New Value Created by Artists and Ourselves

2020/03/16

In reconsidering the "value of art," one of my perspectives would be the "reconsideration of business value through art."

I graduated from Keio University in 1985, joined Mitsubishi Corporation, and held a solo exhibition during my time as a 33-year-old salaryman. That experience is directly linked to my current way of thinking about business. For me, the junction between art and business is "personal ownership." During the prosperous Showa era, it was enough to carefully observe the market or the customers. But now, what is required is how to create value itself and send it into the market. No artist paints while worrying about the customer's reaction. Business should also be presented to the world with that same sense of "personal ownership." And determining what one wants to do, or what one should do, is both difficult and interesting. That is precisely why it can lead to value for others; while the responsibility is great, the joy is equally significant.

In the 20 years since I held that solo exhibition—which no one asked me to do—out of personal ownership, we have engaged in various businesses such as soup, neckties, recycling shops, hotels, and nori bento, and I have also exhibited works at art festivals as an artist. Simply put, I learned business from art.

Another perspective could be described exactly as the "reconsideration of the value of art."

This involves an attempt to create many small and unique museums called TCM (The Chain Museum) around the world. As a platform for this, we launched "ArtSticker," a new app where people can encounter art, communicate, and support artists.

One of the original inspirations was when I encountered the "top of the top" of contemporary art at Art Basel. I felt that perhaps a new platform for modern technology and worldviews could be built to contrast with that very limited world. This project started from such a very vague imagination. In a sense, this act itself has the aspect of a social sculpture. It is similar to a sculptor trying to carve out the form they alone imagine from a block of stone using a chisel.

I will present three points in line with the theme of "reconsidering the value of art."

First, TCM is a museum open to the city that does not have a physical "box" like traditional architecture.

Even with public museums, there are cases where money is spent only on the facilities, and does not reach the essential artworks. While I believe art festivals are achieving wonderful results while also playing a role in regional promotion, both museums and art festivals are tied to specific locations. TCM's first work is a gold weed, only about 3 centimeters tall, perched atop an 80-meter wind turbine operated by Shizen Energy in Karatsu City, Saga Prefecture. Electricity is originally invisible, but one tries to peer closely at the gold weed that supposedly exists atop the turbine. This cannot be done inside a museum. The clouds and Karatsu Bay spreading out below beyond the weed are truly beautiful, and I would love for you to see the photos on "ArtSticker." It is embarrassing for me, the photographer, to say so, but it is breathtaking.

Second, more familiar places will become museums.

Two-dimensional works and installations will appear in an art project using an entire hotel in Shibuya opening in May, commercial facilities at Yokohama Station, office receptions in Hibiya, and windows of high-end brands in Ginza, circulating like special exhibitions. Released from museums and galleries, they appear in our daily lives.

Third, making art free through support via stickers on "ArtSticker."

In the Renaissance era, kings and aristocrats supported art. In the modern age, can we, as individuals, support art in place of kings?

Art earns revenue through sales or admission fees, but could these stickers become a third flow of money?

If artists could earn a minimum living through these individual stickers, they might not have to sell their art. They could devote themselves to expression without the premise of selling. Not just 30-centimeter paintings that are easy to sell, but 3-meter works would also be possible. Art might become free through the support of each individual. If this could be realized, could it not be called a major innovation in the way humans live? Your support can bring that one step closer to reality.

Art is a mysterious thing.

Something made from the costs of canvas and paint can become worth 30,000 yen or 3 million yen. That difference can only be described as a "difference in value." This is true even within the market. It is not the artist themselves who determines the value of art, but the surrounding viewers.

I want to create such a gentle, new place where artists and we ourselves create each other's value.