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Art has been a part of man’s quest for knowledge. Man aimed to capture and the concretion of what comes to the imagination of the human psyche. Objects with a physical or tangible counterpart are easier to recreate in a painter’s canvas and an artwork of extreme beauty can be produced. But what about the metaphysical realm where so-called objects may not have a physical counterpart? How would artists make them as a subject of a painting for example? What is invisible and the stuff of dreams and how artists would try to recreate them somehow helped in giving birth to Surrealism.
Surrealism began as a cultural movement that transcended artworks in the form of paintings. It has also become known as a movement in poems, film and music from the 1920’s until today. Surrealism as an art movement was seen and originated from the beliefs of Dadaists, who believed that too much of irrationality in thoughts and values have been bringing the terrible conflict that was then happening in the world especially during World War I.
Surrealism was said to be the founded mainly by the French writer Andre Breton who was known then as a Dadaist. He wrote the three manifestos about surrealism, notably the “Surrealist Manifesto” in which he defined surrealism as pure psychic automatism. Breton had training in the field of medicine and psychiatry where he was able to encounter the theories of psychoanalysis first hand which had a great influence on the art movement.
Surrealists are interested in trying to capture what the human psyche are trying to convey unconsciously. Surrealism takes great interest in the metaphysical aspect of life and tries to capture images that has been considered as a product of a dream or of the unconscious mind. That is why most surrealist paintings were generally based on dreams and irrational fantasies. Surrealist paintings, because of their metaphysical principles, were usually filled with familiar objects and images which were painted to look strange or mysterious. Surrealist painters and artists aimed to make people take a look at things differently through their odd paintings and other artworks. The uniqueness and mostly irrational combination of images that form part of the artwork might help stir up feelings in the back of peoples minds and make them view things a a different light.
Salvador Dali was an artist most famous for his Surrealist art works. He was known to create surrealistic masterpieces that boggled the mind yet sparked some interest due to their fantastic yet fascinating compositions. One of his most notable works included a painting named “Persistence of Time” which was famous for depicting a number of melting pocket watches over a surrealistic sea and yellow tinged cliffs as background. Surrealist painters such as Dali aimed to bring out the inner realities, fantasies and messages that might come out from the human unconscious mind. Surrealistic are thought of as a link between the spiritual aspects and the realistic objects of the material world.
April 17th, 2007
Japanese aesthetics is closely tied in with what is considered beautiful in Japanese culture. An astonishing and unsurpassed aesthetic sense is grasped, yet one can be bewildered as to how to make sense of it. This is particularly obvious in traditional music and theater such as Kabuki and Noh. There is a pace and distinctiveness in these arts unlike Western music and theater. This difference is such that by viewing Japanese arts from our typically (and I would even say, to a large extent hegemonic) Western viewpoint, we might miss the point, although we can greatly enjoy them, and acknowledge their unmistakable aesthetic.
In this article, I would like to briefly present three of the main principles of the Japanese aesthetic, principles that also play a role in other aspects of Japanese lives and minds, in the hope to give to travelers and enthusiasts of Japanese culture a way to better enjoy and aesthetically grasp Japanese arts.
These three concepts are the following: naru, which means “becoming”, ma, which is translated as “space”, but which means much more than a bare physical space, and jo-ha-kyû, an aesthetic concept which structures most forms of art and which is closely related to naru.
Naru
Naru means “becoming”, but a becoming dependent on time, in which all events of life flow progressively from one to another, or more specifically, in which each event is created from the previous one in an unbroken time span. The notion of becoming in Japanese philosophy is a creative process controlled by a vital energy called musubi (literally meaning the spirit of fecundity), which propels the events of life from one state to another through time. In this line of thought, time is viewed as a natural process through which life evolves. It is not an abstract concept distinct from life as is the case in Western cultures. Time is viewed as fundamentally fluid; it cannot thus be fixed and strictly organized. Time in this particular sense cannot be controlled or manipulated; it can only be grasped through its motions. It is a time impregnated with all that it brings to life. Time is thus perceived as a dynamic and evolutionary flow of life, each event being a creation or an outcome of the previous one. The concept of naru has its origin in traditional Japanese society before its main contacts with China and Chinese influences in the second half of the first millennium, predating the advent of Buddhism.
Ma
Ma, for its part, is generally translated as “space,” but it can also mean “time.” It refers to the space between events, as it is being perceived by someone, as well as being expressed by an artist. It is not an abstractly calculated space, as is conceived by Westerners, but rather a sensory, and I would even suggest, a “sensually” perceived space. For musicians and actors, ma refers to the expressive space between musical events; it becomes in this sense a measure of artistic expression. For art lovers, it is that space between oneself while perceiving, and what is being perceived in the flow of time.
April 17th, 2007
Post-colonialism is primarily a set of theories focused on literature, film and philosophy. It basically deals with issues for societies that have undergone colonialism: the task of developing a national identity of years of foreign rule, of finding the right voice to express issues and concerns of their own culture. There isn’t a single definition of post-colonial theory but it is a method of dealing with colonialism. All the theorists agree that colonialism still lends an incredible amount of influence on the culture of the colonized long after achieving independence. While post-colonial theory deals mainly with literature and film, it has also been reflected in art.
Southeast Asia has been the most affected with colonialism in the twentieth century. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos were colonized by the French. Malaysia and Myanmar by the British; Indonesia by the Dutch; and the Philippines by the Spanish and the Americans. By the 1960s all of Southeast Asia has regained their independence. The daunting problem of self-rule and finding their own identity now face the young countries, and this can be seen in the art and culture of the countries.
Like all colonized countries, culture during colonialism is a slavish reproduction of the colonizers own culture. A prime example would be British India where the upper classes strove to be more British than the British. Southeast Asian art in the early decades of the twentieth century was highly influenced by European art. With the advent of independence and the birth of nationalism, artists eschewed those Western influences and turned to traditional and folk arts.
The traditional styles adopted by artists during the middle of the century spawned a debate over the relationship of the East and West. Anything modern was equated with Westernization and colonialism, while traditional styles symbolized the search for a national identity. But by the mid 80s and 90s Southeast Asian artists overcame their reluctance of using modern art. The post modern era has succeeded in the creation of many art works that are a blend of many sources but is still deeply personal and rooted in local concerns.
The rise of communism in some parts of Southeast Asia have stunted the growth of art especially in Burma, Vietnam and Laos. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge put a decisive end to the arts, along with all forms of intellectual life. Following their reign, however, the country begins to develop a vibrant cultural life. In Burma, there is still a very limited art scene.
National identity is still a major concern for many Southeast Asian nations in this millennium. The effects of colonialism has left an undeniable mark on the cultures of these nations and it is reflected in their culture most especially art and literature.
April 17th, 2007