Born in Tokyo, in 1977. Shun Kawakami is an artist and designer, co-founder and chief of Artless
Inc, a Tokyo based design company which tackles projects ranging from print, to web and motion graphics, for clients such as Issey Miyake
An art director in it’s truest form, Shun conducts a team of artists, designers, musicians and animators all of whom are in resonance with Shuns unique aesthetic and design philosophy.
www.artless.co.jp
www.shunkawakami.jp
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Your work has a gentle, intangible presence to it. What do you seek to express through your work?
Making artwork is a way of seeking an identity for myself.
Design is a visual language.
I think that visual imagery can talk in ways that are difficult to put into words… So I like art and design.
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From the West the calming nature of your work might seem quite at odds with the stress and sensory overload of urban Japan. How do you think it relates to your immediate environment?
I saw a lot of design from foreign countries when I grew up, so my sense of design is that of a foreigner, I feel.
But when I go to many foreign countries I understand that my mind thinks in a Japanese way and I wonder about my identity… Who I am.
So, now I want to explore my Japanese sense… I want to know this Japanese sense 
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Your Artless Records project seeks to explore the interplay between music and visual art and design. Please tell us about this new label and what you hope it will achieve. Do you have a philosophic view on the relationship between sound and vision?
Sound is very visual, I feel.
When I listen to music and sound, I can imagine visuals.
We can see visuals for sound and music, for example in a CD jacket or poster.
I want to make music from visual design. At first I would make the graphic concept. Then musicians would make sound that is inspired from my graphic concept.
It’s a kind of visual communication between a visual artist and a musician.
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Tell us about your love of football… Do you find it an outlet for physical creativity?
Yes, I think often my design style is like football. I design like I play football.
I don’t know how I can sum it up… So many points.
balloon as vase / shun kawakami + EDP from shun kawakami on Vimeo.
