Retro digital aesthetics meets analog techniques in the ceramic sculptures of Toshiya Masuda. The Japanese artist fuses low-resolution, pixelated imagery with quotidian objects from a similar time in pop culture history.
Retro digital aesthetics meets analog techniques in the ceramic sculptures of Toshiya Masuda. The Japanese artist fuses the low-resolution, pixelated imagery associated with early virtual worlds with quotidian objects from a similar time in pop culture history. By melding the two disparate forms, Masuda creates what he calls an ‘image gap,’ an uncanny feeling in which the unreal is made tactile.
Retro digital aesthetics meets analog techniques in the ceramic sculptures of Toshiya Masuda. The Japanese artist, known for his previous works, combines low-resolution, pixelated imagery with everyday objects from the past. Using painted clay, Masuda creates sculptures of a bright red boombox, cassette tape, high-top Converse shoes, and a Polaroid camera with a crinkled photo emerging from its slot. This collision of two different worlds gives Masuda’s sculptures a nostalgic and youthful vibe, reflecting the evolution of technology and our growing reliance on devices.
In an interview with designboom, Masuda shares his perspective as part of a generation that witnessed the rise of computers, smartphones, and tablets, recalling the dawn of the digital age. He emphasizes the importance of expressing the times in which he lives through his artwork. To further understand Masuda’s creative process and thinking, a short film by Keiko Art International captures his journey.
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