If you’re like me, then you certainly love gazing at a piece of modern art while sipping white wine out of a vinegar dispenser with a wilted rose floating inside. But if you’re one of those weirdos who doesn’t, then you may wonder why this pair of granny panties soaking in a teapot is on sale with an asking price of 1,081,728 yen (US$8,753).
This artwork is the creation of Masa Samurai, a former animation art director who worked on the Detective Conan (a.k.a. Case Closed) television series for a time. In more recent years he became interested in contemporary art with panties acting as his muse.
Who could forget his feel good hit of 2013: “Pants48?”
In 2014, Masa Samurai stole our hearts again with the haunting beauty of his 2014 opus “Pants Orchestra®?”
This time, however, Samurai is tackling the very issues of our existence with his latest work BBA No PanTea. This work is a pair of granny panties that Samurai purchased at a local supermarket placed inside a teapot. Since tea would spoil over time, he used brown candle gel instead.
I’m sure we all know the social commentary that this object represents, but let’s hear directly from Samurai himself on the meaning behind BBA No PanTea.
Impermanence is an optimistic Buddhist view that I read in some book. Ultimately everything in this world is impermanent. All that exists now must return to dust and become one with the land. It is inevitable. It is a part of our existence! It is what drives our love and compassion. I think this perception is very nice.
I myself have a wife and four children. My children are noisy everyday but they’re very cute, and my wife is also friendly. I feel my life is really happy every day. But this life is not forever. From the time we are brought into this world we carry death with us. We are all facing death and the time will come when we return to the dust.
When I think of this, it just becomes painful and sad. However, simply being pessimistic makes no sense. Everyone is aging and we will all greet death the same. Even in my thirties, I find it harder to lose weight. I strangely get tired more easily. In the morning my mouth is stickier. I find that I prefer yakiniku more and more. There is no doubt that I am receiving my baptism of old age. Day-by-day it’s the old man phenomenon. It continues.
However, I am grateful for this moment I have right now in which I am living fully. This is what I think. And BBA No PanTea represents such impermanence, so drink it away! That is the meaning of this work. Why don’t you take a tea-break with the contemporarily healing of BBA No PanTea?
[Masa Samurai]
Bet you’ll never look at a pair of panties in a teapot the same way again, eh? Actually, you’ll probably never see it any way again. Like all things, BBA No PanTea will not be around forever, so you better head down to @Gallery Tagboat and pick one up today!
▼ The glass is also signed by Masa Samurai
Also, if you’d like to join our petition to have Masa Samurai perform “Pants Orchestra®” at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, sign up in the comments section below.
Source: @Gallery Tagboat via Netlab (Japanese)
Videos: YouTube – Masa Samurai