It's 6 p.m., it's the end of the work day at a busy Kanda office block. OLs have been furiously tapping away at their keyboards, and connections have been made in the meeting rooms. Power players in their suits have been clinching make-or-break, win-win deals. Suddenly, the doors of the elevator open and out steps a half-naked man in a beetle outfit. He walks around nonchalantly, greeting everyone with a smile as a Cuban cigar dangles out the side of his mouth. Some people, genuinely amused, are laughing; others are aghast. What is this lunatic up to? For Masahiro Fukuyama, of course, it's art.
Fukuyama, 29, is a self-described trash/glam artist of "meaningless kitsch." Born in Kumamoto, western Kyushu, to a family of doctors, and schooled at the Tokyo National University of Art and Music and Benetton's coveted Fabrica design department, he makes a living as a designer but seemingly spends most of his time on his true passion: creating useless objects.
"I adore the futile and love to avoid making normal things -- the world would be a boring and inorganic place if only worthwhile things existed. My main interest is in making muda no mono [pointless things] and bakagu [stupid furniture]."
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