A Look into Three Pieces of Japanese Art
A Look into Three Pieces of Japanese Art
University of Utah Throughout time many great pieces of art have been made from all kinds of materials available to people. Some works are made to last throughout time, while others are doomed to fall, and yet some are rebuilt from their remains. Some are meant to be functional to us in daily life, and some are meant to be functional to open our minds when we see them. The three pieces that I have chosen to discuss all have the same protagonist: Japanese life. While these three pieces can in no way come close to defining or summing up what Japanese life is, they can be symbolic towards small pieces of japans history and culture. From an instrument of decoration to destruction, the samurai sword will forever hold a piece of Japanese culture. The sword in particular I have chosen to highlight is called the Honjo Masamune. You may think it odd for a sword to have a name, however I shall explain why they do. With the dropping of the Atomic Bomb, there was left in its place a feeling of hollowed emptiness of what once was. This sensation is captured no better than with Onishi Yasuaki’s installation, called Reverse of Volume RG. Out of this emptiness was seen hope for the future, a need for honoring those that died, and the reconstruction. Like a literal phoenix from the ashes, the Fukusai-ji Temple is a perfect embodiment of this concept. Before I go into detail on the latter two of these, let me give you some more information on just what the sword meant to the Japanese on a cultural and individual level, and why a sword is given its own name. War, death, destruction, power… These are all terms that can be symbolically connected to the sword. But to Japanese, the sword holds much more than these things. More than just sharp pieces of steel, the sword also symbolizes honor, pride, respect, and even beauty. A Samurai carries two swords at nearly all times, a Katana and the shorter Wakisashi (or sidearm). It is a Samurai’s
University of Utah Throughout time many great pieces of art have been made from all kinds of materials available to people. Some works are made to last throughout time, while others are doomed to fall, and yet some are rebuilt from their remains. Some are meant to be functional to us in daily life, and some are meant to be functional to open our minds when we see them. The three pieces that I have chosen to discuss all have the same protagonist: Japanese life. While these three pieces can in no way come close to defining or summing up what Japanese life is, they can be symbolic towards small pieces of japans history and culture. From an instrument of decoration to destruction, the samurai sword will forever hold a piece of Japanese culture. The sword in particular I have chosen to highlight is called the Honjo Masamune. You may think it odd for a sword to have a name, however I shall explain why they do. With the dropping of the Atomic Bomb, there was left in its place a feeling of hollowed emptiness of what once was. This sensation is captured no better than with Onishi Yasuaki’s installation, called Reverse of Volume RG. Out of this emptiness was seen hope for the future, a need for honoring those that died, and the reconstruction. Like a literal phoenix from the ashes, the Fukusai-ji Temple is a perfect embodiment of this concept. Before I go into detail on the latter two of these, let me give you some more information on just what the sword meant to the Japanese on a cultural and individual level, and why a sword is given its own name. War, death, destruction, power… These are all terms that can be symbolically connected to the sword. But to Japanese, the sword holds much more than these things. More than just sharp pieces of steel, the sword also symbolizes honor, pride, respect, and even beauty. A Samurai carries two swords at nearly all times, a Katana and the shorter Wakisashi (or sidearm). It is a Samurai’s
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