chaos * lounge, the ideal world of character and debris
Kazuki Umezawa, “Glasya-Lavos” (2010)
Chaos * Lounge (カオスラウンジ) is a group first formed by Uso Fujishiro in an exhibit in 2008 has since been lead by the Yohei Kurose. The total members of the project include Uso Fujishiro, Yohei Kurose, and Kazuki Umezawa. The group has a rather conspicuous identity in the Japanese art scene.
The aesthetic paradigm of Chaos * Lounge could be described as digital, reminiscent, and well, chaotic. Uso Fujishiro would put it as "Investigating the ontology of characters through moe." This idea is spearheaded by the Yohei's visions in a expanding the process of chara-moe into different branches of art, rather than leaving it to DVDs and Technology to spread the pathic sensations, he opts for different expressions of the phenomena. Namely through relational exhibits that attempt to openly showcase the innerworking "shared love" of moe. Most importantly, bridging the gap between the virtual and the natural, bringing technology and it's acceleration into the real world. Typically their art foregrounded in "bad architecture" (envision the design language of mashcore and fringe bandcamp labels) with an overuse of blending effects and seemingly random collages that culminate into equally strange coalitions of "gods" to express both the schizophrenic landscapes of Nico Nico Douga and the hyperconnectivity of otaku landscapes (filth always included).
Uso Fujishiro and Kazuki Umezawa both share the everlastingly recognizable semiotics of character art. When not directly correlated with one another, they are incredibly distinct from one another.
Uso Fujishiro has a vast variety of artistic techniques and has progressed a lot through out his career. His flickr account denote the history of his work through years. Kazuki Umezawa is far more strict in his approach, but is pretty much the face of the group. His massive collages of seemingly familiar hair colors and Key-flavored eyelashes openly express the portmanteau of charam through saturated colors and generative datamoshing.
The group's activities have since halted to a stop (Yohei had a sexual harrasment scandal) with the two artists featuring the work in solo exhibits for the foreseeable future.