Layering Investigation

Layering Investigation

Takashi Murakami Investigation

I'm going to be analyzing Takashi Murakami's piece called, Flower Superflat, made in 2004. In this piece he, uses layering with his well-known flower design, to create a bunch of different emotions. Takashi Murakami is considered to be a "superflat" artist and tries to create higher meaning behind just a single flower. By layering on the flower on top of one another, it creates multiple sense of meaning, and a more complex definition. I feel that Takashi Murakami is trying to create a sense of almost overwhelming amount of layering, that you don't know which flower to focus on. You search throughout the painting to find which layer is above another, or which layer is beneath another. This sense of trying to find where each flower is, really make the viewer get into the painting, trying to explore the painting. Instead of typically looking at a piece, and admiring it, this piece makes you try to focus in harder than what you typically would. Making the viewer become more wrapped into what they are seeing, almost as if it were a puzzle. I believe Takashi Murakami is trying to make the viewer to become engrossed by what they are seeing, and really see this as something else, not just layers of flowers stack on one another.  Furthermore, each flower contains a different design, which adds more depth and meaning into the piece of art. Overall, I think that the layering of the flowers, and the different colors that accompany it create a more complex meaning and emotions to it.

What Have I Learned About Layering?

I have learned that Layering is what to add more meaning into your art and create a multitude of emotions. Layering is a something that, to me, is like a puzzle, that you want to find out what is really going on inside the painting or canvas. It's like you to explore the painting, then just to admire it. With layering, it may seem more confusing and disorganized, but the result may bring something that is complex in its meaning. 

How Do Contemporary Artists Use The Concept Of Layering In Their Art?

In the same way that Takashi Murakami created his piece to create a more complex meaning and a multitude of emotions, other artists do the same. They may use it to not just do what Takashi Murakami did, but to make a statement. You could layer on a bunch of political papers on a certain subject, in order to make a statement. If the artist just pasted one paper on the canvas, it would have a dull meaning and impact. If the artist were to paste multiple papers onto the canvas, a more impactful and sense of understand would be achieved.

How Might I Be Able To Use Layering In My Art?

One way that I think that I can use layering in my art, is to show the composition of my product. Show the device or object come together, then this way, people who view the product will see something more complex. They will not just see as possibly something that is a rectangular prism with a screen on it. They will see it as a culmination of components, that are optimized to be placed with and within each other, to create a final design. When they will be able to see all of those component, then they will be able to understand at a deeper level, and find more value in my art. This way people came come to better appreciate my art and how much work goes into something that will create something that may be of need to them.

Is There Something Interesting That Inspired You?

Layering has opened up possibilities that I haven't really thought of yet, but now I can utilize them in my work. I plan to now show how my industrial design comes together to make a product, so that the viewer can enjoy and understand what goes into what I do. I plan to make something, will have many components, adding to the complexity of the project, creating a deeper meaning. Layering has inspired me to think more about the meaning of the object, and how it's meaning can be deepened, by adding more concepts on top of one another. Layering will bring more than just an object out of my work, it will create something that is not one dimensional, but consists of something that is greater. I hope that my art will show complexity of something that I have created, and I want to create something that will be of benefit to someone. Not just something that someone can gaze at, thinking that it looks really cool, or see it as just things that stacked on top of each other. I want my creations to be something that you put into your hand or experience. My creations will be multi-dimensional where the person experiencing my art, will always find something new about it. It will be where they can't just look at it and know everything about it, but they must use it and move things around to completely know my art. The user experiencing my art must dive themselves into it and learn what is truly going on. My thought on layers is that you cannot just see every layer, but there are layers that are hidden behind another layer, that you must search for. You must pick each layer and see if there is a layer underneath it, and if so, what is it, and is there even another layer below that. My goal is to create art with layering, where layers are hidden, and the user much explore my art in a way not typically thought of as art.