”Dialog between youngsters” Interview Series №2
The secret recipe to exciting the world. 《SUPERMARKET KAKAMU》
This is the second article to my series on young creators. We interviewed Masanari Kakaｍu, the owner of “Supermarket Kakamu,” an iconic art project themed on food.
▼About Supermarket Kakamu?
Supermarket Kakamu is an art project themed on food. Under their motto of, “The Supermarket Filled with Your Excitement,” the project’s aim is to provide the world with unseen excitement. Supermarket Kakamu is open 24–7 in aim to deliver 100 pieces of food art.
Supermarket Kakamu is, “The proving grounds for memory art”
Ko: What inspired you to this art project themed on food, “Supermarket Kakamu?”
Kakamu: There is a specific reason to why food was chosen as the theme. A common methodology has been applied to all the work — in other words, there’s a set Supermarket Kakamu recipe that is being tested with different foods.
The fundamental part of this recipe is memory. “Shared Memory” is critical when creating art that leverages people’s memory, or else it doesn’t work. When we were thinking of an element that everyone will have some form of memory of… it clicked. Of course, food. Apples are red, grapes are purple. Food is in fact, a vessel that carries a vast amount of common information. That is how food was chosen to be the perfect theme to prove my memory art.
“Purin Chorus” — the non-verbal communication of the excitement in puddings
Kakamu: For example, we have an artwork called, “Purin Chorus” which uses puddings as a motif. There is a shared perception of puddings right? Such as its wobbly texture or the ratio of the yellow pudding and the brown caramel on top. We integrated that memory together with a chorus in this piece of work. We thought singing was a good combination with the fun and happiness puddings offer. So this artwork combines the memory of a “Wobbly pudding swaying” with a “Singing and swaying chorus.” When you connect iconic memories of two completely different things, an effective non-verbal expression such as the symbolic pudding, becomes possible.
Ko: I feel that art is usually quite selective of its audience. However your works can be viewed and enjoyed by many. Is that your focus?
Kakamu: Yes, we are quite conscious of that. Our aim is to “Excite everyone in the world.” The thing is, we don’t want to just show individual pieces of work created from one-off inspiration. We want to improve the affinity of Supermarket Kakamu’s secret recipe with a broad range of foods and audience, rather than coming up with ideas that may not work twice. Once we lock down this secret recipe, we can resonate with more and more people.
What’s important when brushing up the recipe, is to ensure that everything is non-verbal. Language differs according to country or region. Therefore, communication dependent on words cannot convey a message to its entirety. However, if we can tap into people’s memories, it’s innate and intuitive, allowing an expression that connects beyond words. To provide the entire world with excitement, shared memory is a critical factor.
“Finding the right distance” is key in generating excitement
Kakamu: One thing we keep in mind is the understanding that the obvious doesn’t work for all. For example, even if we make a ball shaped like an apple, a ball and apple are both round and are very close to one another — this is an obvious match that would not excite people. The balance of the distance between two objects is what creates the excitement. Excitement comes with the discovery of a commonality between two objects you’ve never correlated before.
As the creator, we must design this distance that creates excitement. We need to ensure that the two elements in our work integrates and clicks the moment audience sees it.
For example, see this this edamawear. You can just look at the visual and understand that there’s an edamame soybean shaped glasses inside a bean pod-like case. Just like this, we want people to be able to instantly understand our work and explain it to others. We want to generate more and more things that work like this.
A Supermarket is a place that offers different types of excitement
Kakamu: As the project name states, we also have a mission as a supermarket. Supermarkets are a place that offers an abundant line-up of products. Once upon a time, vegetables were only available at the greengrocer and meat was only available at the butcher. The supermarket put everything into one place and that was the value it offered. We want Supermarket Kakamu to do the same.
If we are to call ourselves a supermarket, our work needs to cross different categories and we have to offer an abundant line-up of work. Every work shouldn’t be a poster or a song. The theme of food and our secret recipe idea are a given, but the challenge is how many different categories of work can we deliver to the world from Supermarket Kakamu. That’s something we are conscious of.
Ko: I see. So ultimately, your vision is to have 100 works of a completely different nature.
Kakamu: That’s right — To generate different types of excitement.
The passion to fill 《Supermarket Kakamu》 with high-resolution visions
Our conversation moves on and now we’re touching on creativity and the costs of creativity.
Kakamu: When you’re an artist, people tend to avoid the topic of money, but money and creativity come hand in hand. Even if you have an idea, you can’t generate something without money. On the other hand, even if you have the money, you can’t make anything unless you have a vision or an idea. What we can do now as young creators, is to create visions.
Putting more and more high resolution visions into this platform of 《Supermarket Kakamu》 — that is our highest priority at the moment. Of course, money is important but we can worry about money later. It’s not about the money at the moment.
Ko: I see, so your current mission is to provide the world with high resolution visions through your art project, Supermarket Kakamu?
Kakamu: Indeed. And these high resolution visions are made from this secret recipe of Supermarket Kakamu. Memory plays a vital part in expressing this, and a vessel of memories called food is important.
Having a tangible item makes it easier for people to understand what we am trying to express, but if the vision is clear, expression is possible without using items. But for now, our focus is to create as many vivid visions as much as possible.
Afterthoughts — Monologue of the writer
When I first saw the artwork in Supermarket Kakamu, I recall it swept me off my feet with its cheeky cuteness. However, after actually spending time talking with the creator, I realized that this cuteness or cheekiness was not made of accident, but have been designed based on a well thought-through process to deliver the finest balance.
Not all artists are able work to this much detail, but all artists are in creativity with some form of mission in heart. Supermarket Kakamu has transformed ideas into a recipe while keeping a sense of objectivity. This approach probably was established through their determination to seriously fulfill their goal of, “Exciting the whole world.”
Personally, I can’t wait for the day Supermarket Kakamu is filled with 100 vivid visions.
▼Supermarket Kakamu
・Official Website: https://www.supermarketkakamu.jp/
・Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supermarketkakamu/
Writer: Fumiyu Ko / Editor: Emiko Sawaguchi / Translator:Chiaki Kobayashi
Photographer: Shuichi Ikeda
