KAJIAN BUDAYA JEPANG PADA PROSES DAN TEKNIK SENI LUKIS TAKASHI MURAKAMI
Authors: Yunizal Dwi 
Published: February 2023

Contemporary artist Takashi Murakami from Japan works in painting, sculpture, and commercial media including fashion, merchandise and animation with the superflat theory. The creative process combines traditional culture with contemporary culture, this study aims to understand Murakami's background in managing the dynamics of traditional culture with critical and genius visual discourse. The superflat theory was finally able to lead Murakami to become a well-known artist, due to the meeting of the dynamics of traditional and capitalist culture in the global market. The use of kawaii elements which mean cute and sweet, both as a style and a way of life can be found in Murakami's art. Symbolism plays an important role in attracting people's attention and working to elevate otaku culture's status as a representation of Japan. Murakami's mythical sensibility presents traditional Japanese, Chinese, and Buddhist myths giving mythopoeic achievements. This study uses library research with a semi-systematic approach that originates from journals, dissertations, theses, and internet media, based on the results of data and information processing, the works of artist Murakami are influenced by Japanese cultural structures such as Soga Shohaku, kawaii, and otaku. Murakami's awareness in understanding art discourse by incorporating a kawaii style, so that it is easily accepted in the global art market. Understanding how Murakami's formula manages traditional culture to become today's art, can be analyzed in a work entitled “Dragon in Clouds – Indigo Blue”. The conclusion of Murakami's work is the symbolism influenced by his personal experience.Keywords: soga shohaku, kawaii, otaku, superflat. AbstrakSeniman kontemporer Takashi Murakami dari Jepang mengerjakan karya lukisan, patung, dan media komersial termasuk fashion, barang dagang, dan animasi dengan teori superflat. Proses kreatif memadukan budaya tradisional dengan budaya kontemporer. Penelitian ini bertujuan memahami latar belakang Murakami mengelola dinamika budaya tradisional dengan wacana visual yang kritis dan jenius. Teori superflat akhirnya mampu mengantarkan Murakami menjadi seniman ternama, karena pertemuan dinamika budaya tradisional dan kapitalis di pasar global. Penggunaan unsur kawaii yang berarti imut dan manis, baik sebagai gaya maupun gaya hidup dapat ditemukan dalam karya seni Murakami. Simbolisme memainkan peran penting untuk menarik perhatian orang, dan berupaya mengangkat status budaya otaku sebagai representasi Jepang. Kepekaan mitis Murakami menghadirkan mitos tradisional Jepang, Cina, dan Buddha memberikan pencapaian mythopoeic. Penelitian ini menggunakan penelitian kepustakaan dengan pendekatan semi-sistematik yang bersumber dari jurnal, disertasi, tesis, dan media internet. Berdasarkan hasil pengolahan data dan informasi, karya seniman Murakami dipengaruhi oleh struktur budaya Jepang seperti soga shohaku, kawaii, dan otaku. Kesadaran Murakami dalam memahami wacana seni dengan memasukkan gaya kawaii, sehingga mudah diterima di pasar seni global. Memahami bagaimana formula Murakami mengelola budaya tradisional menjadi seni masa kini, dapat dianalisis dalam karya berjudul “Dragon in Clouds – Indigo Blue”. Kesimpulan dari karya Murakami adalah simbolisme yang dipengaruhi pengalaman pribadinya.Kata Kunci: soga shohaku, kawaii, otaku, superflat. Author:Dwi Yunizal : Institut Seni Indonesia Yogyakarta References:Birlea, O. M. (2021). “Cute Studies”. Kawaii (“Cuteness”) – A New Research Field. Philobiblon, 26(1), 83–100. https://doi.org/10.26424/philobib.2021.26.1.05.Borggreen, G. (2011). Cute and Cool in Contemporary Japanese Visual Arts. The Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies, 29(01), 39–60. https://doi.org/10.22439/cjas.v29i1.4020.Hashimoto, M. (2007). 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