Performative Pictures: Imai Norio's Moving Images

In the 19th century, European society faced a turbulent period with the Industrial Revolution, forming a capitalist world market and transforming into an imperial society. The history of Western art, which sought endless challenges and quests in search of new artistic expressions, increased interest in Japanese culture and art through London in 1862 and the World Exposition in Paris in 1867. Japonism in European art went beyond shock and curiosity and became a turning point in art history. Ukiyo-e, which caused the Japanese craze in modern western society, had a significant influence on Edo period painting with a universal aesthetic and artistic value that could be enjoyed by all classes, not for a specific class. This study analyzed the trend of Japonism, which had a significant influence on the revival movement of modernist painting and decorative arts by transmitting the originality of Japanese aesthetics to French society. Based on the formative characteristics of Japonism, aesthetic values, and exotic motifs such as ukiyo-e, three makeup artworks utilizing traditional meaning and modern materials and characteristics were produced. Body art will inspire from Japanese art and create a new visual expression style in various ways to activate the artistic mix of East and West cultures and establish itself as a modern art while continuing the tradition. In addition, various contents with high utility value will be developed for body art.

The advent of digital photography has ushered in a dynamic era marked by evolving paradigms and practices in visual representation. This research delves into the profound interplay between traditional and digital photographic modalities, investigating their impact on contemporary art and society. Through an art-based research approach, this study examines an innovative artistic experiment conducted by Palestinian artist Ahmed Al-Saffarini. While Al-Saffarini's work serves as a starting point for philosophical reflection, it is the broader conceptual exploration of digital and traditional photography that forms the core of this research. By burying vintage photographic negatives underground for an extended period, Al-Saffarini sought to explore the transformative potential of integrating traditional and digital photography techniques. Drawing on a rich body of literature encompassing philosophical discourse, artistic practice, and technological advancements, this research elucidates key themes shaping the trajectory of photography in the digital age. Phenomenological perspectives illuminate the experiential dimensions of perception and consciousness inherent in the photographic medium, while scholarly debates on analogue versus digital photography underscore the epistemic complexities and artistic possibilities engendered by technological innovation. Furthermore, this study highlights photography's role as a conduit for memory, identity formation, and cultural expression in contemporary society. Through an analysis of Al-Saffarini's artistic experiment and its implications, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of photography's transformative potential and its evolving significance within the artistic landscape. Emphasising the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration and creative experimentation, this study advocates for the integration of art-based research methodologies in scholarly inquiry, thereby enriching our comprehension of photography's multifaceted nature and its enduring relevance in the digital era.

During the Taisho era, Japanese society enjoyed an unprecedented economic boom, exploiting the opportunity to supply goods overseas in the First World War. Due to the favourable economy, this commercial activity provided a conduit for western thought to flow into Japan and various public-led movements developed that sought respect for human rights and social transformation. This trend, called 'Taisho Democracy', prompted Japan's democratisation and transition to a modern state, a case of interaction between economic and political factors. Hakutei Ishii, an internationally celebrated painter and print-maker, whose innovations were highly influential in Japanese art, conducted his own unique art education at Bunka Gakuin. This chapter analyses the significance of Ishii's pedagogy in comparison with Yamamoto's free drawing education, which has received greater attention in the historiography of art education. Yamamoto lived as an artist and his mission as a reformer of art education was to abolish the practice of reproductive art and promote originality.

This paper focuses on Xu Qing’s artistic practice in the field of Guangdong Han Opera, and deeply explores his contributions to the inheritance and innovation of the genre. Through studying Xu Qing’s related practical activities, this paper analyzes his specific measures in drama creation, talent cultivation, market expansion, and cultural dissemination, and reflects on the impact and significance of these practices on the development of Guangdong Han Opera. The study finds that Xu Qing’s artistic practice provides valuable experience for the inheritance and innovation of Guangdong Han Opera in contemporary society, and is of great value for promoting the sustainable development of Guangdong Han Opera.

“Superflat” is the brainchild of the Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami, a concept that has spawned a book, a traveling exhibition, and even an art movement, according to one Los Angeles art critic.1 The term has even passed into more general parlance, recently making it past the proofreaders at the New Yorker and bolstering student presentations in architecture school critiques.2 Yet in spite of its almost self-deprecating etymology, “Superflat” is far from unnuanced or superficial and has cracked open the discourse about contemporary Japanese culture and society. Its reverberations are now starting to be felt in Western cultural circles. Like a Japanese transformer toy, it has the capacity to move and bend to engage a wide range of issues: from proposing formal historical connections between classic Japanese art and the anime cartoons of today to a Pop Art–like cross-contamination of high and low to a social critique of contemporary mores and motivations. As such, “Superflat” requires examination from a number of different angles in order to be fully appreciated and understood, and the best place to start is with Murakami himself.

In 2011, the Okinawa Prefectural Museum held a retrospective of the work of mainland Japanese artist and ethnologist Okamoto Tarō. A student of Mauss and Kojève, and Bataille’s collaborator, Okamoto was perhaps the most well-known Japanese artist of the postwar era. However, this exhibition, celebrating his fascination with Okinawan culture, provoked allegations of his desecration of rural tombs and a debate about colonial authority and Okinawan complicity. How does this shape the political implications of his theory of sacrifice? Can his commitment to transformative action be reconciled with a nativist theory of organic totality? Is there a contradiction between his focus on excessive sacrifice and his aestheticization of the creation of minimal surplus value in Okinawan society? Finally, where are the voices of Okinawans themselves in his valorization of Okinawa as an ideal for contemporary Japanese society?

The phenomenological tradition in humanities and social studies everyday life as a sphere where the norms of human existence are formed, tested, and consolidated. In this respect, procreative discourse is of interest because this sphere reproduces man as actor and creator of culture. In addition, this sphere is under the increased influence of modern biotechnology. Research in this field faces some difficulties associated with methodological diversity and interdisciplinary dialogue. The article attempts to structure contemporary everyday procreative discourse by identifying basic worldview frames. Frame analysis appears to be a productive research tool for dealing with polyphonic discourse in the field of procreation. The article identifies and interprets the systems of worldview frames: explanatory, axiological-normative and attitude-centered frames. The main content and semantic components of these systems are outlined in the article. The proliferation of institutional and theoretical discourses into everyday procreative discourse is shown, their creative interpretation by discourse participants is discussed. The paper puts forward an assumption that the idea of the value of childhood, characteristic of postfigurative (according to M. Mead) types of culture, is connected with antinatal frames of attitude. Emergence of new social practices, crisis of explanatory and axiological-normative systems of frames, as well as their competition for authority in discourse, create ethically tense zones. As such, the practices of ART, reproductive law and family-role relations stand out in contemporary society.

The aim of this article is to examine the notion of the “white cube”. The “white cube” is a specific space designed for demonstrating and exposing art objects in museums and galleries. During the 19th century, the concept of how the context of museum’s or gallery’s space influences the reception of art was widely discussed. It becomes clear that the new form of art exhibition is required. Art directors started to bring new ideas, painting the museum walls in different colors and challenging the traditional ways of hanging art objects. In the end, the new space for demonstrating and exhibiting art was installed. Brian O’Doherty, an Irish writer and artist, coined the term “the White Cube” to describe the brand-new art space. In his writings, such as Inside the White Cube: The Ideology of the Gallery Space, O’Doherty argued that the experience of art perception in the “white cube” is similar to the religious one. It was Alfred H. Barr Jr, an American art historian and the first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, who made a “white cube” the model to exhibit art in museums and galleries. Alfred Barr argued that a space for exhibiting and demonstrating modern art should have white and neutral color of the walls, and minimalistic decor; the art-space should not be ideological. Its main purpose is to demonstrate art in the most neutral way. “White cube” is a global phenomenon now, suitable for small, mid-sized galleries and the big art-fairs and Biennales as well. Therefore, it is important to observe its origins and initial purposes. Exploring the ways how the context of art gallery or museum influences the art has become the art practice itself, which is called “the institutional critique”. Accordingly, this research also examines how Marcel Duchamp, Yves Klein, Michael Asher, Daniel Buren and others creflected on the way art galleries and museums organized their activities. Article received 23.04.2018

The purpose of the article is to determine the ways of formation of still life as a genre in the first half of the 20th century and the features of its conceptualization; highlighting the creative output of representatives of the Shanghai school in the field of depicting the objective world. A wide range of visual materials is considered, and a circle of representatives of the Shanghai school who participated in the development of still life as an independent genre of painting is identified. Wu Changshu and Qi Baishi are among the most significant creators of still life. Representative samples and leading approaches to the development of the figurative structure of still life, its understanding as a complete symbolic and artistically expressive composition, as a gift and expression of an individual creative principle are identified. The connection of the Shanghai still life with the previous tradition is shown, and the decisive influence of wenrenhua aesthetics is highlighted; the significance of Shanghai as an artistic center and a cosmopolitan environment for the development of the artistic process is pointed out. It is emphasized that the still life of the Shanghai school became a transitional link to the still life of the Western style. The cultural status of still life as a result of the activity of scientists determined its perception by Japanese artists, the representatives of the Nanga school and ensured its further spread in the art of China, Japan and Korea. The main approaches to the interpretation of pictorial motifs close to still life are determined. Traditional and modern aspects in the depiction of the objective world by representatives of the Shanghai school in the first half of the 20th century are identified. The practical significance of the research results lies in the possibility of their use in the development of the conceptual framework for educational courses, textbooks, as well as in artistic and museum practices.

The aesthetic avant-garde is an international literary and artistic network and project, which arose in the early 20th century. The military and political origins of the term can be summarised into the more general meaning of the avant-garde as progressive and politically engaged art with a pioneering approach. This heterogeneous project is not a monolith but rather an ever-changing network, which is primarily characterised by its boundlessness and transgressiveness. This paper will argue that the avant-garde concept offered Japanese artists in the 1920s a method with which to overcome the legacy of the Meiji period (1868-1912), to “self-colonise” through Western concepts of art, and to enter a discourse of questioning the foundation of Japanese modern art as a transplantation and absorption of Western models. Beginning first with a general overview of the term avant-garde, this paper next examines roughly Meiji politics as one of the core reasons behind the perception of the early Japanese avant-garde in the 1920s as a simple imitation of the European model. Radical avant-garde groups such as MAVO and Sanka will be introduced as main examples for the movement, which questioned the foundation of modern art and avant-garde in Japan. Their tools for achieving this goal in the form of tendencies toward transgressions can be located in the diversity of artistic styles and genres, in the blurring of the boundary between the so-called high and low art, and in the passing from the visible to the invisible. The resulting performative act—of demonstrating the new movement in the form of a manifesto as an artistic practice and the elimination of the boundaries between the artwork and the audience—is outstanding.

La actualidad está marcada por la superproducción y consumo de imágenes que constituyen uno de los pilares de lo que se ha denominado cultura visual. La velocidad con la que actualmente se re-producen las imágenes, satura nuestra capacidad de discernir e interpretar, generando situaciones que desbordan nuestro poder de asimilación, y anula los tiempos para el análisis que precisa una mirada crítica. Ante esta espectacular densificación de la iconosfera, planteamos el concepto deruido visualcomo metáfora de esta circunstancia de sobreexposición al entramado audiovisual a la que nos vemos sometidos continuamente. La aceleración de los acontecimientos y las transformaciones tecnológicas, así como sus consecuencias, son el punto de partida de algunas propuestas que desde el ámbito de la práctica artística, visibilizan ciertas problemáticas a las que se enfrenta una sociedad marcada por el uso excesivo (abuso) de imágenes y la reiteración de contenidos.

De acuerdo con Sugimoto (2016: 227), suele describirse la sociedad japonesa como “excepcionalmente homogénea” desde el punto de vista racial y étnico, lo que niega a las minorías sociales su pertenencia al grupo y las convierte en el ‘otro cultural’. Asimismo, la animación (anime) y los cómics (manga) japoneses representan, en cierta manera, la cultura japonesa, pues la idiosincrasia de los autores acabará permeando la historia. En consecuencia, si el arte refleja la sociedad hasta cierto punto, estudiar cómo se representa al ‘otro cultural’ en la cultura popular japonesa podría ayudar a entender cómo esa sociedad reacciona ante dicha realidad. En este artículo, se analiza cómo se ha representado al ‘Otro’ en Detective Conan (una obra dirigida a un público adolescente masculino donde el autor trata de representar de forma fiable la sociedad contemporánea japonesa) e InuYasha (una obra destinada a un público adolescente femenino donde el escenario principal es una era Sengoku ficticia) con el objetivo de comprender la verdadera dimensión de la discriminación contra las minorías en Japón. Para ello, se han llevado a cabo un análisis cualitativo de los personajes pertenecientes a dichas minorías, así como un estudio cuantitativo de su presencia e impacto en la trama.

An Introduction to Japanese Society provides a highly readable introduction to Japanese society by internationally renowned scholar Yoshio Sugimoto. Taking a sociological approach, the text examines the multifaceted nature of contemporary Japanese society with chapters covering class, geographical and generational variation, work, education, gender, ethnicity, religion, popular culture, and the establishment. This edition begins with a new historical introduction placing the sociological analysis of contemporary Japan in context, and includes a new chapter on religion and belief systems. Comprehensively revised to include current research and statistics, the text covers changes to the labor market, evolving conceptions of family and gender, demographic shifts in an aging society, and the emergence of new social movements. Each chapter now contains illustrative case examples, research questions, recommended further readings and useful online resources. Written in a lively and engaging style, An Introduction to Japanese Society remains essential reading for all students of Japanese society.

An Introduction to Japanese Society provides a highly readable introduction to Japanese society by internationally renowned scholar Yoshio Sugimoto. Taking a sociological approach, the text examines the multifaceted nature of contemporary Japanese society with chapters covering class, geographical and generational variation, work, education, gender, ethnicity, religion, popular culture, and the establishment. This edition begins with a new historical introduction placing the sociological analysis of contemporary Japan in context, and includes a new chapter on religion and belief systems. Comprehensively revised to include current research and statistics, the text covers changes to the labor market, evolving conceptions of family and gender, demographic shifts in an aging society, and the emergence of new social movements. Each chapter now contains illustrative case examples, research questions, recommended further readings and useful online resources. Written in a lively and engaging style, An Introduction to Japanese Society remains essential reading for all students of Japanese society.

ABSTRACTThis study examines how origami has been implemented, practised, and developed in the early childhood education of Japan over the past 140 years. Historically speaking, paper-folding has been part of Japanese symbolic art, craft culture, and religious ceremonial artefacts since paper and paper-folding techniques were first imported from China during the seventh century. By the eighteenth century, paper-folding provided a form of mass entertainment in Japanese society. During the 1870s, paper-folding was dramatically transformed into a pedagogical tool within Japanese kindergartens after Friedrich Froebel’s (1782–1852) kindergarten system and its curriculum was transferred to Japan from the West. “Papier-Falten” (paper-folding) comprised an element of Froebel’s Occupations – which was a series of handiwork activities – in his kindergarten curriculum, whereby various folding techniques and models were derived from European traditional paper-folding and introduced into a Japanese kindergarten curriculum that was associated with the concept of Froebel’s kindergarten. Particularly seen in early childhood education in Japan, what we now call origami developed as a new form of paper-folding. This gradually emerged through the marriage of Western (German) and Eastern (Japanese) paper-folding cultures. The study highlights the benefits and uniqueness of cultural transmission and transformation when developing origami in early childhood education in Japan.