Yanobe Kenji Survival Racing Car, 1997. Yanobe Kenji Gacha-Pon, 1997.

Yanobe Kenji by Ben Schingel ___________________________________________________ In the last two decades, mass media and entertainment have exploded to become global industries. This explosion has created a daily bombardment of information through films, television shows, magazines, and more recently, the Internet. With information and entertainment so easily accessible, it has become easier to escape from daily life. Some choose to escape so often that the line between fantasy and reality becomes more difficult to see. In Japan, people such as this are referred to as otaku. This term can identify those who simply take their hobbies more seriously than most. However, in recent years, this term has also gained a less desirable connotation and is sometimes used to single out those who are hopelessly lost in a world based in neither fantasy nor reality. In this era where escapism is commonplace, reactionary artists are also becoming more common. One such artist is Yanobe Kenji. Yanobe's works are based, not in classical European or American art, but in the popular culture he was exposed to growing up in Japan. Yanobe's influences are taken directly from manga (Japanese for “comic books”) and Anime (a French term used to describe the animation of Japan). In these stories, the devastation of Japan is a recurring theme. This trend is most likely due to a generation of artists and writers in Japan who have grown up in the shadow of the atomic bomb. Yanobe's works use this common theme, combined with his pop culture influences to create a disintegrated, futuristic world. In this world, coin-operated, nuclear vehicles and bulky radiation suits are made from bits and pieces of older technology, resulting in a look that is both campy and terrifying. Featured this year at the Tampa Museum of Art, in an exhibit entitled “My Reality: Contemporary Art & Culture of Japanese Animation”, are three of Yanobe's works: Atom Car; Survival Racing Car; and Survival Gacha-Pon. Atom Car, created by Yanobe in 1998 as part of a set, is a sleek, coin-operated atomic car. Like most of his works, this car is fully functional. The coin slot accepts three 100 Yen coins and the vehicle is operational. The car shown here at the Tampa Museum of Art is the white version. Black and yellow versions of the car also exist. The small, one-seat vehicle is fitted with functioning Geiger counters to detect radiation. If the car detects radiation ten times, it shuts down. Another in the series of functional nuclear vehicles is Survival Racing Car created in 1997. This bizarre sculpture is constructed around a motorized wheel chair. The bright yellow color of the vehicle suggests a radiation hazard itself but is designed to protect the rider from everyday fallout in his futuristic world of nuclear apocalypse. The piece suggests that everyday life in the future will be hindered by periodic necessity for nuclear protection. This theme recurs through many of Yanobe's drawings and sculptures. The final piece from this exhibit is Survival Gacha-Pon, constructed in 1998. The sculpture best displays Yanobe's vision of a world adapting to post-holocaust conditions. A Gacha-Pon is a Japanese vending machine. This particular vending machine, also fully functional, is filled with the necessities of the artist's dark future. Inside the menacing, red machine are 100 plastic capsules. These are same kind of capsules you would find in any vending machine anywhere in the world. However, the differences found in Survival Gacha-Pon are the contents of these capsules. The various items included are small packets of uncooked rice, assorted Japanese snacks, bandages, gauze, matches, steel wool for scrubbing after radiation exposure, and a multitude of other survival goods. In this piece are all the items necessary for daily convenience in a world plagued by the devastation of nuclear war. Despite the harsh overtones of a ruined future, another common link between these sculptures is a dry sense of humor rooted in Japanese pop culture. Miniature versions of many of Yanobe's works are sold like merchandise from any popular manga or anime: toys based on the pieces are available at many of his exhibits. This merchandising reflects the otaku culture of Japan, as does the look of many of the artists' works. Japan's pop culture constantly reminds us of a country dealing with life after the bomb. Yanobe's works are a reaction to life in a country where popular culture is obsessed with holocaust, and Japan's destruction seems eminent. The functionality of his designs suggests a necessity for their existence, while their tongue-in-cheek aesthetics make you question the severity of their message. They leaves the viewer with a feeling of confusion as if to express the fuzzy reality of society in the shadow of entertainment and media.