Celebrities and ordinary people hankering for publicity seem to be only interested in getting their entire lives – from what they eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner, to the contents of their wardrobes – Tweeted, Facebooked and Instagrammed.
Yet the real luxury nowadays is maybe backing away from the limelight: after all, those who chose anonymity (think about Martin Margiela or Banksy…) have proved that a little mystery teases and pleases.
Among the ones who love anonymity there is Nukeme, the Tokyo-based artist and fashion designer who loves hacking embroidery software, and creating unique avant-garde pieces.
In a new episode of Japanese show Toco Toco, Nukeme takes people on a tourist trip around his favourite shops and his workshop, but never shows viewers his face.
The main point is to preserve anonymity by re-shifting the viewers' attention on his art and on the products and places he shows in this brief documentary.
The brief documentary follows Nukeme to Hayatochiri, a shop located in the Koenji area, literally filled with crazy and colourful creations by young designers.
Nukeme stops there to get some inspirations and to speak to its owner as well, Goto, a creator himself and the first to stock Nukeme's work eight years ago.
Nukeme then moves onto another shop, House@Mikiri Hassin, a store and gallery space located in a refurbished Japanese traditional house in Omotesando area selling creations from Japanese designers and vintage clothes, plus offering visitors the chance to visit also a gallery space located in the basement. Here Nukeme seems fascinated by pieces that combine traditional Japanese craftsmanship with new technologies, such as laser cutting.
At Nukeme's workshop we discover some of his creative projects and new designs showing his glitch embroidery technique applied to Rumiko Takahashi's Urusei Yatsura characters.
Directed by Anne Ferrero, the YouTube Toco Toco show introduces Japanese creators – among them artists, illustrators, designers and musicians – to the world with and accessible format, via interviews and tours of the cities where these creative minds live.
In the past, they have featured various creators such as Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell music composer), SUDA51 (Game Creator) or Chuya Koyama (Space Brother's mangaka).
Nukeme's episode is particularly interesting as the designer is portrayed as a dark apparition, an anonymous figure in a hood freely and unassumingly moving around Tokyo.
Nukeme contradicts the media trends, less is indeed more in this brief documentary, but the trick ends up working pretty well: at the end of the video we actually remember the places and products seen (as we should…) and we do know what his designs and art pieces look like.
Some fashion designers intent on oversharing every single moment of their lives on social media, could learn a lesson or two from Nukeme's humble attitude. One last note: if you feel like doing some Nukeme shopping after watching the show but you're not in Tokyo, you can still check out Nukeme designs in collaboration with Japanese glitch artist and programmer Ucnv on their Etsy shop. Enjoy Nukeme on Toco Toco!
Related articles
Rispondi