Probably it was mostly the disturbing but yet rather attractive and erotic images of kids in latex, kids in bondage, kids playing bondage games with their toys, bruises and cuts, tortured dolls, “sinister innocence” and “paedophilia-paranoia which crossed the border of thought crime” what caused Trevor Brown to move to Japan. Though Japan always attracted him. Even for the Eastern people Japan looks like a separate planet, let alone people from the West.
The “general audience” finds his images shocking, but hey, aren’t they resulted by public moral and various ridiculous taboos? Breaking taboos, fighting sanctimony, hypocrisy, stagnation and general stupidity has been always considered a sport. Think of Frank Zappa, for example.
What happened in Japan? Despite he’s been “Japanized” after ten years of living there, he still feels disconnected from any country. But Japan definitely has made influence:
… [I] started painting dolls and cute stuff, (mostly) turning my back on the S&M and fetish things I had been painting hitherto (things somewhat associated with England). My visual vocabulary changed.
…
I like being apart. I thrive on the disorientation and disconnectedness. That sort of remote detachment amidst chaos aids artistic creativity. You can focus on your own (equally crazed?) ideas more easily – you don’t have to worry about them being so ‘crazy’ than if acquiescent to the rational concerns of normal boring life in a normal boring society.
See also:
- Do you like manga? Move out of the US! Or: The Crime of Viewing Manga
- Public opinion, morality, fetish and kids or fetish clothes to the office
- Maddison Gabriel, child pornography, sexually explicit conduct, US code collection, definition, terms and federal cases
- PixelSurgeon interview with Trevor Brown
- Trevor Brown’s blog
- Wiki on Trevor Brown
As a member of the ‘general audience’ I certainly find Trevor Brown’s work shocking. Consenting adults, fine, but that stuff is WAY past anything I ever want to see again, even as drawings. Bang out of order (as we say over here).
In “general”, I agree with you. But there are some drawings I absolutely love. Not from this series, though (more to come). My favourite from these 22 images is the pixie.
To some extent I would compare Trevor with Hieronymus Bosch. He’s also shocking and also illustrates:
we rather like it all…