Art Critic Awards

Crane Game

Keiichiro Matsuda

Tokyo, Japan　6 years old

When I took my favorite stuffed animal, I felt very happy and gentle.

Judge's Comment

First, my eyes were drawn to a terrifying monster with wide-open eyes and bared teeth. It almost seems to be saying, “Thank you for catching me.” Maybe it’s a character from a favorite game? Even with its grotesque and frightening face, it shows kindness to someone. Honest emotions are depicted here.

A Machine that Creates Kindness

Gen Sugnaga

Nagano, Japan 11 years old

I wondered how kindness is born. I thought it would be nice if there were a kindness factory that could produce a lot of kindness.

Judge's Comment

The highly abstract theme of “kindness” has been approached in a correspondingly abstract manner. The work evokes the moving sculptures of Jean Tinguely, the pioneer of kinetic art who first integrated motion into artistic expression. It resembles a sculpture assembled from everyday objects, awkward yet compelling in its movement. Your concept of “a machine that generates kindness” is both striking and deeply imaginative.