My collaboration with RTFKT @rtfkt continues to move forward solemnly. I am following their lead with admiration, constantly surprised and impressed by their edginess. They are astonishingly young and I am a dying man in my old age. But actually, I have never been keyed into cutting-edge culture even when I was young, being the type of person who would belatedly come to understand the trend a few years after the fact. So perhaps it has less to do with the fact they are young and I am old, and more because of my dull sensitivity, that I am constantly surprised. Then again, I have been surviving in the art world so far by digesting various contexts a lap behind the fact and expressing them creatively, so I have decided that such is my role here again as I continue to be involved in the Clone X @clonexnft project. As I watch my grade-school-age children communicate with their friends through online games, being in states of trance as though their minds have left their bodies (of course as a parent I feel conflicted, not being able to feel positively about such a situation), I can imagine how human beings will likely continue to evolve in an unthinkable direction. We will also surely continue to try to keep harmony, and will inevitably generate cacophony from time to time. An artist’s job is to capture and express such dissonance, so it’s important for me to recognize the world that awaits us beyond, even if it’s a negative one. And so I did my best again with the designs for the apparel Forging within the characteristically tight deadlines. And I must say, I am sincerely grateful for the kind and generous ways of the RTFKT team, as always—they truly are incredible people of character!