SHINKICHI TAJIRI
MACHINES
"I am anxious over the frightening technological developments that aid men in evolving and perfecting the means and machines of executing legalized murder under the name of war."
- Shinkichi Tajiri
In 1964 Tajiri decided to update the Warrior theme and made a series of eight large Machines inspired by Formula 1 racing cars, jet planes and space travel. He meant them to be a protest against the excessive amounts of money spent by governments to wage hot and cold wars. Unfortunately, due to their elegance they were often misinterpreted as glorification of the military.
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text: S. Tajiri, Autobiographical notations, Kempen Publishers, 1993
photo above: © Erhard Wehrmann, Baarlo 1966
Messing, bronze, h. 180 cm Collection: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Brass, aluminium, 325 x 180 x 77 cm Collection: Museum Het Valkhof Nijmegen
Steel, aluminium, plexiglas, h. 343 cm Collection Cnap (Centre national des arts plastiques), Paris
Steel, aluminium, plexiglas, l. 90 cm Collection JK Art Foundation Photo at the exhibition 'The World of Manga', World Art museum, Rotterdam 2013
Steel, aluminium, plexiglas, iron 175 x 78 x 225 cm Collection: Instituut Collectie Nederland Long-term loan Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen
Steel, aluminium, plexiglass, l. 300 cm Collection: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Steel, aluminium, 376 x 62 x 185 cm Collection: Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen
Steel, aluminium, h. 320 cm Collection: Tate Modern, London, UK
Steel, aluminium, h. 458 cm Collection: DAF Museum, Eindhoven