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Dec 01, 2023

Japanese artist turns heads with freaky flesh

TOKYO – A Japanese DJ has found a new calling making freaky flesh-like

TOKYO – A Japanese DJ has found a new calling making freaky flesh-like accessories such as severed finger ink stamps, pendants with blinking eyes, and purses with gaping mouths and stubble, inspired by special effects from horror movies.

After his first artwork in 2017 was pictured on the cover of his debut album – a music mixer wrapped in a silicon flesh coating – Masataka Shishido, also known as DJ Doooo, has been commissioned to make dozens of other offbeat creations.

"In the beginning, almost everyone felt it was gross," Shishido, 36, told Reuters, wearing a disco ball with a blinking eye on a chain around his neck.

"Once people learnt that it's an artwork with some specific function, they started saying that it's cute and interesting."

Shishido says his art is often made to order by customers, who request their own body parts be depicted on the items. He draws the designs by hand before a Tokyo studio called Amazing Studio JUR takes up to two months to turn the concept into reality.

The bespoke items do not come cheap. USB devices and ink stamps in the shape of fingers cost around 150,000 yen (S$1,503), while the disco ball he wears costs about 580,000 yen.

His art has caught the attention of celebrities, Shishido said. American rapper Lil Yachty posted a video of himself clutching one of Shishido's blinking balls on social media in 2021.

On the streets of Tokyo, his creations also turn heads.

"It's so realistic that it definitely takes you by surprise," said Laura Teale, 22, an Australian tourist who stopped to ask Shishido about the artwork hanging from his neck near the capital's bustling Shibuya Crossing.

"I feel it's too real. I feel a little bit grossed out, but it's really cool," she said. REUTERS

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