A collaboration between Keiichi Tanaami and Oliver Payne pairs mythology-inspired creatures and “bullet hell,” video-game inspired iconography. Tanaaami’s works are drawn, while “Payne had meticulously applied bullet hell stickers upon” them. The works are collected in the show “Perfect Cherry Blossom,” running at Tokyo’s Nanzuka through April 21. Tanaaami was featured on the cover of Hi-Fructose Vol. 38.
“As a true fan of Tanaami’s practice, Payne had created this series through means of transforming the logic of fandom (a secondary world created at the hands of fans) into the work itself,” a statement says. “The chaotic world of a classic arcade game that extends kaleidoscopically, serves as a curtain encompassing the characters drawn by Tanaami, and at the same time appear to reveal the origins of artist’s underlying ideas. The eyes of the viewer navigate their way through each image, attempting to decipher the seemingly chaotic array of projectiles, from bullets, bombs, and other forms of ballistic assault. Furthermore, by naturally following a time system that always moves horizontally across the screen from bottom to the top, the viewer recognizes themselves as being caught in Payne’s meticulously orchestrated scheme, in the very position of a gamer who identifies with and orients the avatar of the battleship as it battles its way through the sea of carnage.”
See more of the work from the show below.
