Chindogu: The Art of ‘Unuselessness’
By Kei Yong
Invented by Kenji Kawakami, chindogu are gadgets that you could see yourself using, but not really. From lipstick templates for ‘easy’ application to chopstick fans to cool down your food as it reaches your mouth, this aerospace engineer created such paraphernalia to perverse the appeals of convenience and functionality as an innocent form of entertainment that adopts a warped interpretation of Oscar Wilde’s ‘Art for Art’s Sake’.
Kenji kickstarted this niche when he faced the dilemma of having to fill extra pages in an issue whilst he was an editor and contributor to the Japanese magazine Mail Order Life. Given that the magazine’s demographic consisted mainly of countryside housewives who had limited access to shops, Kenji used this opportunity to feature a variety of odd product prototypes that his readers couldn't buy, and probably wouldn't have wanted to anyhow, but would hopefully give them something to laugh at. Some of these early inventions included his Eye Drop Funnel Glasses™ so you don’t miss your eyes during eye drop application, and the Solar-powered Flashlight™ which is useless from the name alone. The inventor thus termed these inventions as chindogu, chin meaning weird, and dogu meaning tool.
Kenji Kawakami, “Unuseless” Invention #19: Honest Husband Hat™, Date Unknown.
From 1985 and 2001, he created over 600 useless objects, each one having to abide by the 10 Tenets outlined by the International Chindogu Society to be considered chindogu:
A chindogu cannot be for real use.
A chindogu must exist.
There must be the spirit of anarchy.
Chindogu are tools for everyday life.
Chindogu are not for sale.
Humour must be the sole reason for creating Chindogu.
Chindogu is not propaganda.
Chindogu are never taboo.
Chindogu cannot be patented.
Chindogu are without prejudice.
Chindogu was not officially considered as an art form until Dan Papia, writer for the Tokyo Journal, spotlighted Kenji’s inventions in his magazine. Papia wrote about Japanese news and culture in English, Kenji’s work was able to travel beyond the Japanese borders but because chindogu was meant to be accessible with its use of everyday tools, as mentioned in the fourth tenet, chindogu objects spoke for themselves as a form of ‘non-verbal communication understandable to everyone.’ Papia began to receive an overwhelming response from the readers who sent in their ideas for chindogu, and eventually established the International Chindogu Society in 1995. The creation of a network for these artistic inventors simply reinforces the importance of art communities in general to explore human behaviour and emotional connections that transcend words. Kenji has made it clear that chindogu is not meant to provide satiric commentary on our modern day as stated in tenet seven; it is meant to embody the pure innocence of providing humour to the people and inspire more ridiculous creations that would marginally benefit the efficiency of everyday life, but more likely provide entertainment and joy to mundane activities.
Kenji Kawakami, “Unuseless” Invention #140: Clear Skies Umbrella™, Date Unknown.
‘Basically, chindogu is the same as the Industrial Revolution in Britain’, the Japanese inventor explained to the Japan Times. ‘The one big difference is that while most inventions are aimed at making life more convenient, chindogu have greater disadvantages than precursor products, so people can’t sell them. They’re invention dropouts.’ Simone Giertz, Swedish inventor and YouTuber, is a leading advocate for modern-day chindogu, making what she calls ‘useless’ or ‘shitty’ robots to entertain herself and her viewers. In 2018 she delivered a Ted Talk on ‘Why you should make useless things’, exploring how it helped her overcome her performance anxiety and healthily maintain the drive to continue pursuing robotics. She says ‘The true beauty of making useless things [is] this acknowledgement that you don't always know what the best answer is. It turns off that voice in your head that tells you that you know exactly how the world works. Maybe a toothbrush helmet isn't the answer, but at least you're asking the question.’ By making what Kenji calls ‘unuseless’ items, these inventors simply stimulate a silly endorphin rush similar to the ones you experienced when you made something out of Lego as a kid, or even playing pretend with the role of the supposed consumer as we entertain the idea of owning these ridiculous objects.
Perhaps such ridiculous inventions were not in Oscar Wilde’s mind when he was promoting ‘Art for Art’s Sake’ but in my opinion, I believe that chindogu encapsulates the whole argument that 'true' art should be divorced from any didactic, moral, political, or utilitarian function in a very playful and wholesome way. Indeed, Kenji’s adamance towards not marketing chindogu may be interpreted as a direct challenge towards the human tendency to monopolize on everything we see to be profitable. However, it could more appropriately be interpreted as a form of preserving childish delight and entertaining the imagination of owning an ‘unuseless’ item rather than exploiting these emotions for simple cash.
Notes:
Kawakami, Kenji. ‘The Ten Tenets of Chindogu.’ [Accessed November 18, 2022] http://chindogu.com/ics/?page_id=336.
Leleu, Clémence. “'Chindogu', the Genius of Unusable Objects.” Pen Magazine International, July 15, 2021. [Accessed November 18, 2022] https://pen-online.com/design/chindogu-the-art-of-subverting-useful-objects/.
Richey, Michael. ‘Chindogu: The Unuseless Inventions of Kenji Kawakami.’ Tofugu. Tofugu, March 14, 2016. [Accessed November 18, 2022] https://www.tofugu.com/japan/chindogu-japanese-inventions/.