In 2020, The Pokemon Company began working with artist Daniel Arsham on a Pokemon art project based on “fictional archeology.”
The Pokemon Company has now announced a series of art shows that will be staged around Tokyo in 2022 as part of this cooperation. The exhibitions will contain sculptures of Pokemon in quartz crystal and bronze, bronze castings of Pokemon trade cards, and “sketches and studies” concerning the crystal Pokemon, all in keeping with the “fictional archeology” concept.
The Pokemon Company has also released a short cartoon starring Ash and Pikachu, as well as the time-traveling Pokemon Celebi, to promote the exhibition. During a Pokemon fight with a trainer that looks like Daniel Arsham, Celebi accidently transports Ash and Pikachu into the distant future.
A Ripple in Time
Arsham’s forthcoming “A Ripple in Time” show in Tokyo will contain a range of Pokémon works of art designed to depict the passage of time, building on the wider themes of his previous two Pokémon projects, “Relics of Kanto Through Time” and “Time Dilation.” “A Ripple in Time” will include a “animated work” produced by Arsham and Kunihiko Yuyama, the former general director of the Pokémon anime who now serves as creative supervisor, in addition to paintings, drawings, and Arsham’s signature Pokémon statues inspired by architecture and the concept of fictional archaeology.
This project came about “at the earnest request of Arsham himself,” according to a press statement about the show, who collaborated with Yuyama to sketch out components of the animated art piece spanning from storyboarding to finishing.
