When I asked Nihonga painter (traditional japanese painter) Taro Yamamoto, if making a copy of one of his paintings would be a problem, he answered ‘no, I sometimes reuse parts of my paintings or copy them if people ask so’. He stated that art and crafts are very much related to each other. So if making a new bowl or paper roll with the same shape or calligraphy is not a problem. Why should making Lees verder
For traditional carpenters looking at the wood joints of the machiya, old wooden houses and temples must be like heaven. And ‘fortunately’ most of the houses and temples are burned down or rebuilt. So this technique is still alive and passed to future generations. I attended a meeting for people living in a machiya. Several different wood joints were exposed: for vertical beam, horizontal beams, corner joints. They looked like a puzzle and took for Lees verder
For years I’ve been interesting in what people take with them when they have to leave, what kind of immaterial things like memories, thoughts, images, smells are important for people’s memory and future. I made cupboards and suitcases for them. Although people in Japan try to keep their rooms empty, they have a lot of storage space and they’re fully packed. The concept of ‘mottanai’ (don’t waste) is very common and a big tradition. On Lees verder
What is beauty? Should art be beautiful? Last week during the presentation of Alex de Wolf’s work (one of the participants in this AIR project) we had an interesting discussion about beauty and art. He showed a temple surrounded by electricity wires. He painted exactly the image he saw in his framing. But the painting was not so much appreciated by the Japanese audience. They appreciate the beauty in a painting, when it’s an idealistic Lees verder
One of the nicknames for the machiya is ‘eel beds’ (unagi no nedoko) Taxes in Kyoto were paid according to the plot’s width. So most of the houses have a small front and are deep to the back. This explains this nickname. But Japanese also have a concept for creating depth oku. The oku concept is one where there is always something in front of us, which encourages people to keep moving forward and search deeper. Lees verder
‘Perfection is not achieved when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.’ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Although written by the french writer of ‘Le petit prince’, this is truly an eastern point of view. What Japanese people appreciate as perfection or beauty is not a white technically perfect shaped object. In all craftswork (pottery, calligraphy, flower arranging) you should see the hand of the maker, nature related ‘imperfection’. Lees verder
Taking off your shoes is not very common in the west. At home I take of my shoes in the evening, but not during daytime. But here in Kyoto it’s an ungoing activity. – entering the house/temple -> take off my shoes, – go in the garden -> put slippers on – go back in the house/temple -> take slippers off – have a look outside -> put my shoes on – go back inside Lees verder
After one month in Kyoto my sensibility for impulses on the street is unfortunately decreasing. Part of it because I start to get used to the colors, smells, images, feelings. And part of it because now I want to arrive at a certain place for an appointment. The wandering around of the first four weeks, which were wonderful takes place for more concentrated work on my project. But my collection of photo’s is still growing Lees verder
The relationship between Japan and China is one of a long history and many different qualities. The Japanese written language (Kanji) is based on the chinese ideograms (pictorially based symbols that stand for a word). So although they can communicate by using the same Kanji, the meaning of the characters has grown apart during the years. For one day I cross the sea and show you a work by Xu Bing about language and communicating. Lees verder
Today I saw in the National Museum of Modern Art this building made out of cardboard and wood. A teahouse with tokonoma inside presented at the entrance of the museum. Here you had to bow even deeper than at the House of Joke (see yesterday’s blog) to get inside. Students from the art university explained me that it was a teahouse for temporary use. Because of the earthquake last march in Japan, we can’t make Lees verder