takashi murakami says his company faces bankruptcy amid COVID-19

japanese contemporary artist takashi murakami, took to instagram to reveal his company faces bankruptcy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. in a video posted on his personal account, murakami narrated to his two million-plus followers — from a very personal point of view — how he had to cancel various projects, including his passion project, the sequel of the sci-fi jellyfish eyes movie.

filmed on may 23rd, 2020, the 15-minute video clip begins with takashi murakami opening up his heart and studio to the viewers. ‘today’s story is my very heartbreak story,’ he begins. ‘with the sudden swoop of COVID-19, my company faced bankruptcy and I had to give up on a number of projects, the most symbolic of which being the production of my sci-fi feature film, jellyfish eyes part 2: mahashankhn.’

 

 

 

 

 

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This spring, I streamed a series of cooking show of a sort on Instagram Live. I’m sure those who watched them were utterly confused, but I was trying to buoy my own thoroughly sunken feelings through these streamings. With the sudden swoop of COVID-19 pandemic, my company faced bankruptcy and I had to give up on a number of projects, the most symbolic of which being the production of my sci-fi feature film, Jellyfish Eyes Part 2: Mahashankh. For nine long years, I had persevered! It was a film that was to realize my childish dreams! The enormous budget I poured into this project, as well as my tenacious persistence, put a constant and tremendous stress on my company’s operation for the past nine years. But at the same time, I was able to endure various hardships because I had this project. Faced with the current predicament, however, I was persuaded by both my business consultant and tax attorney that I must, simply must try and drastically reduce our business tax by filing the film’s production cost as tax-exempt expenditure. To that end, I am going to produce and release a series of videos to publicly announce the discontinuation of the film’s production. (To be clear, this is an entirely legitimate procedure—I’m not trying to evade tax!) These videos will be released against the backdrop of our struggle to avoid an economic catastrophe, but perhaps it may have a cathartic effect on the viewers/my followers to see the story of stupid Murakami’s failure. Long story short, I’m a silly human being for whom the moment of bliss is when I am thinking my truly childish sci-fi thoughts. I don’t know how many episodes the series will end up being, but a series it will be, so please come along with me on this journey for a little while.

A post shared by Takashi Murakami (@takashipom) on Jun 30, 2020 at 8:02am PDT

a cipher and critic of pop phenomena, murakami is known for his signature flat, colorful paintings of smiling flowers and winking eyes. throughout his career he has been recognized worldwide, specially in the streetwear and fashion circles where he has collaborated with the top designers including dior, virgil abloh, louis vuitton, supreme and comme des garçons, as well as with musicians like kanye west and billie eilish.

murakami, who says ‘I’m a silly human being,’ hopes that by making public his own mistakes, young people won’t repeat them. ‘faced with the current predicament, however, I was persuaded by both my business consultant and tax attorney that I must, simply must try and drastically reduce our business tax by filing the film’s production cost as tax-exempt expenditure,’ he continues.

even though murakami won’t finish the sequel as he had planned it, he wrote that he will be releasing a series of videos to public announce the discontinuation of the film’s production. ‘these videos will be released against the backdrop of our struggle to voice an economic catastrophe, but perhaps it may have a cathartic effect on the viewers/my followers to see the story of stupid murakami’s failure. long story short, I’m a silly human being for whom the moment of bliss is when I am thinking my truly childish sci-fi thoughts.’