OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

So, You Think You’re a Whiz at Excel?

Can you do this..?

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“Cherry Blossoms at Jogo Castle” (2006)

Or this…?

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“Kegon Falls” (2007)

Tatsuo Horiuchi: The 73-year old Excel spreadsheet artist

“I never used Excel at work but I saw other people making pretty graphs and thought, ‘I could probably draw with that,’” says 73-year-old Tatsuo Horiuchi. About 13 years ago, shortly before retiring, Horiuchi decided he needed a new challenge in his life. So, according to the Japanese art and design journal spoon-tamago, he bought a computer and began experimenting with Excel.

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“Graphics software is expensive but Excel comes pre-installed in most computers,” explained Horiuchi. “And it has more functions and is easier to use than Microsoft Paint.” Horiuchi also tried working with Microsoft Word but it didn’t offer the flexibility that Excel did.

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Horiuchi first gained attention when, in 2006, he entered an Excel Autoshape Art Contest. His work, which was far superior to the other entries, blew the judges away. Horiuchi took first place and went on to create work that has been acquired by his local Gunma Museum of Art.

Don’t believe these were made in Excel?

You can even download the excel file and play around with it yourself: