Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination.

Written by Anne Allison 2006.
This is where the term Techno-animism was coined. Allison discusses Japanese toy production, especially after WW2. After the war Japan needed to rebuild itself as a nation and toys and technology were two areas of strength. Allison also discusses Japan's history of animism stemming from the spiritual belief in Shinto that all things possess a spirit or soul with the added influence from Zen Buddhism. Somewhat inherent in their culture, even new technology could hold spiritual powers. An example that she discussed in depth was the manga character Astro Boy ( “Mighty Atom”)manga created by Osamu Tezuka. He was half boy, half robot and a very popular character. Unlike the west where robots were depicted as untrustworthy and usually feared if portrayed in movies.

This is mecha animated by Shinto, Japan’s religion of animism in which everything is endowed with a spirit and spirituality imbues the whole universe from boulders to ants. Not particular to the main character, roboticization has seeped into the very fabric of life itself here, expressed as a universal principle where the fusing of the natural and mechanic is akin to a spiritual truth. Pg 63

Not only is boundary-crossing promiscuity rampant here, in the sense that there seems no limit to what can be conjoined and cross-pollinated with something else, but also technology (mecha) is a key component to the way life of all kinds is constituted—a priority the Japanese state placed on technology as well in its reconstruction efforts following the war. Taking account of the centrality of mecha in Japanese play goods throughout the postwar period to the present, I call this aesthetic techno-animism. Pg 13

Techno-animism in Japan: Shinto Cosmograms, Actor-network Theory, and the Enabling Powers of Non-human Agencies

Techno-animism in Japan: Shinto Cosmograms, Actor-network Theory, and the Enabling Powers of Non-human Agencies Casper Bruun Jensen and Anders Blok Theory Culture Society 2013 30: 84

Jenson and Blok produce a rather lengthy article that discusses the influence on Shinto and Buddhism on Japanese culture, especially technology. They discuss how Shinto can be interpreted as a form of animism, where spiritual qualities or souls are projected onto inanimate natural objects.  But how can this idea be transferred onto modern technology?  They suggested Shinto helps us rethink the modern world. (97) How can such a spiritual belief fit in with modern technology?

They discuss medical researchers, conservationists, animator Miyazaki Hayao and robotics as modern examples of Shinto influence.  The Japanese see no distinction between non-human in nature and non-human in technology. In Shinto everything is capable of holding spirit.

They suggest the new interest in ecology and the preservation not just of humans but of the whole environment, including non-humans hints at a relinking with religion.

Aesthetically pleasing landscapes may inspire a sense of awe in humans; as may, indeed, the surprise encounter with an attractively strange and playful robotic creature like the AIBO-the-dog. Pg 105

They talk about Japanese Anime ability to move from human to non- human to robotic to spirits to animals or polymorphous perversity.  Traditionally Japan has a more generous spirit towards robots and cyborgs. He introduces the term techno-animisim as coined by Anne Allison in Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination.

He mentions how it is very difficult to trace back the history of Shintoism and also it's relationship with Buddhism.

Aesthetically pleasing landscapes may inspire a sense of awe in humans; as may, indeed, the surprise encounter with an attractively strange and playful robotic creature like AIBO-the-dog. Pg 105

Six Names of Beauty CRISPIN SARTWELL

Six Names of Beauty  CRISPIN SARTWELL

ROUTLEDGE     NEW YORK AND LONDON

Seeing as Wabi Sabi is a difficult term to understand, I thought including as many different interpretations as I could will add to my understanding. I quite like Sartwell's as listed below.

But let’s focus on two other terms: “wabi” and “sabi.” These merge into a single aesthetic or kind of beauty—wabi-sabi—that is related both to shibusa and to yugen, but which has a different emotional tone. Wabi is most directly translated as “poverty,” and initially in its history had all the negative connotations of that state. The life of the peasant—hard, humble, and bare—is wabi. Wabi as an aesthetic term refers to the sort of roughness that one might find in a peasant hut: to everyday, inexpensive wares, to things still in use long after they are worn and cracked. Wood for the fire is wabi, as are the stone hearth and the fire itself. Wabi as beauty is humility, asymmetry, and imperfection, a beauty of disintegration, of soil, autumn leaves, grass in drought, crow feathers. For such reasons, an appreciation of wabi is an affirmation of the world and a certain sort of refusal of its transformation for delectation. Wabi as an aesthetic is a connection to the world in its imperfection, a way of seeing imperfection as itself embodying beauty.

      Sabi means “loneliness,” again originating in a word that is largely negative. In part, one might think of sabi as the subjective state that is appropriate to the experience of wabi: a kind of desolation or meditative depression that can be sweet. But it also refers to solitude both as a state of aloneness in persons and as a spareness of objects. Japanese flower arrangements (ikebana), for example, can have a sabi quality in comparison with Western styles, because they deploy extreme economy of means, perhaps only a few stems, with as much emphasis on a branch or leaf as on a blossom. Sabi is a quality of stillness and solitude, a melancholy that is one of the basic human responses to and sources of beauty. Loneliness arouses a yearning for companionship, but it is also something that can be relaxed into or, perversely, continued in the face of opportunities for its relief. Pg 102

His interpretation gets quite deep when he defines it as transcending the meaning of beauty and ugliness and of ordinary and extraordinary. That beauty can be seen in ugly objects and that something quite everyday can be extraordinary. It takes a certain kind of shift in our thinking to recognise these qualities, especially if we have grown up in a society that values perfection, straight lines and man made materials. He talks about making peace with ugliness. I liken it to falling in love. At first you may find someone unattractive but once their inner beauty has swayed you, they start to become more physically attractive. Likewise a beautiful person can become quite ugly if they have a unattractive personality. How can we make the inner beauty of an ugly object come out for all to see and appreciate?

On further reading I was interested in the discussion about Japanese gardens and ikebana. I have always enjoyed including plants into my artwork whether they were deliberately designed as a planter or if they included plants to enhance the artwork. I plants ans nature as another element to the work. Finding the right plant was a process that could take some time. Like looking for the right colour paint or cutting a piece of wood to size.

The same is true of Japanese gardens, and of ikebana, the art of flower arrangement. Rikka, the most ancient of the styles of ikebana, is designed to capture a landscape in a vase. The vase represents the source of life in earth, and is itself made of earth. The surface of the water represents the earth’s surface. Pebbles and foliage systematically correspond to landscape elements, and are designed to create a perception of indefinite depth.  Pg 108

THE JAPANESE MIND Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture

THE JAPANESE MIND Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture Edited by Roger J. Davies & Osamu Ikeno TUTTLE Publishing Tokyo   Rutland, Vermont   Singapore

In the text there was an interesting discussion about the how the modernisation of Japan has had an effect on Japanese thinking. The Wabi Sabi term stemmed from poor Japanese monks exploring the arts with humble, simple, cheap, natural materials. The whole process had a connection with Zen Buddhism and meditative discipline of mind.

Japanese culture today is highly industrialized and is quite affluent, especially compared to earlier times. Modern life and technology may contribute to the misunderstanding or ignorance about traditional cultures, religion and art forms.

I recently spent some time with my Japanese friend Maki and we discussed the idea of Wabi Sabi. For one thing there is no direct translation for English. Then she agreed that there was a whole history and nuance that was hard for her as a modern Japanese person to understand as well.

A materialistic society is perhaps opposite of what Wabi Sabi stands for. In the text they discuss that Wabi Sabi goes deeper than just surface value.

Originally, wabi and sabi were used to express the dissatisfaction of people with the difficulties of their lives; however, attitudes toward such unfavorable conditions changed under the influence of Zen. Such feelings were transformed as people began to contemplate what exists beyond manifest existence, and wabi-sabi began to play an important role in the arts as an ideal sense of beauty. Wabi-sabi is not “apparent beauty” or “atmosphere”—people can recognize these qualities only through inner contemplation which is felt unconsciously in the heart. People used to live simple lives free from materialism and had the opportunity to cultivate a sense of unity with nature. The modern Japanese lead more luxurious lives but need to realize that these lifestyles were built on other values that should not be forgotten. 229

It is interesting that out modern lives with more technology and materialism but with less nature can make us lose understanding of the Wabi Sabi meaning. I am wondering if there is possibility for a new contemporary Wabi Sabi aesthetic to evolve? Listed below from the Bibliography are the terms defined from Ohbunsha Kogojiten (Dictionary of Archaic Japanese Words, 1988.)

1. Wabu: to worry or be pessimistic, to feel lonely, to be perplexed, to be reduced to poverty, to enjoy a quiet and deserted state. Wabishi: lonely and unsatisfactory, deserted, hard and troublesome, shabby and poor, uninteresting, unbearable (Ohbunsha Kogojiten, 1988, p. 1254).

2. Sabuhas two related sets of meanings: (1) to lie in waste or go to ruin, to feel lonely, to get old; (2) to rust, to become weaker or fade, to have an elegance that comes from aging. Sabishi: quiet and lonely, discouraging because of a lack of necessities (ibid., pp. 551 & 552).

I am interested to explore in my artwork a contemporary Wabi Sabi that still evokes the above meanings but perhaps with more modern materials such as the cement I use that evoke modern day building materials with faded paint and bright colours seen in Japanese advertising. 

jaakko pallasvuo & jake and dinos chapman

I got back last week from a short 2 week trip to Germany, Spain and a few days in Prague. I had a great time and was going to do alot of reading on the plane, but was still not feeling well and ended up just watching lots of trashy movies. But there were a few good shows I saw and two that I felt was related to my research.

I'll start with Finnish artist, Jaakko Pallasvuo who was part of a group exhibition called Startpoint: Prize for Emerging Artists at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art in Prague, Chech.
Pallasvo's work Reverse Engineering,2013, stood out for because initially it was a digital video to be viewed on the internet. Then it drew me in with it's continually changing content. It reminded me of a blog with lot's of highly personal content. He talks directly to the web cam and even gives instructions to the viewer about making such videos. He discusses computer gam levels, art, film, interent, live journals, production and insecurities. He sound such as an annoying pop song and voice overs of men and women. The imgaes are of him talking, computer generated character talking, crude 3d computer graphic images and video games. He uses a few simple video effects to keep the work interesting. 

Next i saw a big show of Jake and Dinos Chapman at Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague. Very grotesque but the anthropomorphic kids were quite interesting.

jaakko pallasvuo
Reverse Engineering
Galerie Rudolfinum

Wabi Sabi – the Japanese art of impermanence

Wabi Sabi – the Japanese art of impermanence

Andrew Juniper

Japanese culture, art and aesthetics have had a major influence on my artwork. There is a term called Wabi Sabi that can not be directly translated into English but refers to a type of aesthetic influenced by a number of factors. It stemmed from Zen Buddhism, that in turn was influenced by Chinese Taoism. Zen Buddhist monks were interested in artistic practices because they saw artistry in every aspect of life. The term seishintouistu refers to a meditative state that your mind enters when it has a single mined focus on one activity and as a result a loss of ego occurs. 

The monks could only afford cheap, humble natural materials and grew to notice the qualities in natural materials like bamboo. Inconsistencies symbolised something called mujo or impermanence. Wabi-sabi was also a backlash against the highly ornate, expensive, perfect Chinese objects.

As Wikipedia states, Wabi-sabi (侘寂) represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". It is a concept derived from the Buddhist teaching of the three marks of existence (三法印 sanbōin), specifically impermanence (無常 mujō), the other two being suffering (苦 ku) and emptiness or absence of self-nature (空 kū).

Juniper states the term Wabi sabi suggests such qualities as impermanence, humility, asymmetry, and imperfection. Pg2

These were the aspects investigated in Zen Buddhism. The monks saw Wab-sabi as a way to communicate spiritual messages.

I see Wabi-sabi as a respect for natural materials, finding beauty in the inconsistencies and as a result seeing it as a metaphor for the impermanence of our existence. Within this book Juniper discusses how modern Japan may be losing the influence of the traditional Wabi-sabi aesthetic but the subliminal influence is still significant in contemporary society.

I have been meditating for about 15 years now, not totally consistently but have experienced the benefits, one of which is better access to my creative mind and ideas. I also feel similar benefits when I enter my studio and get absorbed in the art making process.

It was also interesting in this book the list of design principles that Wabi-sabi adhered to such as;

- organic, natural materials

- no shiny materials

- materials that show the passage of time

- materials whose devolution is expressive and attractive

- the form dictated by materials

- asymmetrical or irregular

- artlessness not artistry

- evolves naturally, not forced

- no symbolism

- texture is rough and uneven

- variegated and random

- natural sporadic texture

- disregard for conventional beauty

- beauty in the smallest imperceptible details

- no harsh or strong colours, natural colours favoured

- subdued lighting

- matte, murky, lacking uniformity colours

- no embellishment or ostentation

- unrefined and raw

- use freely available materials

- areas of unused space

- observe physical balances as found in nature

- no formula or regular shapes

- unforced balance

- be sensitive of impermanence

- be humble, sincere, personal

Dada – Art and Anti Art. Hans Richter.

In his book Dada - Art and Anti Art, Hans Richter (1965) discusses the element of chance within the art movement DADA. I think the element of chance relates quite highly to error and serendipitous mistakes. Richter thought it was quite central to Dada art and opened up new areas to art that had not been explored before and gave a new sense of freedom to the process.

The Dadaists asked the question what is chance and where does it lie within us? Dada artists read Jung who discussed coincidence, synchronicity, causality. They saw chance as a magical way of entering the unconscious mind or the soul. They saw is as a way to restore art back to it's primevel powerful state.

We were fated to live with the paradoxical necessity of entrusting ourselves to chance while at the same time remembering that we were conscious beings working towards conscious goals. This contradiction between the rational and the irrational opened a bottomless pit over which we had to walk.  Pg 61

Humour and laughter was also an important part of their art. Dada arose as a backlash of the times when the War had such a serious impact on society.

I see the connection to chance within art to primitive urges and animism. Tapping into the unconscious, entering into chance and accepting primitve urges are all realted. I want to encourge more chance within my artwork. I am very interested as to where it will take me.

x