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Lot Essay
Lonesomeness is a theme that permeates the oeuvre of Yoshitomo Nara. Perhaps this sentiment is linked to the artist's experience in Germany early in his career. Being in a foreign land, he was painfully sensitive to the issues of identity and other existential problems, and it inspired a profound sense of self-pity and melancholy within him. Such a realisation may not necessarily be a negative experience. It presents an opportunity for self-evaluation to reflect on the meaning of life.
The protagonist in Dog with Coffin (Lot 107) is a dog who has spheres for a head and a body. He carries a coffin on his back nonchalantly. Standing on a circle patch of grass, he closes his eyes. At this unique place of existence, he is calm, as if he is an ascetic meditating on the meaning of life. He has a need to be surrounded by loneliness in order to transcend all the distractions in reality. Only in the realm of pure thoughts can one rise above the material world and the finality of death.
The protagonist in Dog with Coffin (Lot 107) is a dog who has spheres for a head and a body. He carries a coffin on his back nonchalantly. Standing on a circle patch of grass, he closes his eyes. At this unique place of existence, he is calm, as if he is an ascetic meditating on the meaning of life. He has a need to be surrounded by loneliness in order to transcend all the distractions in reality. Only in the realm of pure thoughts can one rise above the material world and the finality of death.