Pollution in Inner and Outer Spaces: Masami Teraoka's McDonald's Hamburgers Invading Japan, 1974-5
Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
Arriving in Los Angeles from Japan at the height of the Pop Art movement in the 1960s, Masami Teraoka used his art to speak of the interaction between Japanese and Western cultures – the former, viewed as rigid and traditional and the latter, fast-paced and modern. In my paper, I focus on Teraoka's series McDonald's Hamburgers Invading Japan, completed between 1974 and 1975. Composed in watercolor, a Western medium, and made to resemble ukiyo-e woodblock prints, a Japanese medium, the series shows the impact of the American multinational corporation on a post-World War II Japan. I examine Teraoka's varied influences, both Western and Japanese, to show how he grapples with issues of class hierarchy, consumerism, pollution and nationality in a framework established by the ukiyo-e artisans of nineteenth Century Edo (present-day Tokyo). In my paper, I establish the connection between ukiyo-e woodblock prints, in the context of their production, with the Pop Art movement, as well as the appropriateness of the medium to depict themes of convergent cultures. Specifically, I focus on Teraoka’s depiction of refuse to show the "pollution" McDonald's has brought about in Japan, both in terms of the opening of McDonald’s restaurants on Japanese soil, and changing attitudes and etiquette regarding eating habits
Location
George Wilson Hall
Start Date
6-5-2006 9:00 AM
End Date
6-5-2006 10:45 AM
Pollution in Inner and Outer Spaces: Masami Teraoka's McDonald's Hamburgers Invading Japan, 1974-5
George Wilson Hall
Arriving in Los Angeles from Japan at the height of the Pop Art movement in the 1960s, Masami Teraoka used his art to speak of the interaction between Japanese and Western cultures – the former, viewed as rigid and traditional and the latter, fast-paced and modern. In my paper, I focus on Teraoka's series McDonald's Hamburgers Invading Japan, completed between 1974 and 1975. Composed in watercolor, a Western medium, and made to resemble ukiyo-e woodblock prints, a Japanese medium, the series shows the impact of the American multinational corporation on a post-World War II Japan. I examine Teraoka's varied influences, both Western and Japanese, to show how he grapples with issues of class hierarchy, consumerism, pollution and nationality in a framework established by the ukiyo-e artisans of nineteenth Century Edo (present-day Tokyo). In my paper, I establish the connection between ukiyo-e woodblock prints, in the context of their production, with the Pop Art movement, as well as the appropriateness of the medium to depict themes of convergent cultures. Specifically, I focus on Teraoka’s depiction of refuse to show the "pollution" McDonald's has brought about in Japan, both in terms of the opening of McDonald’s restaurants on Japanese soil, and changing attitudes and etiquette regarding eating habits