Desire: The Influence of Japanese Manga

Abstract

Within the context of art, desire as a universal condition has been investigated in many genres, including film, literature, fine art, comic books, and video games. Interestingly, there are a number of contemporary visual artists born in the seventies and early eighties resurrecting the topic of desire through the visual appropriation of Japanese manga and anime. This paper will underline how the subsequent influence of the exposure to Japanese popular cultural manga and other forms of anime during childhood have contributed to Eastern and Western contemporary art practices. The morphing of Japanese manga inspired images with Western symbolism, demonstrates the cultural mixing that artists have been exposed to in their upbringing. This investigation will formulate how the concept and appropriated visual forms of Japanese manga and anime used by relevant artists best question desire. The surrealists' believed that desire had the ability to transform new ways of seeing the world, and no doubt this impact is evident in the current works of Japanese artist Aya Takano, Chinese artist Cao Fei, and Australian artist Ghost Patrol. This study will be used to inform my own approach in expressing notions of desire in my own visual language, highlighting iconographic characters' experiences with unfulfilled desires within the narratives.