of much talk with their contextual incorporation of art and the internet.
＊2 SNS
Social Networking Service. Membership-based web services that encourage communication among their users. Examples include mixi, GREE, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, and Flickr. In a wider sense, Twitter and blogs are included.
＊3 GEISAI
A contemporary art festival event started in 2002 by Chairman Takashi Murakami and run every year. Young artists build booths to promote their works and have the opportunity to sell their art. It has become a gateway for many. Since 2009, it has also been held in Taiwan. In will be held this coming September in 2012.
＊4 Superflat
Conceptual exhibition curated by Takashi Murakami that established the concept of the same name. After finding two-dimensional expressions that condense time, history and space as a common point between Ito Jakuchu, eccentric painters of the Edo period, and animator Yoshinori Kanada, the exhibition proposed the theory that by combining the post-war Japanese “art” transplanted from the West with the progressive DNA of the eccentric artists, as well as the advanced skills brought forth in the anime subculture, one could a world void of the hierarchy of values and or subjective depth. Exhibitions based on this concept caused an enormous stir in Western countries.
＊5 Pop/Neo-Pop
Title of the special issue of “BIJUTSU TECHO” published in March 1992. Neo-Pop in Japan has been defined as a cluster of art created by artists born in the early 60s who were highly influenced by the otaku culture of anime and manga. In this issue, Takashi Murakami, Kodai Nakahara and Kenji Yanobe appeared as the flag-bearers of the genre.
＊6 pixiv
An illustration communication website that allows users to submit and view illustrations. It has birthed many popular artists including huke, JNTHED, and Masao. Run by pixiv Inc. (President: Takanori Katagiri). Over 3 million registered members, 2.5 billion monthly views.
＊7 MOD Culture
MOD is short for Modification. By taking existing computer games and employing a modification module, users are able to freely alter and enjoy the games. Since the 1990’s, many games have been created for the purpose of modification and presently, many tools exist within the games to allow modification.
