Returned to a Slightly Different Dimension

KitamuraPerhaps because you are a woman, but all your works are abnormal yet not grotesque. It's as if the erotic and the abnormal are fused in a good way.

AnrakujiAs President Nobu just mentioned, it's essentially a state of low-grade fever.

KitamuraLike a recurring low fever.

AnrakujiExactly.

KitamuraBut it's not rock bottom. It doesn't feel like you've fallen all the way down.

AnrakujiI think I might have hit rock bottom once, and then returned, but not to my previous self. It feels like I've moved to a different dimension. As if the dimension itself has shifted to a low-fever space.

KitamuraIt feels a little frightening, doesn't it? There's a sense of fear, somewhat mysterious, that captures a childlike sensibility.

Even the Staff That Should Be Great Is Unreliable to Me

KitamuraThe staff, which appears in the concept, is also symbolic, isn't it?

AnrakujiA staff, in its original sense, is something held by village elders or witches, a rather special object, isn't it? I've also read that someone said, 'A staff is a tool that connects heaven and earth.' But even such a supposedly great staff is unreliable to me; that's the image I have.

KitamuraEven though it's supposed to be a magic staff...

AnrakujiYes. For me, in this low-fever space with a disturbed magnetic field, it's still insufficient. Even with the staff, the fever doesn't subside. On the other hand, it also implies that I have no choice but to continue creating, relying on that staff. Sometimes I worship it, sometimes I scorn it... Do you know the Monolith from the movie '2001: A Space Odyssey'? That is the true form of the stick, but my staff is somehow unbalanced in its power.

KitamuraIn the past, when I experienced sleep paralysis, I would hear voices whispering in my ear, and if I opened my eyes for a moment, I'd see many small people, which was very frightening. Anrakuji's work evokes a similar feeling to those moments.

AnrakujiEveryone has experiences like that, don't they?

KitamuraDuring those low-fever states, I always found myself drawn into the television. In silence, I would enter the intricate network of thin cords. And the deeper I went, the more tangled the lines became.

AnrakujiStrangely, those patterns are always the same, aren't they?

KitamuraYes, yes. And with sleep paralysis, I can sense it coming even before it happens. Like, 'Ah, here it comes,' you know?



AnrakujiThat's right. But once you know, there's no escape. Including those experiences, I believe the roots of all my work lie in early childhood experiences. As I mentioned earlier, that's how I started taking photos, but the source of my creativity goes back to even earlier experiences.

KitamuraI see. Thank you so much for sharing such wonderful insights today.

AnrakujiI imagine many people might dislike my work, but conversely, those who truly connect with it seem to love it, regardless of age or gender. Talking with you today, I realized that you, President Nobu, are also one of 'our kind,' and that made me very happy. Thank you.





information
Emi Anrakuji designed original goods made by Hysteric Glamour are currently available in limited quantities at Hysteric stores.

Belt ¥36,750 (tax included)
Choker ¥13,440 (tax included)
Gloves (Ladies') ¥23,100 (tax included)
Stockings ¥8,190 (tax included)