PROFILE

Born in Nara Prefecture in 1979. He is active both in Japan and abroad, working primarily in Tokyo, producing murals and live painting events, and planning, directing, and entering art projects, etc. His achievements include creating murals for the headquarters of Facebook Japan and Nike, and planning/directing the art project #BCTION. He is also a member of the live painting duo DOPPEL, and under the name Yabugarashi also DJs and makes music tracks.

DATE

2019

MEDIUM

 acrylic, emulsion paint

DIMENSIONS

H296×W1734cm

STATEMENT

I have done live paint performances from love-hate dilemmas. When I was three years old, my sister was born. I was left at my grandmother’s house. I scattered black ink about the Buddhist altar room. Whether it was from the loneliness of alienation or from having my mother stolen away from me, I do not know. As time passed and I got into my twenties, I started live-painting in music venues in parallel with the band’s playing. I want to get somebody’s attention but putting it into words is too troublesome. And will the paint be scattered? However, in my early thirties, immediately after the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, it was pictures that healed my confused and depressed heart. I didn’t want to be noticed, and was able to regain my calm by drawing by myself to soothe myself. Drawing pictures alleviated my frustration and anxiety, and I had a feeling of satisfaction when my work was recognized.

Maybe it was the influence of Osamu Tezuka, whose manga I had read over and over again since I was a boy, but at some point I began pursuing philosophy. As I seriously faced the world of people, I felt an emptiness and foolishness somewhere, so I wanted to live a rich life and acquire an abundance of ways of thinking. I don’t think there’s anything quite as ridiculous as cessation of thought, but, somehow, there seems to be some areas where thinking does no good. It’s as though no one can explain how the “remembering action” is performed. There is something behind understanding, which has failed to become words. There are realms of sense. Sleep. Unconsciousness. I came to the belief that half of this world is made in a “dull” world such as that.

I who move between depression (utsu) and reality (utsutsu), who have both consciousness and unconsciousness, cannot explain myself as a coherent individual. If you look at the world as a person who doesn’t have individuality, you can accept contradictions more honestly. Eventually, you will be able to accept the non-commonality with others, as a matter of course. I draw pictures that visualize a worldview in which conflicting things exist and change at the same time.

ABOUT MUSIC AND ART

In retrospect, when I was a student, I lived a destitute life immersing myself in music and painting, drifting between Kyoto and Osaka and playing in both the bands “Echo Mountain” and “The Henircoots.” Aphex Twin, Ash Ra Tempel, Augustus Pablo, Boredoms, Beastie Boys, Can, Fela Kuti, Richie Hawtin, Ryoji Ikeda, Shing02, The Slits, Tortoise… I was drinking and partying and rocking out, and doing live paint performances. At that time, I suddenly realized this: sound and painting are both connected to the source of inspiration, and if you turn on both taps, both the music and images will come pouring out. I still make tracks and do DJ gives under the name “Yabugarashi.” My music and pictures always stand alongside each other.

Mon Koutaro Ooyama PLAYLIST