Ocean & Art — How the story of the Lonely Whale impacted graphic artist Kenzo Minami
As part of Lonely Whale Foundation’s ongoing artist collaborations, graphic artist Kenzo Minami interpreted the story of the 52 hertz whale in his unique style.
Originally from Hyogo, Japan, Kenzo graduated from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Product Design after majoring in literature and western philosophy in Japan. Before he established himself as a graphic designer and an artist, he started his career as a set and prop designer for TV broadcast networks, which led him to work in the field of TV advertisement and music videos as a motion graphic designer and an art director, working with clients ranging from Coca-Cola to Wu-Tang Clan.
Read on to hear how the story of “52” led him to create his unique piece: Lonely Whale x Kenzo Minami.
How did the message of Lonely Whale effect your design?
I wanted to design and emulate the feeling of the sound wave that the 52 hertz whale creates as well as show how its attempt for communication is trapping the whale itself. The whale’s own uniqueness creates the almost caged-like feeling of loneliness, an isolated existence.
I also wanted to make sure that the whale represented the globe — the idea that the whole earth, and ecosystem itself, is trying to communicate to us but not quite succeeding in reminding us that our earth is in dire need for help.
Do you think the story of the Lonely Whale is one that resonates with artists? With people living in New York City?
Definitely. The fact and the idea that the Lonely Whale has its own unique language and method of communication resonates with artists since that’s what artists essentially do — come up with our own unique customized languages and ways of communications through art. We spend our whole lives trying to invent our own unusual frequencies and different pitches through our work. Art and the communication through it is a social activity but its creation and process can be quite isolating. And, contradictorily, I think a lot of artists are born from and driven by our yearning to communicate and reach out to others, so the story of the Lonely Whale really resonates with artists.
The more special and unique you, your art, and your life become, as much as it is great, freeing, and what we strive for, also makes it much harder to find peers who can empathize and relate to your uniqueness. And this can be lonely.
Artist or not, I think that’s how all of us feel in general and that lonely uniqueness is strongly amplified in the large and multicultural city that is New York.
We also live in the age of communication, and we put value (as well as actual money) on all the social networking. That seems to be top priority among people now and people seem to be yearning for it, so the story of this Lonely Whale is something everyone can strongly identify with.
It’s often forgotten that New York City is coastal. Living and working here, does the ocean play a role in your life?
The longer I live here, the more I am reminded and became aware that we are surrounded by the water and live near the ocean. I have lived here more than half of my life, but especially in recent years, we see and experience the climate change directly affecting our lives, and the change in ocean’s behavior especially seems to be evident. We now have storm every summer and my neighborhood in Lower East Side near the water gets flooded.
The beach and ocean are also very accessible to New Yorkers and we integrate them into our everyday life. In the summer, a lot of us take subways to beaches. I even have some friends who go to surf in the morning before they go to offices for work!
What is your first memory of the ocean?
When I was little, my family used to go and stay at my grandparent’s country house in the summer every year. This was our moment when a lot of our relatives gathered for a few weeks, so I got to hang out with my brother and cousins all day everyday, running around the countryside right near the ocean. Since we were at a pretty remote area, there were no one else at the nearby beach except our family and it was very clean without any pollution. It had pristine white dunes and clear blue water. This is my first memory of the ocean — I remember lying on the beach and felt very safe with all my family members around me. Feeling protected and loved. I think I always associate the ocean with the feeling of comfort, because I associate the ocean with the idea of family from this memory.
Do you have a favorite artist that uses water, or the ocean, in their work?
I like how David Hockney paints water and how the light dances through it in those swimming pool paintings. I also like how the action-packed water and wave is expressed in very 2 dimensional Ukiyo-e by Hokusai among others, as well as how Monet paints serene water surface. And if I can include filmmakers, I love how Tarkovsky shoots and uses water and ocean in poetic and symbolic ways as well as Hayao Miyazaki draw his water in such a expressive manner as if to reflect the psychological states of protagonists as well as where the emotional arch of the story is. As a matter of fact, seeing these artists’ works side by side is always a great reminder of infinite possibilities of artistic expressions. Especially through how artists express water and how they use it in context of their works, you really see the variety in how we see the world and how we express our emotional reactions to it.
Also as a side story regarding water in art and Hayao Miyazaki — A while back, when I was having an early mid-career crisis of sorts and questioning why I do what I do creatively speaking, I saw this particular sequence of one of his films which triggered something in me. It was the “wave scene” of the film “Ponyo.” When I saw this scene, where the almost 70 year-old (at the time) creator showed us something so new, creative, and cutting-edge — things us young ones really should be doing — I felt like I was being asked “What’s there for you, the young kid, to wonder?” which helped me snap out of wondering as well as stop being scared, and start to just do. The same advice Eva Hesse in her time of questioning received from Sol Le Witt through his letter of advice for her on self-doubt and being an artist. I started to simply making things again.
And thing was, it was not exactly the movie or its story which moved me, but this one specific sequence of waves, completely independent from other parts of the film, moved me to tears and woke me up. It was the flash of the moment when I could see the creator behind it at his desk, diligently drawing — it was his never-ending creativity, determination, insatiable effort to do better, and desire to create something new showing through the scene, saved me at the time.
How do you think art can create empathy for our ocean?
By simply showing how beautiful and giving our ocean is, but also by creating something to remind ourselves that it is an unique and a rare thing this ocean we are gifted with as far as our neighboring planets go — so we won’t be taking it for granted. Not every planet has one.
Kenzo Minami’s designs and artworks have been commissioned by Mercedes-Benz, Raf Simons, Ace Hotel, Microsoft, Nike, Reebok, Converse, Eastpak, MTV, VH1, Sharp, Smart Car, Kidrobot, Nepenthes New York, Isetan, Kose, Hankyu, among many others as well as multiple gallery shows and publications. One of his work was a part of the exhibition at Museum of Modern Art (New York) and has been inducted into MoMA Architecture and Design permanent collection.
Kenzo lives and works in New York City. Learn more about his work here and follow Kenzo on Instagram.
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