Shinkichi Tajiri (1923-2009) went through a lot during his lifetime. At the beginning of the Second World War, he and his family were imprisoned in an internment camp in the state of Arizona because they were Japanese. After two years, Tajiri was released when he enlisted as a soldier in a volunteer unit of the US army. When he returned to the US after the war, Tajiri was once again confronted with his cultural background due to discrimination against the Japanese community. As a result, he decided to move to Paris in 1948, where he became a student of Ossip Zadkine and Fernand Léger. According to him, all his work is interwoven with his experiences and ‘psychological scars.’[1]

At first glance, the work s.s.s.s.s.s. no. 1 from 1966 looks more like some kind of futuristic machine than a work of art. The antenna with microphone makes the six-meter-high object look like a new kind of communication device. Besides this, the work has no clearly recognizable elements. With a bit of imagination, it could also be interpreted as a spaceship, a robot, or an insect. The large number ‘one’ on the side of the work may be derived from the numbers that were on racing cars at the time, which Tajiri was inspired by, among other things. At Sonsbeek, Tajiri’s work may have been experienced as quite alienating. 

At first, it seems as if Tajiri intended to show his admiration for new machinery from the sixties. However, the Machines series is actually intended as a protest against the way machines are used in wars (such as in the Vietnam War). Tajiri criticizes governments that invest many millions in military machinery to kill people. He regrets that his views are often misunderstood. Because of their beauty and craftsmanship, his works are often interpreted as an homage to militarism.[2]

[1] R. Vercauteren (ed.), De Wachters van Shinkichi Tajiri, Venlo 2007, pp. 15-19, 23.
[2] G. Verhoogt, “”Al mijn werk is het resultaat van wat ik heb meegemaakt””, in: A. Dijkhuis, J. Engels en G. Verhoogt (eds.), Tajiri: Seed no. 4, Eindhoven 2009, p. 13.