Art and Culture
hash...@bvu.edu
I am a student from Japan, who study art at an university in Iowa. I have been
living in America for almost three years. Since I came here, I became to use
the word, "Tradition", many times. Although I did not think about the
tradition of Japan very much when I was in Japan, now I think of it.
Japan has been influenced by foreign countries. People, especially young
people, seem not to be interested in Japanese tradition. They seem to prefer
foreign cultures. If you go to Japan for the first time, you will see how
strange Japan is. You can see many kinds of languages mixed everywhere.
You can see both old traditional wooden buildings, such as temples and shrines,
and modern concrete buildings filled with foreign boutiques. Every summer I
go back to Japan, I realize that Japan is changing.
Since I came here, I became to compare Japan and America very often.
I have experienced culture shocks, and I found both differences and
similarities between Japan and America. I also found the both countries'
goodnesses which I had not known before. I knew many culture differences
through life in America and Japan.
Now I am thinking about my art work as a student who knows the both
culture. How can I express myself in my art works? People sometimes would
be attracted by foreign arts. People might want me take in Japanese elements
in my art works. How do you see foreign arts? Do you see any culture
differences in those arts? When I saw American student's paintings in my first
painting class, I thought that their paintings were different from mine.
I really appreciate if you give me any comments, questions, advices, etc.
Rie Hashiba
Charles Eicher
> I am a student from Japan, who study art at an university in Iowa. I
have been
> living in America for almost three years.
Ah.. Rie.. I knew a woman who lived here in Iowa, named Rie, from Sapporo.
You aren't that woman, are you? Did you make "Paper Shrine"?
>...Since I came here, I became to use
> the word, "Tradition", many times. Although I did not think about the
> tradition of Japan very much when I was in Japan, now I think of it.
> Japan has been influenced by foreign countries. People, especially young
> people, seem not to be interested in Japanese tradition. They seem to prefer
> foreign cultures.
Yes, this is a common theme in Japan. A book "Lost Japan" has been a
bestseller in Japan, and now is translated and being sold in the US. The
writer (a gaijin) laments the loss of traditions, but notes that these
traditions have continuously been lost, and new adaptations have always
been found.
Nonetheless, it has been my experience that the Japanese don't really
'prefer foreign cultures', they prefer their IMAGES of foreign cultures.
But lets not get into this right now..
> ..If you go to Japan for the first time, you will see how
> strange Japan is. You can see many kinds of languages mixed everywhere.
> You can see both old traditional wooden buildings, such as temples and
shrines,
> and modern concrete buildings filled with foreign boutiques. Every summer I
> go back to Japan, I realize that Japan is changing.
I myself just went to Japan for the first time, to Hakodate, this summer.
If I had to pick a place that most exemplified Japan, I would pick the view
from the window of my favorite coffee-shop. Next door to a temple, I could
hear the sounds of taiko drums being practiced at the Yunokawa Jinja for
the summer festival, and watch the old men who were stringing up the paper
lanterns. I spent many hours sipping coffee, looking out over the
neighboring buildings. Next to the temple was a very very old home, with a
beautiful garden, and a traditional gate with moss growing on the eaves.
Next to the gate was an ancient tree, with a 4 foot SONY sattelite dish
attached to it.
I used to take my friends to the kissaten, and show them the view, hoping
they would be sensitive to the strange sight. Nothing in the entire view
would have been out of place 400 years ago, except the sattelite dish. My
friends would look out and ask me about the dish, and ask why something
like this would be allowed to destroy the harmony of this otherwise perfect
scene. I could only conjecture, when a building has been around for 400
years, it probably doesn't matter that someone puts up a sattelite dish
that will be obsolete (and removed) within 3 years. To me, the dish made
the scene complete, rather than destroyed it.
> Since I came here, I became to compare Japan and America very often.
> I have experienced culture shocks, and I found both differences and
> similarities between Japan and America. I also found the both countries'
> goodnesses which I had not known before. I knew many culture differences
> through life in America and Japan.
Since I have now traveled myself in Japan, I have come to the opinion that
it is impossible to compare cultures. We cannot make value judgements about
qualities, these issues of 'taste' or 'quality' are culturally defined, and
cannot be compared directly. However, there is something we can draw from
our experiences in both cultures. I wish I knew what this was.. perhaps we
should discuss this more.. I have still not completely analyzed my
experiences in Japan. Perhaps one can never fully analyze these
experiences. Perhaps it is better that we do not know _exactly_ what we
know.
> Now I am thinking about my art work as a student who knows the both
> culture. How can I express myself in my art works? People sometimes would
> be attracted by foreign arts. People might want me take in Japanese elements
> in my art works. How do you see foreign arts? Do you see any culture
> differences in those arts? When I saw American student's paintings in my
first
> painting class, I thought that their paintings were different from mine.
Ah.. Well, when I was in Japan, I was studying language, I had very little
contact with artists, except by going to a few exhibits. I talked with a
couple of painters, they seemed to either be slavishly imitating european
realism, or trying to understand modernism (usually, not very well). I
cannot fault them for trying to understand (yet failing) at modern schools
of painting. However, the most exciting artworks I found were done as
traditional calligraphy. I saw very exciting works of calligraphy that
rivalled modern painting in their expressive qualities. Perhaps it is only
when we work within a constricted, limited genre, that we can push the
boundaries, and surpass our limits. Well, anyway, I was quite influenced by
these works, and I purchased quite a few calligraphy supplies myself, and
started doing a few simple watercolors, executed with small chinese
brushes, while i was in Japan. When I returned, instead of doing bright
colorful abstract oil paintings, as I had been doing, I started doing some
stark calligraphic black and white abstract paintings on paper with these
wonderful japanese brushes. At first, I was imitating some of the works I
saw, the new paintings were pretty bad, but I suppose I had to work out a
few technical issues. But finally, I brought something completely new to my
work, inspired by these works of calligraphy, but not in any way I could
explain. Now, instead of quickly expressing with stark black strokes of
sumi ink, I'm slowly building up ghostly images from thinned black and
white tempera, but still based on the drama of large calligraphic strokes.
Everyone is excited about my new works. It is always hard to draw something
new into one's work. I don't want to think about it too hard, I'm only now
getting something out of the work. Its been hard to pull this all together.
So, anyway, to the bigger issues. How does one integrate more than one
cultural influence into one's work? Well, we've been doing it all along.
Modern painting, at least in the eurocentric view, is a mix of french,
italian, german, etc. painting histories. I think what you're getting at,
is, how does "East meet West"...? These cultures have traditionally been
considered completely at opposite ends of the spectrum, in fact, the 'east
meets west' phrase is an american phrase often used to represent two
mutually incompatible things.. But, I prefer to think that these things are
not exclusive, in fact, they have more in common than anyone would think.
In the past, in Europe there have been major currents of influence from
Asia and Japan specifically. For example, the influence of Japanese
printmaking on the Impressionists is well known (well, at least to art
historians). The influence of Western art on Japan and Asian artists is
less successful, and less well known. There are some embarassingly bad
paintings from the early Meiji era, there are examples of japanese
landscape paintings with figures dressed in european costumes; there are
also Japanese subjects painted in european styles a la Reubens. These
paintings are often considered a historical aberration, a byproduct of the
clash of cultures from the opening of Japan and the explosion of interest
in european things. Amusingly, one of my professors told me a story; he
said that many of the early Meiji painters studied european paintings in
books, from really bad black and white photographs. They built their
aesthetics on these reproductions, and drew some misleading lessons from
the works. Some of them would travel to europe to view the actual works,
where they were often severely disappointed when they saw the real works!
Well, let us assign that era to the dusty shelves of the History museum,
where it's been ignored for quite a few decades, probably with good
reason..
Well, anyway, so what's a modern crosscultural painter to do? Gee, I don't
know. I've known painters who did cross-cultural pastiche, for example, one
guy does AIDS commentaries, his prints look like Ukiyo-e, but the Geisha
are all fiddling with condoms. The works really fall flat, because once we
understand the irony of doing an old style with a modern subject matter,
the work has no further interest. They are like the strange Meiji
paintings. We need something more. I guess, all you can do is be true to
yourself. You surely can identify those things in the paintings of both
cultures (well, I'm assuming you're a painter) that hold your interest.
These things 'inform' our painting, and are our source of inspiration. It
is probably not necessary to make these things too explicit. Let me give
you another example. I'm in an advanced painting class, with a group of
korean women. They are generally spending their time doing studies of
european paintings, for example, I've seen one of the women doing copies of
paintings by Klimt and Picasso. Yet, their own sketchbooks have exciting
abstract works. I don't know why they're not doing works like that, except
that they're here to in the US to study european painting. Don't fall into
these traps. Keep what's best of what you know, do what you feel best
doing. Don't worry about trying to make your work say something explicit,
some commentary on the crosscultural influences, it will probably fail.
Just try to make paintings that satisfy YOU. When you are satisfied with
your work, other people will see something in your work too.
Well, anyway, I've gone on too long. I hope I've raised a few new ideas for
you. Feel free to drop me an email, or maybe just continue to discuss this
in the public newsgroup.
amerika de benkyou suru no o ganbatte!!
| Charles Eicher |
| -=- |
| cei...@inav.net |
David Harleyson
In article <1996Nov4.1...@bvu.edu>, hash...@bvu.edu says...
> Now I am thinking about my art work as a student who knows the both
>culture. How can I express myself in my art works?
It is impossible for anyone else to answer this question for you for obvious
reasons. Art is a very personal matter, no matter what your background,
or interests. The diversity in the arts is one thing -- the diversity in people
another.
>People sometimes would
>be attracted by foreign arts. People might want me take in Japanese elements
>in my art works.
If you are strongly influenced by your cultural past, it will undoubtedly show
in your art without you having to make a conscious effort to have it show.
If you want people to see the Asian influences in your art work, they will.
On the other hand, I'm sure you could effectively emulate western art to
the point where no one would know what your background is. Again, this
is a personal choice you alone can make.
How do you see foreign arts? Do you see any culture
>differences in those arts?
Of course -- there are always very distinctive differences in the arts of
various geographic regions -- that is what makes the world an interesting
place to live. But once again, that doesn't mean that someone who is of
Asian education can't imitate European art so skillfully that the viewer
cannot see the Asian influences. I personally think it is the diversity of
our cultures that needs to be preserved and encouraged.
It is to very regretful to me that everyone in the world now wears the
Levi's and blue jeans that I once thought of as being distinctively Western
USA. It is unsettling to me to see the Asian arts
being subverted by artists who think they must mimick European or
American art to make their work viable. I am encouraged when I see news
articles like the one just published about a 17th century Korean vase
selling at auction for millions of dollars -- the highest price EVER paid
for an Asian art object.
>When I saw American student's paintings in my first
>painting class, I thought that their paintings were different from mine.
I would hope that it stays that way. Exaggerate and amplify the differences,
that is my advice. All the best to you in your search for individuality. D.H.
Kajojacobs
**Applause!***Applause!** I knew there would be a good answer to this
post.
A very good read on both counts.
-Karen
=====================
In article <55m7ll$4...@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu>, no...@email.com (David
Harleyson) writes:
~Karen Jacobs~
David Harleyson
In article <55ong5$c...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, kajoj...@aol.com says...
>**Applause!***Applause!** I knew there would be a good answer to this
>post.
> A very good read on both counts.
> -Karen
>=====================
A faithful fan to the end, eh? Love it -- and you.
Thanks for the support. D.H.
kajoj...@aol.com
In article <55sqf8$6...@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu>, no...@email.com (David
Harleyson) writes:
>
>>**Applause!***Applause!** I knew there would be a good answer to this
>>post.
>> A very good read on both counts.
>> -Karen
>>=====================
>
>A faithful fan to the end, eh? Love it -- and you.
>Thanks for the support. D.H.
================
Careful - you know I come from the wrong side of the tracks - my opinion
isn't worth much. (But we've danced this dance before, haven't we?)
That aside - that post and it's answer(s) was RecArtsFine at it's finest.
Worth the wade...I mean wait.
~Karen Jacobs~
David Harleyson
In article <19961108114...@ladder01.news.aol.com>, kajoj...@aol.com says...
>Careful - you know I come from the wrong side of the tracks - my opinion
>isn't worth much. (But we've danced this dance before, haven't we?)
And as you have learned by now, I still reside there. Something akin
to using the wrong side of the brain. Keeps me walking in circles.
Difference between us is that I am old enough to remember the
sound of steam whistles passing in the night. Now I am jarred
awake by the blare of the air horns. Nostalgic, as I am, I find the
whistle/horn analogy true for the arts too. Ho hum huh . . .
Alabest to ya, D.H.
PS Let's do the Macarena next.