Head, ear, heart, stomach, womb, liver—just seeing words like these makes you think of an anatomy book, but here the words have become part of graphics that are poetical, far removed from any thought of human guts. Daigo Daikoku's 100 Graphics of Anatomy consists of visual images of different parts of human bodies drawn one per sheet on coarse paper, but the originality of his idea and the uniqueness of the outcome, defying the imagination, are astonishing. Visuals that no other designer had conceived of make up a world that seems to have been created easily with hardly any sign of trouble or effort. That world bears the meaning of the symbolism, but its abstractness is original. Humans may be able to learn about what is inside them from preserved specimens, but that does not enable them to gain a full and accurate understanding of their own living bodies. Why? Because what is inside cannot be seen. However, Daikoku has taken those parts of the body and brought them together in characters and visual images as beautiful creations that sometimes embody the fragility and transience of something that must expire along with life. They seem to be floating in an uncharted space, wandering in search of a home. With the body dismembered to such an extent, it is doubtful that the parts will ever be able to return to their proper places. Such concerns flit across the mind. However, design has purified these lurid body parts to such an extent that they make all our senses resound. This 100 Graphics succeeds in making us think about the nature of the human body.
Kazumasa Nagai | Graphic Designer
頭、耳、心臓、胃、子宮、肝臓、こうして言葉だけを見ると医学事典のように思うが、そこには人間の五臓六腑という言葉から頭に浮かぶものとかけ離れた詩的なイメージが展開する。大黒大悟の「人体百図」はわら半紙に人体のあらゆる部分が一枚一図として描かれているのだが、その発想と人の想像を裏切って行く着地点のユニークさに驚かされる。今までのデザイナー誰もが考えなかったビジュアルを、殆ど苦渋の後を止めずに楽々と作り上げた世界は、象徴性の意味を内包しながら、その抽象性において独自のものになっている。人は自分の内部を標本による知識によって探ることができても、生きている自分のものとして正確には把握できない。それは見えないのだから。大黒はそれらの部位を美しく、時には命と共に果てるというはかなさ、あやうさを秘めながら創作による文字と絵によって綴っていく。未知の空間に浮遊し、行き場を求めてさまよっているようにも見える。これらはこんなにばらばらにされて人体として元の定位置に帰り着けるのだろうか。そんな心配が頭をよぎる。生々しいもの達がデザインとして浄化され私たちの五感に響いてくる。人間の身体性について考えさせられる百図である。
永井一正|グラフィックデザイナー