Do these two visual images have anything in common? (subtitle: Coincidence?)

In「KOREA ENCOUNTERS: Experimental artists challenge 'suffocating' conformity in 1960s Seoul」(The Korea Times January 14, 2024), the caption for Image 1 reads, "Chung Chan-seung prepares an installation..." Author Matt VanVolkenburg writes,

"In December 1967, three experimental art groups... held an exhibition... in central Seoul.

This exhibition might have passed with little media notice had the artists not gone out into the streets to picket and decry public indifference and the fact that Korea had no galleries for modern art.

The highlight of the exhibition was Korea’s first-ever 'happening.' The term 'happening' had been coined by American artist Alan Kaprow in the late 1950s after he became interested in the performative aspects of making art. For him, the line between art and life was to be made as fluid and indistinct as possible." (my bolding)

Image 2 is a rendering of Myaku-Myaki, the mascot chosen for the Expo 2025 Osaka in 2022 designed by Kouhei Yamashita. The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry describes the mascot:

"The concept was to combine the logo with the water from Osaka, 'the city of water,' to give it the ability to transform...

This mascot has no fixed form. Everyone involved with the Expo imagines the mascot differently, changing it endlessly into various forms." (my bolding)

There seem to be similarities in the visual appearances and the conceptual visions. Both the "happening" and the mascot are flowing, variable, nebulous and multivocal. They both seem to be looking for a better future.

I don't recall how The Korea Times story popped onto my computer screen. Perhaps my recent online investigations of contemporary and visual art created some algorithms to make such an article appear. And I have always thought the mascot to be silly and odd (and not representative of Osaka). I wonder how these things occur.

Sources:

The Korea Times, January 14, 2024. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/01/177_366860.html

designboom, October 31, 2023. https://www.designboom.com/design/myaku-myaku-expo-2025-osaka-mascot-10-31-2023/

Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, March 22, 2022. https://www.meti.go.jp/english/press/2022/0322_001.html

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#2025年日本万国博覧会マスコット
#ミャクミャク
#coincidence