Jellyfish Eyes

Takashi Murakami’s children’s film, Jellyfish Eyes (2013), tells the story of Masashi, a young Japanese boy who develops a friendship with a jellyfish-like creature while mourning the loss of his father. Murakami wanted the film to share a narrative about the victims of disaster, especially in response to the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan two years prior. While Murakami’s prints of jellyfish eyes may appear light and whimsical on the surface level, this additional context provides an essential alternate reading of this motif. “In my artwork there is a really important concept I’m always working with, which is misinterpretation,” Murakami once said. “Misunderstanding produces something new and interesting.”