I Know Not. I Know 2010

This kaleidoscopic field of colourful skulls titled ‘I Know Not. I Know’ was made by Takashi Murakami. I can only imagine what it might have been like standing in front of this canvas, brush in hand, deciding where the next little skull should go. The way the shapes push and pull against each other makes me think of a digital screen—pixels all crammed together. Except here, it’s paint, and it's skulls. So, what's he getting at with all this? Is it morbid? Playful? A commentary on consumerism? Or is he just trying to mess with our heads? There's something really gutsy about laying down this many marks, one after the other. I think that is also what painting is - a conversation between artists across time, each responding to what came before, pushing the boundaries of what paint can do.