When you describe yourself as “cautious” in the middle of such a success story, does that mean you were able to stay calm about it all?Absolutely not. My friends often say stuff like, “Man, you’ve really nailed it as an artist,” but the truth is all I’ve ever done is go with the flow. I did a few exhibitions overseas, did some stuff with Taka Ishii, then did some more with Mary Boone, and was just reaching the point where I felt like if anything else happened I was gonna lose it when another offer rolled in from the Kawamura Memorial DIC Museum of Art. But that’s a big space, so I turned it down at first, saying I wasn’t ready for a museum show. But they persuaded me by telling me I could pull it off if I brought together all of my past work.
That would be your solo exhibition “The Great Circus” from 2014, yes? Was it moving to see your artwork on display in a big hall like that?I did feel a sense of accomplishment, but I wouldn’t say I was moved. I’d done enough to where I didn’t care what people said anymore, and yet I myself was not satisfied, like I felt I could still do better art. That said, I’m the type who has those kinds of regrets after pretty much every project.
It just so happens that this beer cup is a bit of merch I made for that show, an item that I especially love. I actually drew the “Gokita Beer” font by hand. I took inspiration from the early Showa fonts of Asahi and Kirin, and I wrote out the design all big using a ruler copying the techniques they used in those days before shrinking it down to this size. The museum wasn’t happy at first, saying, “This isn’t an izakaya,” but then the cups ended up selling out on the first day and we decided to make more.