A collection of Aida Makoto’s artworks called “Monument for Nothing” is currently on show at the Mori Art Museum. However, the paintings and drawings making up the collection is garnering controversy with their depictions of S&M and cannibalism. The Japanese organization called People Against Pornography and Sexual Violence wrote to museum director Nanjo Fumio demanding for the removal of the images which are sexual and misogynistic.
In an interview, Fumio defended Makoto’s works by saying that they are “not so bad compared to manga and anime on the Internet.” He states that they are a depiction of the hidden aspect of the current society–one that the public refuse to acknowledge. He said that the aim of the images is to make the viewer question violence in every form, and not to celebrate it. The collection includes images of Japanese retirees playing croquet with severed heads, an oversized blender filled with naked women, a suicide device designed to always fail, and a kamikaze attack on New York–painted prior to the September 21, 2011 terrorist attacks.
Makoto says that his inspiration in his works for this lot was derived from comic books, prostitution ads, the Marquis de Sade, and perhaps most notable of all, the Japanese writer who committed ritual seppuku (suicide by disembowelment) in 1970, Yukio Mishima. His supporters defend the artist’s works and said that pornography is just a device he uses to provoke viewers to reexamine the Japanese society and see what lies beneath the seemingly placid surface.
