Jōmon 縄文 - Dogū 土偶

Some of the most fascinating pottery ever made in Japan dates back to the Jomon period (about 10,000 BC to 300 BC). The open-pit fired large vessels had the most amazing decorative features and continue to inspire potters today, most notably the late Okabe Mineo, Mashiko's Shimaoka Tatsuzo, and Bizen's "kiln god" Mori Togaku.

In 1990, the Shigaraki Ceramic Park Museum hosted an exhibition entitled Primitivism in Contemporary Ceramics highlighting many Jomon works and how they relate to what's happening now. The grand flowing traditions of Japanese ceramic art thrive today due to the living presence and inspiration that past works impart. There is no now without the past and there is no future without the now.

Some of the most intriguing works from the Jomon period are clay figurines called dogu. There are many theories on what they were used for with the main agreement being they were a talisman for good health or safe childbirth. As many were excavated in fragments, it's believed that after the wish was fulfilled, or not, the dogu was broken and thrown on the trash heap; that's where many were discovered. Another theory is that these were goddesses to whom Jomon people prayed to for food and health. Other explanations are toys for children, funerary offerings, or objects used in some unknown ritual. And, of course, there are those who believe they were aliens from outer space. Yet, if you look at similar primitive artifacts from around the world (the Valdivia culture of Ecuador, for example) there is a certain resemblance that can't be explained in logical terms. It might have been part of the collective consciousness of the times though, or did earth in fact have space-suited visitors from a distant galaxy? This dogu sure seems to fit the match! 

Dogu were found all over Japan with northern Japan, the Tohoku region, yielding the most variety. Dogu first appeared in early Jomon but began to flourish in Middle Jomon through Late Jomon. (For a timeline outlining the development of Japanese pottery, please click here.) Many of them have the distinctive Jomon rope-cord patterns while others have been intricately carved with arabesque-like designs. Some in outer-space garb are known as the "goggles type" and no explanation is needed for that naming. Whatever the markings, they are all eerily moving and can't help but spark one's imagination in wondering about life so many thousand of years ago, and the miracle it is today.

As Joseph Campbell once wrote: "Take, for example, a pencil, ashtray, anything, and holding it before you in both hands (in this case looking at dogu), regard it for awhile. Forgetting its name and use, yet continuing to regard it, ask yourself seriously, What is it? Its dimension of wonder opens, for the mystery of the being of that thing is identical with the mystery of the being of the universe, and yourself."

Source : Japanese Pottery Information center
Link : Wikipedia

Future Beauty - 30 years of Japanese Fashion 2012.7.28 - 2012.10.8

Link : Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art

STUDIO MUMBAI at TOTO Gallery・MA 2012.7.12 - 2012.9.22

In the next event at TOTO GALLERY・MA, the specialty architecture and design gallery operated by the TOTO Ltd. , we present STUDIO MUMBAI: PRAXIS, an exhibition which focuses on STUDIO MUMBAI, the firm overseen by one of India’s foremost contemporary architects, Bijoy Jain.

After studying architecture at university in India using the traditional educational technique centering on the teachings of a single professor (or “guru”), Jain moved to the U.S. to study Western architectural theory. Then, after getting practical experience in firms in both the U.S. and the U.K., he established STUDIO MUMBAI in his hometown of Mumbai, and began his career as a full-fledged architect. Making use of traditional techniques that have been handed down from generation to generation in India, and incorporating the cultural climate of the area, Jain has continued to make works that are notable for their rich qualities and spatiality.

The work of STUDIO MUMBAI is distinguished by the fact that the entire process from preparing the lot to the design and construction of the building are carried out manually by a network of architects and skilled craftsmen. The studio’s workshop is staffed by approximately 120 highly capable, resident artisans (carpenters, stone-masons, ironsmiths, metal workers, and well-sinkers among them) from various regions of India who, under Jain’s direction, analyze topographic and climatic conditions, dig wells to ensure a source of water, and create architecture using locally-derived materials and construction methods.

The reliable technical prowess of these artisans, who possess a variety of traditional knowhow passed down to them orally from their ancestors, is indispensable in building structures that can withstand the relentless conditions of violent heat in the dry season and monsoons in the rainy season. Based on their wisdom and skill, the architecture that emerges under Jain’s deeply considered direction promises its users a comfortable life in the area and at the same time contains an abundance of poetic sentiment that harmonizes with the landscape.

Moreover, Jain furnishes the artisans with sketchbooks and provides them with drawing lessons. In effect, the workers who, never having received a formal education are fundamentally illiterate, study how to “design” a building as they continue their work every day. While serving as the architectural head of STUDIO MUMBAI, Jain is also the leader of an extraordinarily skilled group of people, and is both a noted director who drives their talents, and an educator who teaches through his buildings.

Through his relationships with researchers and architects throughout the world, Jain assimilates the latest knowledge and ideas. And by staying abreast of the current conditions in India through his research in various Indian cities, and continually engaging in dialogues with his craftsmen and partners, he maneuvers a diverse range of skills and techniques in the right direction in order to realize a genuine work of architecture backed by a clear philosophy.

According to Jain, the title of this exhibition, PRAXIS, signifies a human approach to a specific practice, nature or society, and as a word that corresponds to the abstract notion of “theory,” suggests the process that stretches from “idea” to “practice.” In light of the fact that STUDIO MUMBAI is an open-door community populated by those with a desire to creature architecture as they move back and forth between a variety of ideas and practices to attain the optimal goal, the word is also suggestive of the firm’s work and existence as a whole.

In this exhibition, materials, models, sketches, and mockups that were actually used at STUDIO MUMBAI will be transported from India and reconstructed in Japan’s capital in a presentation called “STUDIO MUMBAI in Tokyo.” Visitors will have an opportunity to experience the air, light, and sound of STUDIO MUMBAI with all of their senses, and experience the world that Jain has realized while enjoying documentary information on the entire journey of Praxis.

TOTO GALLERY・MA

 

Link : TOTO gallery - MA Studio

Suna no onna 砂の女 (La femme des sables), Techigahara Hiroxhi, 1964

The Woman in the Dunes (砂の女 Suna no onna, literally "Sand woman," also translated as The Woman of the Dunes) is a film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara and released in 1964. The screenplay for the film was adapted by Kōbō Abe from his 1962 novel of the same name.

An entomologist, Junpei Niki (played in the film by Eiji Okada), is on an expedition to collect insects which inhabit sand dunes. When he misses the last bus, villagers suggest he stay the night. They guide him down a rope ladder to a house in a sand quarry where a young widow (Kyoko Kishida) lives alone. She is employed by the villagers to dig sand for sale and to save the house from burial in the advancing sand.
When Junpei tries to leave the next morning, he finds the ladder removed. The villagers inform him that he must help the widow in her endless task of digging sand. Junpei initially tries to escape; upon failing he takes the widow captive but is forced to release her in order to receive water from the villagers.
Junpei becomes the widow's lover. However, he still desperately wants to leave. One morning, he escapes from the sand dune and starts running while being chased by the villagers. Junpei is not familiar with the geography of the area and eventually gets trapped in some quicksand. The villagers free him from the quicksand and then return him back to the widow.
Eventually, Junpei resigns himself to his fate. Through his persistent effort to trap a crow as a messenger, he discovers a way to draw water from the damp sand at night. He thus becomes absorbed in the task of perfecting his technology and adapts to his "trapped" life. The focus of the film shifts to the way in which the couple cope with the oppressiveness of their condition and the power of their physical attraction in spite of — or possibly because of — their situation.
At the end of the film Junpei gets his chance to escape, but he chooses to prolong his stay in the dune. A report after seven years declaring him missing is then shown hanging from a wall, written by the police and signed by his mother Shino.

Eiji Okada – Entomologist Niki Junpei
Kyōko Kishida – Woman
Hiroko Ito – Entomologist's wife (in flashbacks)
Koji Mitsui
Sen Yano
Kinzo Sekiguchi

Source : Wikipedia