Module 3  Research Project

Pop Art style jewellery

MA Jewellery, Silversmithing & Related Products

Name:    Yuhan Ye
Date:     17th Jan 2010

Catalogue

Introduction …………………………………………………………………………03
Main body  ……………………………………………………………………………04
Pop Art over view  ………………………………………………………………………04
Color application …………………………………………………………………………06
The repeating or restructuring elements…………………………………………
   The link with popular or fashion industry
 ………………………………………
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………
Reference ………………………………………………………………………………

Introduction:

With the mutual integration of variety field of modern art, the contemporary jewellery has absorbed a range of different artistic styles. Appeared in the late fifties of the twentieth century, during over half century development, Pop Art has been widely applied in various industries, such as fashion industry. As a part of the fashion industry, Pop Art style also has gradually added into contemporary jewellery. In this essay, how I think about Pop Art will be introduced. Under the research of those Pop Art artists’ work, I divided my own Pop Art style into 3 parts: color application, the repeating or restructuring elements and the link with popular industry or fashion industry. It will be introduced one main artist for each part. According to these researches, it is supposed to enhance my own work and give me a clue to find the way of how to be an independent artist.#p#分頁標題#e#

Pop Art overview

Today’s paper and electronic media are filled with items about pop music, pop stars, pop icons. In our increasingly global society, pop personalities and styles have no national borders. They are recognized all over the world. However, something or someone described as “pop” usually has a short shelf life: here today, gone tomorrow.

Not so with Pop Art, a pivotal modern art movement of the late 1950s and 1960s, that continues to exert influence today. It is the most powerful, the most popular, most widely spread and most influential art form in 20th century Post Modemism. Pop Art is an anti-modernist movement, opposed to the modernist which is focus on function, rationality and rigorous and rigid. Pop art attempted to overthrow the abstract expressionist art, and turned symbols, trademarks and so on as mass culture with the theme.

The word “Pop Art”, now we known, is suggested by art critics Laurence Alloway in 1956. And then in 1st July 1957, British artist Richard Hamilton gives a definition of Pop Art - “popular, transient, expendable, low-cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, Big Business, stressed its everyday and commonplace values.” The work of him Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing (Picture 1) has been seen as the first work of Pop Art. He finished this work as a collage. He combined all kinds of elements, style and principle which he thought that is Pop Art. In this work, the artist use perspective and incorrect color which make the whole work shows a strange atmosphere. Presented in this collage which includes both men and women exaggerated sexual behavior, popular entertainment culture, comic books, Hollywood movies, and new technology and so on. Also, because the men in this picture is holding a
lollipop with the printed words “pop”, then this kind of art style named Pop Art.

Pop Art style is not a simple, consistent style, but a mix of various styles. It pursued under mass, popular taste and against the lofty pretentious modernism. It emphasized the novelty and unique and bold to use gaudy colors. Pop Art focused on everyday objects rendered through an adoption of commercial art techniques. In so doing, artists availed themselves of images and ideas culled from popular culture — i.e., movies, comic books, advertising, and especially, television — faithfully reproduced in all their mass produced glory. By making use of what had been dismissed as "kitsch" by the art establishment, Pop artists whose works were displayed in museums effectively thumbed their collective noses at the distinctions between "highbrow" and "lowbrow" art. With Pop Art, the distinction between the “high” art of galleries and museums, and the “low” art of common commercial images, disappeared.#p#分頁標題#e#

All pop art draws upon modern images of cultural icons, consumer products or modern conveniences, no matter what the message or nature of the art piece is. A piece of pop art may be an oversized spoon and a cherry, a print of an altered picture of a movie star or a collage depicting people from advertisements using modern day products in unusual ways. In all cases, the art will refer in some way, shape or form to kitschy or commercial modern images commonly seen in movies, comic books, commercials and billboards.
Personalized pop art makes use of pictures of real people, or items or images specifically chosen to honor a person or celebrity. These images or photographs are mixed with abstract art or other images. Pop art takes its inspiration from the everyday images we see as we live our lives.

Color Application

One of Pop Art’s symbols is diversified splendours of the color application. bright and pure color. Different artists have different color sense, some of them like to use the bright color, some of them like to use the pure color, for example, as known as the father of Pop Art, Andy Warhol’s work. In his masterpiece, Marilyn Monroe(Picture 2), the Andy used a lot of simple and bright colors, to try to cause the viewer infinite curiosity. As a young art form, bright colorful colors more contrast out of Pop Art’s vitality. The strong color Pop Art work like an adult overnight, returned to his childhood, life is full of playful element. A symbol of precision, serious and responsible artistic designer the shuffled around the adult world and rigid rules of the game a bit for a living, an increase of color, a sub-humorous, very warm.
Diversified colorful Pop Art has always stressed ignore reason and logic. This kind of bold, selfhood and contempt for the rules’ combination lead us to reflect. Pop Art re-emerging becomes a link of the life and art. Life provides inspiration for artistic creation, on the contrary, art adds to life in a luxurious color.

Talking about incredible color sense, It has to be mentioned the artist Yayoi Kusama. Yayoi Kusama, born 22nd March 1929, is a Japanese artist. Her paintings, collages, soft sculptures, performance art and environmental installations all share an obsession with repetition, pattern, and accumulation. Her work shows some attributes of feminism, minimalism, surrealism, Art Brut, pop art, and abstract expressionism, and is infused with autobiographical, psychological, and sexual content. She describes herself as an "obsessive artist". Kusama is also a published novelist and poet, and has created notable work in film and fashion design. She has long struggled with mental illness. On 12th Nov 2008 Christies New York sold a work by her for $5,100,000, a record for a living female artist.
Red, green and yellow dots are the symbol of Yayoi Kusama’s work. These three colors’ dots are represented the sun, the Earth and the moon. She uses these repetitive dots by her own way to communicate with the world. She is a great user of the high-saturation contrast dot as patterns to fill over her paintings, soft sculpture, performance art and installation art.#p#分頁標題#e#
 
She said, “The Earth is nothing but one of dots of more than one million dots." She use the dots to change the form of the inherent sense of the things that create continuity between the deliberately to create an infinite extension of space. Her works can exposure to which the audience cannot determine the true the border between the world and fairyland. These are all representative of her life.

我從小在看物品時就一直會產生幻覺，感覺物體周圍是迷離發光的，我就開始寫生，畫一些密集的小圓點，那是基于對事物想象的開始；有一天我座在椅子上看著紅色桌布上的紋理、花色，并開始尋找我的周圍是不是還有同樣的紋理，從窗戶、墻壁、天花板到房間的每一個角落，到我的身體。在尋找得過程當中，感覺自己被逐漸的侵蝕、隕滅，時間與空間不停的旋轉著，
自我變的微不足道。就在那一剎那間，我意識到這并非只是一種幻覺，也是現實生活的一種存在，我被這真實的幻覺給嚇壞了，我對紅色桌布和上面的紋理產生了強烈的恐懼……我奪路而逃，臺階卻在我腳下散落，我從臺階上摔了下來，手和腳腕都被跌傷了；世間萬無都是一個圓點，它是最基本的元素，地球是千萬個圓點當中的一個，這當然也包括我的身體。因此，不但思想，身體也就成了進行創作的一部分。
作為一個東方藝術家，作品或多或少的都會受到東方文化的影響。我創作了大量以網狀為基本特征的作品，網的本身結構是極富神秘感的，它象征了生命的無限廣袤和不可預知性。分與聚，增與減，在它們當中蘊含著經驗與感知以及不可言及的神秘……
關于現代藝術，我們都受到點藝術野史的粗淺啟蒙，似乎精神病和天才只一步之遙，比如梵高。但拋棄精神病的大眾傳播點，這是感受力錯置的絕佳例子──風景畫和靜物畫卻投射著藝術家對于生命的理解。
如果一個人的視覺瘋了，她的世界是什么樣的？那幾乎是藝術的先天獎賞。因小時的疾病，看世界蒙著一層圓點網紋，這種視覺經驗成為草間彌生的強迫癥癥候──要把世界所有都轉化為圓點世界。這不是簡單的復制，實際上每件作品仍然需要直覺、想象力和童真之心這些藝術之核的無限轉動。圓點墻是視覺平面的最直接展現。圓點空間裝置制造了三維體驗。圓點花和圓點南瓜是同種屬之間充滿喜悅的靈犀呼應。無限的圓點意味著分裂和繁殖，所以會自然有鏡子的引入，來營造分裂和繁殖的異次元空間。看草間彌生常有一種原始的美感，就像知覺復古，感受到草履蟲的二維世界。上面圖中，那些像眼睛、細胞、單細胞生物、受精卵、海洋微生物、女陰的圓點衍生物加上像鞭毛、血管的條狀物再加上海洋藍和鮮血紅，幾乎展現了生命的無限秘密和美！#p#分頁標題#e#

草間彌生既單純又復雜，復雜到很難歸類。
她將圓點視為生命基本元素，視為宇宙和自然的信號。“地球也不過只是百萬個圓點中的一個。”用純粹形式來體現宇宙秩序，這種野心近似于康定斯基和蒙德里安的抽象派。
她將形式賦予自我表現，這是不折不扣的表現主義。但她的表現主義缺乏德國式的痛苦，反而洋溢著童年的歡欣。
既抽象又表現，那應該是抽象表現主義了。但又不像波洛克那樣，帶有書法性的、意在筆端的揮灑。她顯得不那么即興，一個個圓點老老實實的描繪，只能說她豐富了抽象表現主義的范疇。
她的圓點的復制性和鮮艷的色彩，很具有流行藝術的波普特征。事實上，她在紐約的時期的確深刻地啟發了安迪沃霍兒。
她利用圓點制造新空間的野心，讓人想到契里柯孤絕的夢中廣場。而無意識聯想，這是超現實主義經典手法。
就不必說她的女性主義特征了。

而草間彌生的自我評價卻是“精神病藝術家”。是的，最好的藝術動機，很少來自于批判和所謂“反映時代畫卷”的濟世，而往往是自我的療傷。童年障礙，又一次成為造就藝術家的經典神話。上文的前三張圖：花卉與植物肯定來自于小女孩的童年經驗，而愛麗絲奇境式的巨大花朵和繽紛斑點，也制造了類似于兒童游樂園式的迷幻空間。
草間在相當早的創作時期就發展出了自己的特色，她善用高彩度對比的圓點花紋加上鏡子，大量包覆各種物體的表面，如墻壁、地板、畫布、家里會出現的物品（還有裸體的助理）。她自己的打扮往往也與作品有很高的同質性，并以短上衣和非常強烈的眼影妝聞名。草間曾說明這些視覺特色都來自于她的幻覺，她認為這些點組成了一面無限大的補捉網（Infinity nets），代表了她的生命。
此外，草間也發展出自己獨特的“繁殖”特色，她有許多作品都以蕈類聚生的造型出現。在1990年代之后，草間加入了商業藝術的領域，與時裝設計界合作，推出了帶有濃厚圓點草間風格的服飾，并開始販賣許多藝術商品。

The repeating or restructuring elements

Kusama has said that these visual features are derived from the illusion of her. She said when she grew up watching when items have been produces hallucinations, feeling light-emitting object is surrounded by blurred. I began to paint and draw a number of intensive small dots, which is based on the start of things to imagine. One day she watched the chair seat red tablecloth on the texture, color, and began looking around me is still the same texture, from the windows, walls and ceilings to every corner of the room, to my body. Looking for was the process, feel that they have been gradually eroded, fall from the sky, time and space not stop spinning, self-change negligible. Just in that instant, I realized that this is not just an illusion, but also the existence of a real life, I was terrified that the illusion of reality, and my red table cloths and above texture produced a strong fear of ... ... I Duolu fled, steps are scattered at my feet, I fell off the steps, hands and ankles were falls in; earth 10000 is a non-dot, which is the basic element, the earth is 10 million among a bullet, which of course includes my body. Thus, not only the mind, body and thus, became a part of creation.She considered these points build up an infinity nets.#p#分頁標題#e#
Margaux, would you describe your work for us?
My Plastic Body Series is art jewelry made with sterling silver, Barbie dolls and epoxy resin. It is an examination and celebration of my own, as well as our culture’s, relationship with Barbie.

What kind of training did you have which helped you achieve your current level of artistry?
I was first introduced to jewelry making in my high school (Lake George, NY) which was and still is, very fortunate to offer jewelry courses to its students. I’ve been a studio jeweler for the past six years since graduating college (The Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD May 2001) I was a General Fine Arts major and took a variety of courses in various mediums until I decided to concentrate on jewelry. For me jewelry was a way of getting art off the wall and on to the body so it could be shared, experienced
 and quite literally felt.
After college I took an epoxy resin workshop with art jeweler Susan Kasson Sloan at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts that forever changed the techniques I utilize in my metalwork and has enabled all sorts of exploration with color.
While it is my fine art background that has given me the foundation necessary for conceptual exploration in my jewelry work, it is personal experience (i.e.: my childhood spent obsessed with Barbie and her miniature world) that I credit for the success of this series. Barbie was immensely important in fueling my creative life as a child, not to mention developing my nimble hands and dexterity, skills imperative to the art of jewelry making. I love that what I adored as a child has become the focus of my career as an adult.
How did you first get the idea to make jewelry out of Barbie dolls?
Barbie made her debut in my artwork in high school. I once did a project where I took a bunch of Barbie dolls and delicately painted on their plastic bodies, transforming each of them to look like something else. One was made into a carrot, another a zebra, etc. I even painted one with a suit and tie, a beard and a moustache to look like a man. Later in college I did a series of drawings: self-portraits of myself holding Barbie dolls, balancing her on my head, sitting her on my shoulder, in a sense wearing her. I was interested in combining alternative materials and/or found objects into my metalwork so it was really only a matter of time before she became a part of my jewelry.
Jewelry seemed the best form for my art in exploring the subjects I was interested in. It made sense to address issues involving women and the body through jewelry, (a form of adornment predominantly associated with females) using Barbie, the ultimate female icon. The queen of accessorizing became the accessory!

What is your creative process like? How do you go about designing a piece?
Sometimes there’s a storyline to my pieces and I’ll have a particular idea I wish to explore (depending on the doll parts being used) and that will serve as the concept that shapes the piece. Other times it’s purely about design and arranging shapes and patterns within multiple elements. And sometimes it’s both, where I start out with a pattern or design in mind and by the end a concept has evolved. My design process varies a lot from piece to piece.#p#分頁標題#e#
I usually tend to work in smaller time segments throughout the week but aim for at least 15-20 studio hours total per week. The business end of my jewelry ends up requiring a lot more time away from my studio than I ever imagined it would: spending time on the computer with emails, my website, blog, etc.
I also currently have part-time outside employment as well to help make ends meet. Unfortunately at this point in my career it’s a necessity but I’m confident that it won’t always be. That’s what I’m working towards: successfully making a living off my art!
Is there a tool or material that you can’t imagine living without?
Barbie and Ken!
What inspires you to create?
Humans are especially what inspire me to create. Bodies. Faces. Popular culture. Barbie. And other artists and art jewelers who make fabulous work. I’m drawn to art that employs multiples of something, patterns, work that plays with our sense of scale and art made out of found, unexpected or unusual materials.
What inspires you to keep going when the work gets frustrating or tough?
The people who appreciate and support my work are what keep me going through the tough times. It’s important to have a support system. I’m very fortunate to have a few amazingly supportive artist friends. Also, when I get emails from people saying how much they love my jewelry or share stories of their Barbie experiences, I feel such a sense of accomplishment and it reminds me of what I love about art: it’s ability to connect on a personal level.
One of the biggest joys for me has been the way others receive my jewelry. It continues to amaze me the range of responses I get regarding what I do with Barbie. Some people respond to its humor and wit and think it’s pure fun, or it feeds a sense of nostalgia for them. Others weigh in on the feminist edge and relate to its statement. Some are creeped out and think it’s dark and disturbing to see “body parts” cut up. Others think it’s just simply bizarre. I love that everyone brings his or her own baggage and reaction to the work, indicative of their own relationship with, or feelings about, the iconic plastic princess as well as what defines “wearable jewelry.” One of my biggest goals has been to create art that people can relate to. I believe I’ve been successful with this.

What is your best piece of advice for those who would like to rise in their level of artistry?
Pay attention to your “voice.” Everyone has one that is uniquely their own and it’s hard to uncover at times. (Especially with the influence of teachers, mentors, fellow artists, friends, or family who sometimes offer resistance or persuade you away from your own true voice or vision.) Strive to unearth not only your personal strengths and talents but also that which gives you a deep sense of satisfaction and you will find yourself excelling naturally.
Also, and this is hugely important, surround yourself with positive people: those who support and encourage you to do what you love. It can be painful and difficult to weed out those who bring you down, but sometimes it’s crucial to #p#分頁標題#e#
your personal and professional growth.
Got it yet? Yes, it’s a boob pendant. A pendant made from boobs. Plastic boobs. Barbie boobs! Aaaand we think we may just have answered the question from the headline there, but you, of course, may find these super-cute, in which case you’ll want to know that the boob pendant is the creation of Margaux Lange , who sells her work on Etsy, and that there’s lots more where that came from. More pics under the jump, visit Margaux’s store here for even more. 
I enjoy the funny juxtaposition of wearing the body, on the body. Barbie has become the accessory instead of being accessorized. I take pleasure in the contrast and contradiction of something mass-produced being transformed and revealed as a unique, handmade, wearable piece of art.
Margaux Lange
I found Margaux’s work online a while ago – and was delighted to come across her new and updated website the other day. What I especially like about her work is it’s sense of playfulness, it’s ingenuity. I love that Margaux is using something iconic and turning it on its head…adding to and exploring the cult of Barbie, issues of recycling and adornment. I also really enjoyed seeing an insight into her process {and a peek into her work environment – as a jeweller myself, this is always interesting!} via her blog…
I have always personally loved Barbies, having played with them all the time as a child – making my own clothes and hats for them, giving them hair-cuts {eek}…and so found it really interesting at art school when they were discussed in such depth during lectures and debates for their design status.
Many people now see Barbie as a bad role-model for girls – but this was something I absolutely did not identify with, and do not subscribe to the idea that this iconic doll influences young childrens ideal of the perfect woman {I never wanted to look like Barbie}. I see her as an excellent outlet for creativity and roleplay…something essential in a childs development.
I am so glad, as an adult, to see these positive notions continuing – in such a wonderful and beautifully executed way – through Margaux’s jewellery.
I can’t wait to see the collection evolve!

The link with popular or fashion industry
國際知名的日本當代藝術家村上隆的公仔在拍賣會上創天價！村上隆於一九九八年製作的一尊名為「我的寂寞牛仔」裸男公仔，在紐約蘇富比拍賣會上以一千五百一十六萬美金（約臺幣四億七千多萬元）得標，創下他個人公仔作品的最高標紀錄.
作品融合了浮世繪、漫畫、卡通等日本藝術特色，風格奇異的公仔更是不斷在拍賣會上創下現代美術作品的最高價。村上隆與知名品牌LV的合作，開發色彩繽紛的櫻花包、五彩包等皮包飾品大大轟動，也就是他自稱為拋棄所謂藝術家的羞恥心，為創造出藝術的附加價值，更讓村上隆的名聲如日中天。#p#分頁標題#e#
村上隆成立公司，以工廠大量複製其符號，以商業手法經營藝術的方式，雖備受爭議，但卻大受歡迎。他的畫風雖不失可愛，但在可愛之餘，卻又帶點分裂、黑暗，甚至於神經質的特質

香港的Yvonne Wang認為商業化的藝術，尤其是大規模生產的商品讓她反感。村上隆的作品反映出在金錢社會里可達到的最高真實性消費。
Has been called “the Japanese Andy Warhol” Takashi Murakami, he is good at breaking the art and commerce, the high culture, popular culture and the barriers between the sub-culture. Takashi Murakami's work not only promote the Japanese comic and popular culture of art, but also breaks the Eastern and Western’s own aesthetic standards. Therefore his works are also very popular in the West.

43-year-old Takashi Murakami is one of the most popular Japanese artists, also he is one of the most internationally well-known Japanese artists. His works have not only got the universal ability and market ability, but also have got provocative temperament. Takashi's works generally regarded as Japan's manga culture of extreme performance, not only in quantity expansion of comic reading culture, but also qualitatively demonstrated ability to consummate style. In the art market, art market, the single open a new authority than Andy Warhol Takashi Murakami art foreseen the commercial potential of, and farther than modern art theorist Clement Greenberg on "The tacky (kitsch)> influence理解.
 今年四十三歲的村上隆是日本最廣受歡迎的藝術家，也是日本藝術家中最具國際知名度者。他的作品不但具有普遍性和市場性，也有挑釁氣質。村上隆的作品算是日本普遍的漫畫文化之極至表現，不但在量上擴充漫畫閱讀文化，也在質上表現出精湛的造型能力。在藝術的市場化、市場的藝術化上獨開新局，村上隆超過安迪沃荷所預見的藝術的商業潛力，更遠超過現代藝術理論家
Clement Greenberg對<俗氣(kitsch)>影響力的理解。
 
Takashi Murakami has a PhD graduate of the University of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, with traditional painting techniques. His doctoral thesis rather nothingness temperament: "the meaning of meaningless』. " But it seems from his artistic creations to read out the meaning of vague. Takashi Murakami is now shuttling between New York, Tokyo, Paris, engaged in creation and display, exhibition intensive curatorial itself in 2001, the California "super-flat (Superflat)> curatorial him much attention. The exhibition will not only let the world know the characteristics of Japanese comics culture, but also with the European art tradition Perspective confrontation.
擁有博士學位的村上隆畢業于國立東京大學美術及音樂系所，具有傳統繪畫技法。他的博士dissertation題目頗具虛無氣質：「『沒意義』的意義」。但這似乎能從他的藝術創作中隱約讀出意涵。村上隆現在穿梭于紐約、東京、巴黎間從事創作和展出，展覽密集，本身也策展，2001年在美國加州的<超扁平(Superflat)>策展讓他備受矚目。這個展覽不但讓世人認識日本漫畫文化的特質，也是與歐洲藝術之透視法傳統的對質。#p#分頁標題#e#
His works not only in many of the world famous museums on display, in the business, he is also a hot figure, had achieved impressive results. Not only in New York, Christie auction sold for 567 thousand U.S. dollars at the sky-high price of the blonde beauty Ko2 cartoon Miss (glass fiber, high-about 2 meters); let the world women are also frequently sought after LV cooperate with him, decorative has his designs for LV handbags, each priced as high as 5,000 U.S. dollars. Mr. DOB's image has also been printed on T-shirts and balloons on a large number of sale has become popular among youths, the tide of popular products ...
  
★ If Andy Warhol was to commodity into an art, that Takashi Murakami is to goods and works of art should be the zone between the interrupted.
他的作品不僅在全世界許多著名博物館中展出，在商業上他也是個炙手可熱的人物，曾取得了令人驚歎的業績。不僅有曾在紐約克利斯蒂拍賣會上拍出了56.7萬美 元天價的金髮卡通美女Ko2小姐（玻璃纖維製，高約2米 ）；讓全世界女性追捧的LV也頻頻與他合作，裝飾有他設計圖案的LV手袋，每只售價高達5000美元。Mr. DOB的形象也曾被印在T恤衫和氣球上大量發售，成為深受年輕人喜愛的潮流品…
 
★如果安迪沃荷是把商品變成藝術，那村上隆應該就是把商品與藝術品之間的地帶打斷。
Takashi Murakami's works can be said to be "size nothing, Yi Shi IKEA, inside and outside decent" suit made of household products, toys, decoration, also suitable for amplification into public art. Takashi Murakami art can be made into a variety of products, suitable for handheld and appreciation to the small form doll, mouth-watering bright color, without modesty, show off lovely, thorough bright innocent big eyes, is enough to put it down to the Takashi Murakami products.村上隆的作品可說是「尺寸不拘、宜室宜家、里外得體」，既適合做成家居產品、玩具、裝飾，也適合放大成公共藝術。村上隆的藝術能做成多種產品，適合掌上玩賞的小造型玩偶、令人垂涎的鮮艷配色、毫不謙虛地賣弄可愛，透徹明亮的無辜大眼，足以讓人對村上隆產品愛不釋手。
And fashion, to let the marketability of Takashi Murakami to new heights. 2002 Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs for spring designed to invite Takashi Murakami handbags, shoes and other accessories. Takashi Murakami to the main point of the law of small flowers, on the one hand into the rules of exquisite Japanese style Patterns, on the one hand to create a sweet temperament, with spending power to attract young girls. LV spring 2003, and the simultaneous advent of Takashi Murakami exhibition, but also received complementary effect. The combination of art, fashion, brand name and examples of idols, even if the "artistic autonomy" of the defenders candidly admit defeat.
和時尚的合作，讓村上隆的市場性更上層樓。2002年Louis Vuitton 的設計師Marc Jacobs邀請村上隆為春季設計皮包、鞋子等配件。村上隆以規律的細花點為主，一方面融入日本風味的規則精致的圖紋，一方面創造甜美氣質，吸引具消費實力的年輕女孩。2003年LV的春裝和村上隆的展覽同步問世，更收相得益彰之效。這些結合藝術、時尚、名牌與偶像的例子，即使「藝術自主」的捍衛者都甘拜下風。#p#分頁標題#e#
Takashi Murakami is not just bent on the pursuit of commercial artist, he just does not exclude the market. Takashi Murakami, however, on social issues, especially for the many phenomena of Japanese society are critical to maintain the position. Although his style seems to be the comic world of convergence with the real world, let's eyes and ears of Chen submerged in superficial, smooth style of a romantic, but his aesthetic from social observation in mind. From the Japanese general sense of powerlessness and a sub-culture observations, Takashi Murakami from his interest groups - otaku (otaku) - those who would isolate itself from the network world, the exchange of fantasies of young people. Takashi Murakami, this has been discriminated against ethnic groups in Japanese society dreamed up by the image, including those filled with passion to do the specific shape of illusions in the hope that his art can comfort those eccentric people. Online and isolated, was comforted by the consumer, idol worship, Takashi Murakami grasp the truth of modern life, nature can also operate their own clever marketing, this is Takashi Murakami to successfully trace and follow-up art and commercial barriers between the clear key.
村上隆并非一心只追求商業化的藝術家，他只是不排斥市場。然而村上隆對社會議題，特別是對日本社會的諸多現象都是保持批判立場的。盡管他的造型似乎是用漫畫世界銜接真實世界，讓我們耳目陳浸在表面化、光滑化的浪漫造型中，但他的美學是從社會觀察出發的。出自對日本人的普遍的無力感和對次文化的觀察，村上隆從他關心的族群—御宅族(otaku)—那些將自己孤立在網絡世界里，交換幻想的年輕人。村上隆將這個被日本社會歧視的族群幻想出來的形象、包括充滿情欲幻覺的造型具體做出來，希望他的藝術可以安慰這些孤僻的人。Online而孤立、藉消費獲得安慰、偶像崇拜，村上隆掌握了當代生活的真相，自然也能巧妙操作自己的市場，這正是村上隆成功地搗覆藝術與商業之間分明壁壘的關鍵。
任何文化的出現都不會是偶然：社會的高速發展，科技的日新月異，網絡的平民化普及，御宅一族的產生，平面視覺自然而然就成了最快捷最時尚的表達方式。盡管Superflat在日本被認為是街頭的次文化，或者只是玩耍的一種把戲，但是村上隆把他帶到西方的展覽館里，更多的觀眾認為這是一種瘋狂的藝術。Superflat不只是取當代文化現象切片做為展覽的主題，而是深入了
整個日本在二次戰后所形成的價值觀、生活觀以及社會發展現象，它不只反映地域文化特質，更重要的是展現了全球化時代世界各地的彼此交錯和牽動，以及呈現出商業和娛樂的力量無所不在。#p#分頁標題#e#
 　　村上隆自己也說過，“我在尋找一種介乎藝術與娛樂之間的交集，在歐美學到的關于藝術場景里的運作，如何在代表精英文化的美術館，用大眾文化的方式吸引到更多的受眾。將日本流行文化和次文化直接擺到所謂高級藝術(high art)的范疇中來探討，不只是重視這股力量，其實也在試圖探測著大眾藝術與純藝術之間的界線，以及在藝術與商業之間尋找的新的融合可能性。更重要的是，觀眾喜歡。”
 　　他十分坦率：：“...日本文化，你知道，自從二次大戰之后就是模仿美國的東西、歐洲的東西和西方文化，不是嗎?每回，他們就制造一個膺品，膺品，膺品，膺品，膺品，膺品...膺品的歷史，到現在，它變成了原創。我想這就是一種偶像文化。在美國，他們還在找真正有天份的人，像鮑伯˙迪倫(Bob Dylan)或類似的人。我雖不懂音樂場景，但是我們不需要找真正有天份的人，我們只要炒作偽天份，那就成了。”
 　　現在的當代藝術展覽已不再是藝術家試圖詮釋或批判流行或商業文化，而是流行及商業文化的制造者就是藝術家，這使得“藝術家”的角色定位受到極大的沖擊，僅管他們對身處的文化現象有所(或沒有)反思或批判，他們本身都還是場景中的一份子，不是旁觀者。這同時也可以看作是村上隆對于日本“扁平”文化的詮釋。
可以說，他的藝術從形式到內容都瓦解了精英文化與通俗文化之間的隔閡，使自己搖身變成制造流行及商業文化的人，并在不斷尋找藝術與商業之間新的融合可能性

村上隆有一個工廠，叫做“Kaikai Kiki”，有120名正式員工和其他100名自由職業者，在紐約和東京都開設有辦事處，工廠不僅僅生產繪畫、雕塑、動畫電影，與知名公司進行設計合作，并且經營毛巾、錢包、毛絨玩具等一系列相關產品的生產銷售活動。
    業務運作看起來十分巨大，但是村上隆擔心它變得過于龐大。“我們從藝術作品中獲得了大量利潤，但是我雇傭了這么多人。我不得不經常考慮如何在商業社會中生存。達明赫斯特創造了一種藝術產業，我追隨了他的道路，這是一條生存之路，但是現在市場正在流失，我們想要新的創意，通過時尚、電視等等。有多種可能性。”
日本明星藝術家村上隆昨（4）日表示，「藝術就是要跟有錢人打交道才會紅」，藝術如果沒有和商業結合，就無法生存下去。
村上隆昨天來臺舉行「我愛版畫，所以我作版畫」個展，並出席在臺北「築空間」的開幕儀式，這是他首度在日本以外的亞洲地區舉行展覽，文建會主委盛治仁也到場致意。
本展共展出84件版畫作品，除了最為人熟知的LV「SUPER LAT Monogram」、「櫻桃」、「小花朵」系列之外，還有充滿禪意的新作「達摩」等。#p#分頁標題#e#
設計櫻桃包圖案
村上隆指出，過去幾年東方藝術過度以西方藝術形式為中心，直到這幾年才逐漸改變。隨著網路發達，藝術已經變成每個人追尋自我的歷程，他的作品裡想傳達的就是自我探索，例如在傳統的印花上變化圖案，或是佛陀坐在蓮花裡。
一砲打響村上隆知名度的代表作，是2005年替法國精品品牌LV推出的Monogram櫻桃包，他將LV傳統圖案改裝為一顆顆鮮豔的櫻桃，因此很多人介紹他是以「設計櫻桃包圖案」的人當開場白。
村上隆不諱言，藝術從來就不會和商業化有所衝突，人活在世界上就是為了生活，藝術家賣畫就是要維生。例如過去單純只是書籍的漫畫市場，如今已延伸出龐大的產業商機，就是成功將藝術與商業結合的例子。
日本畫家高野綾，出身自村上隆搞的“SUPERFLAT”活動，97年就加入其負責的藝術組織“KAIKAI KIKI”。2000年就推出自己的第一本畫集《HOT BANANA FUDGE》。高野綾在村上隆的護航下發展十分順利。
高野綾的畫風非常迷幻，而且大玩BODY、SEX，但畫內的女性都是“平胸女性”，十分特別。在日本大受歡迎，在2003年更為英國樂團FEEDER的最新大碟《COMFORT IN SOUND》設計封套。

Conclusion

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