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Supervisor
For the exhibition "The Original"
It has become difficult to identify what an original is. We can be sure what it is not - imitation, copy, homage or influence. Among these "influence" stands apart as not implying conscious mimicry, and yet it is impossible to escape influence. What people unconsciously feel themselves drawn towards is what we here call The Original. The power of The Original is such that it attracts. It is next to impossible to conceptualize a design that is not in some way indebted to The Original. The Original exerts influence, giving rise to trend, and so swiftly proliferating.
The above sequence is the norm. However, some Originals prove resistant to emulation. They possess an originality so intense that their shapes cannot be borrowed. Such Originals represent true excellence in design. Most, it must be said, were created about the same time as the word "design" came into being. Today we have moved on. As a society we have grown indifferent to design. People scarcely care what The Original is and what is the imitation. That state is because we are no longer sufficiently invested in the high quality entailed by The Original. I thought this a tragedy, and so planned the present exhibition.
I want visitors to feel how wonderful The Original can be. I want people to share my excitement.
Design tools have evolved dramatically so that anyone can produce beautiful lines and forms. This proliferation risks copy-and-paste jobs that take design down blind alleys.
Let's learn how amazing The Original is! Let's admit not just that we are influenced by such pieces, but let's be jealous of them! The greatest masters and regular people live to the same age, so let all of us use our time to create wonderful Originals for the future.
This is why we title this exhibition "The Original." It is fun, I believe, to search out something to which you can rightfully give that label.
Naoto Fukasawa