오타쿠, 일본 현대 미술의 초상

Otaku, the portrait of contemporary art in Japan

Otaku means the people who are addicted to manga, animation, game, PC, SF. trick shooting, figure and the others, the namely Japanese subculture, which is deeply related to one another. The generation of Otaku culture is more connected with inherent collective tendency of social inevitability in Japan. Otaku appeared on that stage in the era of high economic growth and development, which means that the formation of Otaku stands for the appearance of the generation who has experienced the division of reality and fantasy through the full-color combination of the animation which dominates the public perspective and the monochrome of Construction State represented by air pollution and cement during the period of growth. In other words, although they have material prosperity in reality, they failed to relieve it but just satisfied with the visual fetish through popular fantasy in extremely individualized status. This visual fetish has become an important social and cultural current in Japan since they have played major role in the society. Murakami Takashi and Nara Yoshitomo, the very artists leading ‘NiPPJl1 Pop’ flooded in 1990s’, are the representative artists in Japan recently. The post-war contemporary art in Japan has enclosed itself in the name of ‘Art’ and has produced recursive meaning constantly, while the art of the Otaku generation has been accomplished in the process of breaking from ‘art’ area and redefining of themselves. It is caused by mixing the basement of the so-called subculture with the rigid highbrow, but one can say that it is the reflection of will for flatting the prevalent cultural hierarchy rather than just transplanting lowbrow into the frame of highbrow or just pastiche it. Accordingly, contemporary art in Japan, which has developed with Otaku culture is still ongoing project. However, Otaku culture that constantly reproduces a sharing point in extremely individualized taste refers to the way of identifying the individual who live in the giant Japanese society, and also the way that could be extended only in so far as it continually evolves and dissolves in development.