Adra
Maner
Bibbs
Writing
II
First
Draft
04/25/12
The World of Imagination, built from
disaster.
At
the beginning of my research paper my goal was to determine the differences
between art before and after the great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. As I began
to research the idea that quite a lot of work had been made as a direct result
of the disaster this idea was quickly proven as untrue. Though artwork is
continuing to be made there are few pieces made in direct response to the
earthquake. Works that were made depicting actual scenes of the disaster are
the exception and not the rule.
Instead of finding a gritty and hard look
at reality that was brought about by the earthquake. I found instead a portal
that had been opened into the world of child-like imagination. Contemporary
artists in Japan have channeled a certain child-like naivety along with
references to pop culture, traditional myths. Using these themes they create
artwork that allows their audiences to escape to a different and less cruel
world.[1]
It seems that rather then depict what
their audience already sees in their daily lives the artists seek to portray a
way to escape from reality while at the same time showing allusions to things
happening in the real world.
Other artists have taken a more stylistic
approach and have returned to their roots. One example of this is the works of
Yoshitomo Nara who described himself as being ‘heartsick’ after the quake.
Living only an hour from the ground zero of Fukushima, Nara fled his studio,
and started to help with recovery efforts. He wondered whether he could make
artwork again. After searching for a solution he decided to return to his roots
and asked to be able to use the studios at his alma mater the Aichi Prefectural
University of Fine Arts. Nara worked among the students and as he talked to
them and learned from them his style changed[2]
Surrounded by these students whose views
on art he has described as ‘strict’ but pure’ Nara has begun to experiment by
creating 6-foot tall clay sculptures of children’s heads which have a more
texture focused approach then his previous sculptures. Even his drawing style
has also begun to change. His characteristic drawings of young girls sport
feathered swirls on their cheeks and cross hatching marks through out the
compositions. Despite the new found textures the figures sport softer and more
chubby cheeked feathers as opposed to the figures in his art pre-disaster who’s
faces are tough and in a way seemed hardened like masks[3]
[1] “Section 2:
Imaginary world/Phantasms,” Moscow museum of modern art, accessed April 23,
2012, http://www.mmoma.ru/en/exhibitions/gogolevsky/fantasii/
[2] Crow, Kelly,
March 11,2012 (2:24 pm), “A Japanese Artist Finds New Life A Year After the
Quake,” The Wall Street Journal Arts and
Entertainment Blog, April 25, 2012, http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/03/11/a-japanese-artist-finds-new-life-a-year-after-the-quake/
[3] Crow, Kelly,
“A Japanese Artist Finds New Life A Year After the Quake”
