Anti-Art and “Descent to the Everyday” Considered through the Figure of Harufumi Hirokawa

As an Extended Interpretation of Miyagawa(1964a)

Abstract

This study aims to consider, through the personality of Harufumi Hirokawa, the movement known as Anti-Art and “Descent to the Everyday,” which is advocated by critic Atsushi Miyagawa.

Anti-Art is a movement originated around the year 1960 in Japan; it sought new ways of expression for denying traditional styles such as tableau and sculpture. “Descent to the Everyday” is a term used by Miyagawa in his analysis of the movement and refers to the idea that art has become vulgar and banal.

This study adds new interpretations to this movement and phenomenon by reconsidering the movement and the term mentioned above through the personality of Hirokawa. Hirokawa covered an interesting position because, while he had been involved in important activities and situations related to the Anti-Art movement, he was not an artist. The following results are found by considering Anti-Art and “Descent to the Everyday” through the lens of this figure.

The first interpretation focuses on the fact that the person who reached to the last phase of the Anti-Art movement was not an artist belonging to Anti-Art groups such as “Neo Dadaism Organizers” or “Hi-Red Center”, but it was Hirokawa who was almost an amateur at art.

Secondly, in addition to the idea that art had descended into ordinariness, artists and artistic activities also became vulgar and banal.