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Marionettes in Masks

This animated film, along with A Portrait of Keiichi Tanaami released the following year, focuses on the themes of face and identity. Tanaami viewed the myriad faces seen daily in the media as interchangeable “masks,” and presented them as symbolic representations of contemporary life. The marionettes in various masks embody a spectrum of personas, in styles ranging from painterly strokes to American comic-style illustrations. However, the marionettes ultimately collapse, overwhelmed by the dizzying speed of the information deluge. The direct influence of Pop Art on these motifs points to the artist’s desire to integrate new art movements into animation.