Rebellious roots in the Hi-Red Center

The secret art of useless things

Chapter 1

The birth of the useless masterpiece

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Chapter 2

Cataloging the bizarre categories of Tomasson

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Chapter 3

The court case that shook Japanese art

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Chapter 4

Spotting hyperart in the wild today

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YOUR GOAL

Master of The secret art of useless things

Ch 3 · The court case that shook Japanese art

Qué locura protestar en Tokio 1964 limpiando calles con cepillos de dientes.

choko Qué locura protestar en Tokio 1964 limpiando calles con cepillos de dientes.

Fun Fact

Katsuhiko Otsuji: Bajo este seudónimo, el artista Genpei Akasegawa ganó el premio Akutagawa en 1981, tras el polémico juicio artístico de los billetes de mil yenes.

choko Model 1,000-Yen Note Trial

They put our art on trial, so we turned the courtroom into a gallery!

choko The thousand-yen note trial of 1963

From criminal trial to award-winning novelist

choko Following his guilty verdict, Akasegawa adopted a pen name and won Japan's most prestigious literary award.

Fun Fact

Courtroom performance: During his 1,000-yen trial, Akasegawa's supporters turned the courtroom into an art gallery, hanging avant-garde paintings on the walls.

Rebellious roots in the Hi-Red Center

choko Akasegawa co-founded Hi-Red Center, an avant-garde group that staged absurd public performances to challenge societal norms.

Glossary

trial (noun)
A formal examination of evidence by a judge to decide guilt in a criminal or civil case. Genpei Akasegawa's 1966 trial for currency imitation challenged Japanese legal boundaries regarding what constitutes art.

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Quiz

Under what pseudonym did Genpei Akasegawa write novels, winning the prestigious Akutagawa Prize in 1981?

Gossip

Was Akasegawa's currency art actually counterfeiting?

The Thousand-Yen Toy

BETA

choko Choose valuable or valueless objects to discover Akasegawa's Hyperart: Tomasson insights.

choko The philosophy of observation over creation

Quiz

How did Genpei Akasegawa's legal battles with the Japanese government influence his later art philosophy?

choko Rebellious roots in the Hi-Red Center

Quiz

What was the name of the prize-winning short story written by Akasegawa under his literary pen name?

Quiz

What absurd public action did Hi-Red Center perform in Tokyo during the 1964 Olympic Games?

Quiz

Which radical 1960s Japanese avant-garde art group did Genpei Akasegawa co-found?

Quiz

In 1963, Genpei Akasegawa printed monochromatic reproductions of which currency note, leading to a famous trial?

Quiz

What was the verdict in Genpei Akasegawa's high-profile currency reproduction trial in 1967?

Quiz

What was the central debate during Genpei Akasegawa's 'Model 1,000-Yen Note Incident' trial?