Taro Okamoto — The Artist Who Kept Choosing the Dangerous Road

Taro Okamoto, famous for "Art is explosion," was also a man of words, and my favorite of his is this: "When in doubt, choose the dangerous path."

At eighteen he moved to Paris for a decade, fought amid the avant-garde, and on returning declared open war on the conventions of Japan's art world — refusing prettiness, rediscovering the raw vitality of Jomon pottery, burning brighter with every criticism.

His culmination was the Tower of the Sun at Expo '70: at a fair themed on harmony, he built a bizarre tower that smashed through harmony itself. Controversial then, it is the one thing everyone remembers half a century later. Anyone can choose the safe path — which is why it is crowded.

The dangerous path is empty, and it is always there that people feel most alive; Taro's life was the experiment proving it. Which of the roads before you is the dangerous one?

What do you work for?