The Richard Prince/Brooke Shields debacle may be overshadowing the Pop Life opening in London but Takashi Murakami won’t give up without a fight. Here the Wall Street Journal delves into the story behind Murakami’s collaboration with Hollywood director McG and Kirsten Dunst.

“I believe that real art is centered in entertainment and I wanted to show that with this piece,” Mr. Murakami said last month while editing footage of the video with McG in Santa Monica, California. […]

Shot over two and a half days at the end of August, the video features all non-actors save for Ms. Dunst. Young people dressed up as anime characters surround Ms. Dunst, who is also in costume, singing against a backdrop that at times include plush toys manufactured by Mr. Murakami’s KaiKai KiKi production house. McG also dressed Ms. Dunst as a “majokko,” a magical princess character from Japanese anime.

Ok. It’s actually not that interesting but the whole thing is a good excuse to run a picture of Murakami in his flowerball costume. Did that thing debut at Miami Basel last year or has it been around longer?

The Artist and the Director (Wall Street Journal)