« Only You Can Complete Me » by Louise Mutrel (2024, photography)

The story goes that the automobile customization craze hit Japan in the 1970s under the influence of post-war American culture. Inspired by American decorated trucks, the Japanese reinterpreted dekotora trucks as a sophisticated and dedicated craft. Through this hobby, enthusiasts redraw their identities and devise mobile avatars for themselves. Utility vehicles—whether for transportation or construction—are transformed by their owners into hybrid objects. These continue to blend traditional forms, such as updated ukiyo-e prints, and popular influences, such as the inspiration of the robot armor of the 1980s science fiction series Gundam. In the 1990s, dekotora were considered too flashy and garish. They were banned from city centers and forbidden to drive with their headlights on at night. In response, their owners withdrew to the suburbs, taking over parking lots, gas stations and industrial areas as sanctuaries to share their passion.

On Sundays, large dekotara gatherings are held throughout Japan. These events are an opportunity for the Art Truck Club to come together to parade, exchange ideas and perform a series of rituals. Sacred figures such as the Niô (Shinto temple guardians), Ebisu (God of the Sea) and Hannya (demonic figure of Noh theater) abound on the bodyworks as protective talismans and auspicious prayers. By displaying their favorite icons on their trucks, drivers become storytellers, who seem to embrace
a way of reenchanting their daily work on the road.

Through the prism of the dekotora community, Louise Mutrel has approached gatherings as spaces of collective belief and crucial sites of aesthetic experimentation. Part visual narrative, part documentation, Only You Can Complete Me is at once a sensitive archive of this subculture and a sensory experience. In the swirling atmosphere of these great gatherings, Mutrel has captured their energy and intensity:
the eye—already saturated, bathed in chrome, flush in bumpers, or lost in the sky—searching for a detail, a sign, a glint.