Talk:Uranami/@comment-108.88.197.98-20160917155724

"Potato With Anchor", Ink and CGI, 2016*, Shibafu


 * Some parts date from earlier works.

This piece is the newest addition to the museum's collection, donated by noted philanthropist and sadist, Kensuke Tanaka. Although the museum attempted to decline Mr. Tanaka's generous offering, he was insistent that it be added and displayed in a place of prominence in the "Organic Produce in Modern Art Wing". Since Mr. Tanaka has personally funded the construction and extension of that wing, the board felt it would be impossi.. impolite to refuse his request.

The piece itself is a sterling representative of Shibafu's style. The combination of flat organic shapes with lovingly rendered mechanical components is immediately recognizable to anyone aware of his work. A more discerning eye, though, will note the progression of Shibafu's style compared to his earlier works. Most notably, the bland cel shading used on the rigging has been tentatively extended to parts of the organic form, possibly indicating a greater unity between the two opposed subjects of the piece. The vague transfers of light, shadow, and color, all serve to blend the sharp edges of the machinery and make it appear fuzzy, as if viewed from afar, through the lens of time. At the same time, the contrast between vegetable and World War Two era naval technology is somehow more prominent, with the angular mechanical parts serving to emphasize the rounded, shapeless, nature of the potato's head and body. A careful study reveals that the vegetable's torso is highly cylindrical, however, an indication of the everpresent enchroachment of modern technology's order upon the natural world. The roots, in signature Shibafu style, are of nearly even thickness from top to bottom, but in this case the potato's calves are slightly wider than the hips, another indicator of how stable the fusion of the mechanical and organic is becoming. Critics will as usual claim that this creation is a slapped together combination of pre-drawn components from the artist's hard drive, but the planning and creation of such a toolkit would doubtless be antithetical to a visionary of Shibafu's standard. An objective analysis of this work can only conclude that it is perhaps his finest yet, with only "Shriveled Potato in Bikini" as competition for that worthy title. Here at the museum we are proud to display this brand-new Shibafu, and hope that you, the viewer, are as touched by it as we are. Should you be, the bags are to your left, and as a courtesy to other visitors, we ask that you remember to use the complimentary moist towlettes and hand sanitizer after you have cleaned yourself up. Once again, we thank Mr. Tanaka for his generous donation, and his lucr-... valued patronage.