This competition has now been held several times; with each competition, one looks at the works entered and notes the flow of ideas present, and it is here that one realizes that there is no hesitation, no faltering in this wave of ideas. While those who are on the judging side probably have their own reasons, I myself sense a certain kind of familiarity or habituation with respect to ideas. In other words, perhaps the MUJI way of thinking has experienced a complete about face; perhaps it is ascribable to our understanding of society as we see it today, or perhaps it is our sense of the times. If I were to put forth my own philosophy, without a slight sense of things not feeling right, or without a different perspective - that is to say, without any kind of hesitation or faltering, the overall appeal of something cannot be maintained, and things go downhill…and MUJI is the same. The concept of MUJI now is not unequivocal. Its frontiers reverberate as it strives to expand. What I want to see is statements aimed at those frontiers.
When we were children, straws were made of straw. After that, they were probably paper pipes finished in wax - I remember thinking that those new straws were just beautiful. But we’re not reminiscing about those days; "straw" in the context of our lives today is different to what it was then - it now has a very striking existence. We ourselves have changed. Pinch this "Straw straw" between your fingers. The slightly pleasant feel seems to convey what this item has become today.
- Kenya Hara
- Kazuko Koike
- Takashi Sugimoto
- Naoto Fukasawa