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The Person in a Culture Dish — Otaku
#007Nine types of contemporary otaku distilled into nine symbols, each sealed in resin like a specimen — small enclosed worlds that grow and change on their own.
- Année
- 2023
- date
- 2023.08 – 2023.11
- dimension
- 25cm × 25cm × 0.3cm · 19cm × 19cm × 4cm
- media
- resin, acrylic paint, clay, ultraviolet epoxy
A — INSPIRATION
“Otaku” comes from 1970s Japan and has stayed in East Asian culture ever since — people deeply into a subculture, mostly anime, manga and games. In Japan it now reads as a neutral identity.
It has branches: ACG fans, idol fans, fujoshi, railway and car otaku, and lifestyle categories like NEET. What they share is staying inside a world of their own making. That is the culture dish — a closed environment growing on its own terms.
B — PROCESS
Nine types of contemporary otaku, each with its figurative features pulled out into a collection — the representative colours, materials and objects surface here and become the basis for the installation. Those figures are then distilled into simple moving shapes, run through ink flow and origami symmetry, and overlaid with colour to become symbols.
Type No.1 — Military Otaku
People passionate about the military field and related ACGs, often showing a high level of passion for politics on the internet. Graphic extracts: guns, ammunition, keyboards.
Type No.2 — Occult Otaku
People passionate about metaphysics such as tarot cards, astrology, or I Ching Bagua. Graphic extracts: eyes, hexagrams, reptiles.
Type No.3 — ACG Otaku
The most typical otaku, obsessed with games, anime, and manga. Graphics extracted: from books and pen and paper.
Type No.4 — Transportation Otaku
People obsessed with collecting models and information about transportation, including buses and plane tickets. Graphic extraction: wheels and triangles representing roadblocks.
Type No.5 — Pop Culture Otaku
People obsessed with popular online culture, covering a wide range of media platforms. Image extraction: morphing of logos from various social media.
Type No.6 — Earthy Culture Otaku
A special group reflecting poverty and hardship, often creating their own circle in marginalized markets. Graphic extraction: cigarette butts and wine bottles.
Type No.7 — Phantom Concept Otaku
People passionate about studying speculative and post-apocalyptic worldviews such as cyberpunk and steampunk. Graphic extraction: red and blue pills, scattered data from The Matrix.
Type No.8 — Alien Pet Otaku
People who breed special plants and animals such as lizards, snakes, and spiders. Graphic extraction: snakes and alien flowers.
Type No.9 — Clothing Otaku
Mostly women passionate about culturally specific clothing, inspired by European Rococo, Japanese school uniforms, and punk fashion. Image extraction: Rococo corset, ribbon bow.
C — BOOK DESIGN
The content is haiku — short classical Japanese poems summarising each type. In the typography, graphics and text are treated as one symbol, linked by flowing lines that carry the rhythm of the composition.
D — OUTCOME 1: PRINT
Weighted transparent acrylic instead of paper, so the work changes with how you stack it, where you are, and what light is on it. Reading becomes something closer to exploring.
E — OUTCOME 2: INSTALLATION
A small interactive installation echoing the title. Acrylic fluid painting, felt work and clay modelling build a miniature ecology — the persona of the group, visible at a glance.
F — DETAIL
Clay pinched into the different forms of fungus, then fluid acrylic and silicone oil for the cellular texture — the same treatment on the base of the petri dish. A layer of UV adhesive fixes the colour and lifts the brightness.
The mycelium is wool felt, with miniature models set into it to carry the fixed characteristics.