A fantastic and rare look at the work of one of the most unique artists from Japan – Makoto Aida. If you are a fan of Aida’s work, this New People Artist Series DVD is a no-brainer… Highly recommended!
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TITLE: New People Artist Series 005: Makoto Aida – Cynic in the Playground
DURATION: 100 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: 4:3, Color, Dolby Digital
RATED: NOT RATED
COMPANY: Viz Pictures
RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2010
Directed by Yusuke Tamari
Producer: Hiromi Makepeace
Starring
Makoto Aida
Known for his diverse and controversial works in various media, Makoto Aida shares his work and private life as he creates his “Human Project” and “Shinjuku Castle.” Through his creative process his unique character surfaces.
NOTE: I have linked some of the artwork mentioned in this review to his work and it’s not safe for a working environment.
Makoto Aida, possibly the most risque artists featured in the “New People Artist Series” DVD collection thus far.
Aida is a contemporary artist known for his exhibits on dark cynicism and tackling controversial subjects using lowbrow humor through his paintings. May it be subjects on terrorism, pedophilia, social mysogyny, Aida is not afraid to take it on in his paintings.
If you look online at his various works of art, there is one with a naked woman who has lost her hands, legs and feet, crawling with a dog leash around her neck and approaching a snowman that has pee on it or “Dog (Moon)” featuring the same female character.
Another titled “Giant Member Fuji vs. King Gidora” which features a young, giant woman laying on Japan with King Gidorah eating her intestines and going through her pubic region. Another painting features feces (aka “Space Shit”) flying through space or another with flies eating feces.
His detail in his artwork is quite amazing. For example, his work on “Harakiri School Girls” featuring school girls with smiles on their faces and using a sword to commit harakiri to his highly detailed work on “Air Raid on New York City“, Blender and AZEMICHI.
The more you look at his work, what is surprising is how different he can make each work of art look. From one that looks so fully detailed to another that is just watercolors and childlike. In other words, you never know what you’re going to get from Makoto Aida.
And his work goes beyond paintings, also in video. Needless to say, he is regarded as a unique artist, controversial artist and what better to spotlight his life than with a special New People Artist Series DVD.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“New People Artist Series 005: Makoto Aida – Cynic in the Playground” is a documentary featured in 4:3 Anamorphic Widescreen. For a documentary, picture quality is a clear and colorful look into the artist’s world as it is shot in digital.  There are some older video footage featured not using digital but featured as art.
Audio is in Dolby Digital and dialogue is heard clearly and English subtitles are easy to read.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“New People Artist Series 005: Makoto Aida – Cynic in the Playground” comes with no special features but trailers for upcoming New People Artist Series and a two-page insert is included. Inside is a two-page writeup of Aida’s work and career.
For anyone who is familiar with Makoto Aida’s work, you can’t help but be excited to see this DVD because for a man to create such humorously dark artwork, you wonder how he is behind-the-scenes.
And in the first five minutes of the DVD, we see an interesting side of Aida. From crossdressing, to painting in a trash-filled room, to showcasing his artwork, photography and even video work. In one video, he is seen silent calling (ala prank calling) people all over the world for 24-hours straight.
But the DVD gives us a glimpse of Makoto Aida working and painting a project and also various exhibits showcasing his work. The second half of the DVD features Aida and his staff getting things prepared for an exhibit in Paris. He creates a tower out of paper and then wants to recreate it using cardboard pieces and much more. In fact, even after all the credits are done, there is even more of Aida’s humor included. Including a video titled “Mutant Hanako”.
I have to say that “New People Artist Series 005: Makoto Aida – Cynic in the Playground” is a unique DVD, especially compared to the previous four DVD releases from New People. Not only do we get to see his artwork in progress, Aida’s humor is inviting and doesn’t mind the camera following him. He’s a guy that has fun and does things his own way. It’s definitely interesting the various parts of his social life on this DVD, he’s a very active guy, speaking to the public, a family man but also busy with his work. There is so much featured in this DVD, I was a bit surprised.
Typically, most New People Artist Series DVD tend to focus on the artist, the making of a project and working with their team for an exhibition. This DVD goes beyond that as we see Aida in various settings and various clips from his video work as well.
I have to say that I was surprised of his studio working area. It was a bit messy with trash all over the place, but I suppose that every artist has their own style and how things are organized (or not organized in this case) around their studio. But it all comes down to the final product and in this case, Aida is an artist that is well-proven to the point that his supported by art related media, newspapers, general interest publication and media despite his form of radicalism through his artwork.
It’s important to note that the DVD does feature nudity, as there is short piece of Aida showcasing his nude bodypainting and also some of his artwork is graphic.
Overall, Aida is just a unique and exciting artist and the fact that we can get a glimpse of his life through this DVD is fantastic. If you are a fan of Makoto Aida’s work, “New People Artist Series 005: Makoto Aida – Cynic in the Playground” is highly recommended!