Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. PonPonPon (2011).

I found this video on Laura Bettinson's Tumblr.  Laura is a member of Ulraista, and her Tumblr is an overstuffed closet of the outré.  Although new to me, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's "PonPonPon" has racked up over 54 million views during the past couple of years:


Kyary is not some obscure oddball, she is on a major label in Asia (Warner), and her first full length album, Pamyu Pamyu Revolution, debuted at No. 1 in Japan.  The song is great, but the video left me speechless, it's an intense work of art. Kyary's effortless embrace of the outlandish makes Lady Gaga look like your grandma doing the Macarena.  The video is filled with the signs and symbols that remind me of the work of Japanese artists such as Takashi Murakami: the otaku fetishes, kawaiisa pushed to a severe extreme, the stylized artifice, the unsettling childishness, and overall surrealism.  Andre Breton would have immediately bestowed his imprimatur on Kyary. I immediately bought her album, Moshi Moshi Harajuku, which did not disappoint.  My 10 yr. old daughter loves it too!