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Let's Talk, ESM Artificial

Operating under the moniker ESM Artificial, Vancouver's Kenn Sakurai has been producing compelling art for nearly a decade. His ornate handmade stickers have popped up on everything from light posts and walls to switch boxes and women's asses (see below). And his silkscreen prints and original art pieces have been exhibited in galleries across the globe. Armed with a healthy sense of humor, Sakurai weaves satire and commentary into his work whenever possible. "Sometimes I think the work visually is enough," he says. "But many [ideas come from] my observations on the way I see people behave around me that I find sort of funny, annoying, or stupid." When the 40-year-old Sakurai is not working in his studio, he writes and records music for his Perfect Sound 35 project (link below). I recently had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Sakurai about art, music, and life. Here's how our conversation played out.

You've been making art for a number of years now. How and why did you get started?

Let's see, I suppose I got started in my wee years because I loved stickers and anything to do with stickers and sticky paper whether it was scotch tape, grip tape, hockey tape, pharmacy warning labels, stamps, etc. The later years in art school were for learning more about art history and some useful art techniques.

Did going to art school help you? Or do you think you would have arrived at the same endpoint without it?

Going to art school definitely helped hone what I was trying to get at with my work. Being able to work within a place that provided everything one needs to create an infinite amount of work was very good for me. Being in the studio of an art school makes you think of what you want your own studio to be like and what it might take when you graduate to be able to set something like that up. As far as being taught goes, it was stifling and oppressive at best and I felt that only a couple teachers really helped teach me anything. That being said, the experience there pushed my thoughts and work into an area outside what they were teaching and I'm certain I would not have reached that conclusion without school. Being around a pile of grubby art student hippies also makes you want to get your shit together as soon as you get outta there.

*What's the origin of the name ESM Artificial? *

The name comes from the very early 90's, when I was doing some music-related projects and needed a name to tack onto the stuff I was making. After four or five albums being released straight into the delete bins, I decided to change the name but retain some aspects of it for my graphic- and art-related work. The name change hasn't helped musically since I'm onto album number 12 and they're still heading into the delete bins at an alarming speed.

Lots of visual artists seem to also write music. Are there similarities between the music you write and the art you produce?

I suppose the music I write is similar to my art in that they are [both] short pop hits and golden nuggets; and I lay the sounds down track-by-track like I would with ink if I were silkscreening. With the art, I can draw the images, scan them into the computer, and fuck with the colors or shapes until I see what I like—then go to the studio and silkscreen it. But with music, I start to write straight to my analog 8-track without any preconceived ideas using traditional electronic or acoustic instruments—no computers—and don't change them in any way until all the tracks are layered on top of each other. So I don't really know how any of it will sound until it's finished. This method of working can create a lot of shitty music.

Much of your work makes subtle comments on culture, and often society as a whole. Do you try to make your work transcend its primary visual appeal whenever possible?

Sometimes I think the work visually is enough, but most of the time I do feel like commenting on something that makes me chuckle a bit for sure. Many things are my observations on the way I see people behave around me that I find sort of funny, annoying, or stupid.

How do you catalog your ideas—mental notes, journal, sketchbook?

Most of my ideas are in my head because they are very simplistic. There are some things that are sketched onto loose pieces of paper here and there but nothing like a sketchbook or journal. I do quite like the Split Enz album Mental Notes though.

Silkscreen prints are a big part of how you convey your work. When did you get into silkscreening and what initially attracted you to it?

I was attracted to silkscreening the first time I met her in graphics class in high school; then many years later at art school. I've always loved the immediacy of it and the boldness of the color when printed as opposed to lithography, woodcut, etching, or other printmaking forms.

As you mentioned earlier, stickers are also a great obsession of yours. What appeals to you about creating and placing stickers everywhere?

I just love seeing text and graphic form on sticky paper to start; plus I like the fact that everyone and anyone can make them. It's a form of advertising to many companies, so I suppose artists and graphic designers have taken that approach and make them for themselves to plug their work or projects as well. It's interesting that they've become a way to leave your mark in any city or town you visit around the world and you can see who has been there before you by seeing what's been stuck up.

What projects are you currently working on?

Well there's the 400ml book/exhibition thing in Paris that opens tonight; some art for a John Cusack/Warner Brothers flick; t-shirts that I'm doing in Japan for Graniph; and a t-shirt line I'll be doing for a company in Hong Kong that manufactures over 70% of the world’s plastic eyeballs for toys. I'm also hard at work trying to develop a better lemon bar recipe. I'm on my 13th straight batch and am still tweaking the recipe because they're still not how I imagine them to be. I can't figure out if it's the quality of the eggs, the lemons, my oven. The years of cooking school have not helped me in the least with this lemon thing. I welcome any tips that anyone might have for me out there.

If you could start over in life, would you still pursue a career in art?

You know, I would, but more as a plan B or C. I would have liked to continue playing ice hockey until I couldn't play any longer and then get into developing and designing goalie equipment. I love how all the goalie stuff has changed so much since I played ages ago. I think the aesthetic part of the gear is horrible but the functions and practicality of the gear are amazing. Most sports-related gear to me looks really tacky, a little too rock-and-roll, and could use some fixing up.

Related links: www.esm-artificial.com www.graniph.com www.maisondesmetallos.org/Exposition-400-ml.html www.myspace.com/perfectsound35 uk.youtube.com/watch?v=axK_gO8bwjg

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