On June 26, 2022, as a special plan for the first anniversary of the establishment of Xi'an Graphic Design Association, the "Norito Nimura Design Works Exhibition" jointly sponsored by Xi'an Pingxie and Zhiye Art Museum opened in Xi'an. In this exhibition, more than 100 original posters of Mr. Norito Nimura, a famous Japanese designer from the Mesozoic era, were displayed. It is very rare that there are more than 30 manuscripts of Norito Nimura's creation log and design process manuscripts on display, allowing the audience to experience the creative process of a design work from creative ideas to mature presentation. The exhibition focuses on the series of camping sites created by Norito Nimura for MUJI and the marine-themed series represented by Norito Fisheries, showing Norito Nimura's unique creative perspective on the relationship between man and nature.

Norito Nimura was born in 1960 on an island in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, with a coastline of only 8 kilometers and only 200 inhabitants. "My father is a fisherman, and I am the youngest of eight brothers in the family. The whole island where I lived when I was a child had neither police nor hospital, but only two small shops. Picking conch in the sea and enjoying the fun of fishing on a boat. For me, living on an island rich in natural resources, it really has nothing to do with design. But what changed my life completely was the art teacher I met when I was in elementary school. I learned how to make posters in his class. Since then, I have gradually become addicted to making posters. At the age of 12, I had the desire to become a designer.”

Afterwards, Norito Niimura went to a vocational school in Osaka to study design. "When I was 24 years old, I finally joined the Matsunaga Design Office in Tokyo. I couldn't do anything at the time, but I got a lot from Mr. Matsunaga. What I remember particularly is the 'nothing' "Doing is also designing" is a famous saying of Mr. Mason Matsunaga. I thought that design is the work of adding various things, but Mr. Matsunaga taught me that subtraction can also create beauty." Perhaps it is the influence of this kind of thinking. It laid the foundation for his subsequent works to always present a minimalist design style.

"I was influenced by my father since I was a child, and I like plants very much. I often collect plants while walking in the forest. When I was 35 years old, I met the design project of 'MUJI Campground' and started my journey of collecting plants again. I used the collected plants in my works, sometimes making 'rubbings', sometimes making 'blue prints', and published a lot of designs with plants as elements."

"The theme poster I designed for the Muji camping site should not belong to the 'fashionable' design, but may make people feel a little too simple. But maybe I grew up on an island with only sea and mountains. That's what makes this kind of simple and warm personality."

The same goes for the posters of "Norito Aquatic Products", showing the unique creativity and expressive style of Norito Nimura. The design and production process of the posters are still deeply involved in manual and completed by using various "smart" photography methods. This series of poster works made him famous in the Japanese design circle. The poster he designed in cooperation with Yamaguchi Prefecture Fisheries Federation to call on the public to pay attention to environmental issues shows the purest force of nature with the most vivid life prototype and the most streamlined design language.

Nimura said that for him who grew up on a small island, he would have a sense of inferiority invisibly, but after he created a unique expression technique, he gained an atmosphere of liberation from the inferiority complex.

"Tokyo is a city full of charm, and the atmosphere of pop and art has increased my curiosity. Although I live in such a fashionable city, I have always wanted to be a person who loves nature and always convey my love to everyone. The appeal of the importance of nature and the earth. In order to achieve this purpose, I think simple and easy-to-understand design is a must. Only in this way can people from all over the world in different language environments, whether it be children, or grandparents. can understand."

In this exhibition, the curator Liu Juntao extracted two elements, the floating insect and the caterpillar in the posters of Norito Nimura, and specially invited two local inheritors of intangible cultural heritage - Liu Xiaodong, an expert in ancient papermaking skills, and traditional bamboo strips for lanterns. The veteran artist Yi Gonggong has produced exhibition posters and three-dimensional installation works on site.
After many attempts to mix pulp, Liu Xiaodong used ancient papermaking techniques to make paper that is most suitable for expressing the needs of Norito Nimura's works. After fine hand-screen printing, it exudes simplicity. The special texture of Wuhua perfectly reproduces the visual tension of the original work by Norito Nimura.
And Mr. Yi Yougong, who is nearly eighth rank, after understanding the curator's intentions, personally led his family and apprentices for more than ten consecutive days, from material selection, sizing, decomposing structure, fixing the skeleton shape to the final installation, meticulously completed. Large caterpillar installation work.

Japanese culture is deeply influenced by ancient Chinese culture, and this time, the non-genetic inheritors of the ancient capital of the Tang Dynasty used local materials and traditional craftsmanship to make Japanese designer works. It is undoubtedly a meaningful and interesting form of cultural communication and time and space. dialogue. The main poster of the exhibition and the installation works of caterpillars also enrich the design information with the same "handmade" warmth, just like the works of Norihito Nimura, which demonstrate the grandeur and breadth of the power of nature with silence.

Article Source:艺术与设计

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