Jun Yokoyama has created a piece of design art that he calls 3Decor. They are typographic 3-D panels with words and images and word images that can be used in the home. I was intrigued and asked him to explain:
Is this visual poetry or commercial product?
Originally, the work, which started over 20 years ago, was one of graphic design in which I wanted to create “logos” for artists’ and writers’ names based on the content and work of these personalities, and other themes. The older design works by chance transformed themselves into visual poetry because they were presented in that manner in an art exhibition, when I was invited to participate in a show of visual poetry (2010) here in Sao Paulo.
What are your materials?
This year I took some of these old works and created new ones on another type of support medium: acrylic plastic (acrylic sheets are extremely transparent, have good impact resistance and natural light illumination), with techniques of digital printing or silkscreen directly onto acrylic sheet and collages (acrylic cut over acrylic). The proposal has as its purpose their commercialization as objects of design and décor; this is the reason for the creation of the name 3Decor (art, design and décor objects). I would like them to be seen as art objects, understanding my design language as an art proposal, with many meanings and capable of being appreciated by the observer.
All acrylic panels are provided with a template and flame polished edges. The panel is finished with four drilled holes and supplied with 25mm deep brushed aluminum fixing studs. So that the acrylic print is ready to hang to the wall.
What is your goal in making these images?
The variety of these works is great due to my literary interest and my taste for design, typography and poetry. For instance, I read books of your large collection (I learned a lot – the last one I bought was “Art Direction explained, at last!”)), I also study graphic styles and continue to draw by hand. My interests are vast, including the one for animations: ME/WE is, for instance, a story made in the Flash program, which works with the word, the design, the rhythm and the poetry.
There is such a variety, what triggered your decision to do each one?
My purpose is to give continuity to the literary research works in order to make images created with a minimalist design, being, at the same time, visually sophisticated. Each picture is a semiotic ‘construction’ organizing words, colors, textures, volumes and light into an image/message so that the observer may discover layers of meanings behind the works’ physical dimension.
