Relay Column: Adventures in the Age of Information (Tenma Matsunaga)

On a hot summer day, I happened to pass by an art exhibition after work and decided to drop in. The National Art Center's "Keiichi Tanaami: Adventures in Memory" exhibition. Just a few days prior, I heard that the artist had passed away, which felt like a significant timing. The exhibition turned out to be fantastic, resonating with my often-overstimulated sensibility due to the excessive output of information. It was a world of artworks that Tanaami had continuously created throughout his life, sometimes embodying the Buddhist nirvana with a seated figure or depicting the psychedelic, hippie ideal world filled with flying goldfish. It felt like a journey, bringing a sense of drive and immersion, not just showcasing individual pieces, but constructing a grand, cohesive universe over a lifetime. Starting his career as a commercial designer, he states that the fundamentals of creation lie in "design" and "editing." The title of the exhibition, "Adventures in Memory," likely refers to the adventurous act of recording by copy-pasting and editing one's own memories. Tanaami collaged his memories and images across various media, not only painting but also graphics, sculpture, animation, and installation, to create a vast body of work.