PRODUCT 4_DESIGNED by AICON
Abduction Puzzle ¥24,000+TAX
AICON
After working in web design, she began her career as an illustrator in 2014. His works, which are drawn from a classical and new perspective, have attracted attention for their unique world view, and have been highly acclaimed both in Japan and abroad.
instagram@aiconworks
Artist Comment
The design of this shirt has a punch, so I thought that photographer Yusuke Yamatani would be able to pull it off. I thought it would be perfect for Mr. Yamatani, who seems to send out a message even when he just stands there silently. Also, we are neighbors who say "Ittekkimasu" and "Ittekarasai" to each other.
Friends of AICONYusuke Yamatani
Born 1985 in Niigata, Japan, photographer, self-published his first photo book "Tsugi no yoru e" in 2013. His main photo collections are "ground" and "RAMA LAMA DING DONG" In 2019, he will embark on a performance tour of six European countries. He took self-portraits using a method in which a sensor detects the vibration of drum beating and releases the shutter.
How are you spending your daily life now that you can't even get by?
Mountain Valley:I have been working on my works for the exhibition all this year, but due to Corona, the overseas exhibition was cancelled and the domestic one postponed. However, now that I have more time, I see this as a time to think more deeply about the exhibition.
It is difficult to find a time to think carefully in our daily lives, isn't it?
Mountain Valley:If you take the time, you will be able to see different things, and you will also be able to look at your own work in a different way. There are things that you notice by doing things you normally don't do or by taking paths you wouldn't take. When I think about it that way, it is not all bad.
I felt that in recent years you have been more conscious of the fact that you enjoy such coincidences. Just as you took self-portraits on your European tour last September, which were not of your own volition.
Mountain Valley:I don't think I want to create something using only my imagination.... A camera is a machine that creates images on its own, and it can capture things that we would never expect to see. Such coincidences give me new insights, which I find fascinating over the many years I have been doing this. It is something I have always valued.
Do you think that changes in the world and in yourself have changed the way you think about photography?
Mountain Valley:I feel that my recent interest has been more in that direction, in how much I can reduce the size of my images. In the early days, I used to go into the darkroom and develop my images with a lot of care, but that kind of thing seems false to me now, or it doesn't fit with the changes in my life. So I am now experimenting with negatives of old photographs, for example, neutralizing them by making the contrast very shallow.
AICON is an artist who has worked on both photography and illustration, but you wore a shirt created by AICON.
Mountain Valley:We are neighbors. She lives not more than 100 meters from my house. I met her one day when I was smoking in front of my house and my friend walked by. That was the first time I was introduced to her.
It's so close. We are really close!
Mountain Valley:When I talked to him, we had a few mutual friends. So we were close even before we got to know each other.
What is your impression of AICON's work when you actually try it on?
Mountain Valley:She likes space and stuff, and I'm interested in physics, so I ask her to tell me about it. She knows so much about it that I can hardly understand what she is saying (laughs). (laughs) But you can see that kind of influence in the composition of the screen. Fashion is a world that I have nothing to do with, but it is a world that I am involved in when I do photo shoots, and when I hear the thoughts and concepts of the creators at such occasions, I think that it is better to wear clothes after knowing such things. I don't think it is enough to be cool.
