Welcome, darlings! This is just a small, humble album documenting my journeys abroad! Oh, you would like to see them? Well, I don't know, I don't want to bore anyone. Buuut..... if you insist!
Now this scene is just so… pedestrian. It is quite attractive yes, what with those vibrant reds and all, but really. People just see that it's of Kyoto (that's one of their "important" places, you know) and just have to buy it. Really. I simply had to purchase it to show you, dears, what commonplace art is. Honestly. I have noticed that this is the piece of choice among the…ahem….common masses, those boorish travelers who flock together like ducks. I mean, this piece just screams “Look at me!” Those people obviously do not appreciate subtlety. All they see is this mass of deep red and think immediately that the quality of the color means it is a quality piece. What? Oh yes, thank you. My tutors, you seem especially emphasized the arts (although I am naturally brilliant), so you can trust that I know what I am talking about.
Now just look at these adorable little heathens! The most primitive of the primitive. So fresh, so innocent. How endearing. They are indeed quite lucky to be in such a barbarian society, to be so simpleminded as to play! It is laughable. Why, back home, by that age, children should be learning the arts! To paint, to fence, to horse-ride, for example. But really, to sit around and play with flowers? How dreadfully boring their lives must be from the very minute they are born. The Japanese seem to have so much time on their hands.
Well, as you can plainly see, this beautiful image is of excellent quality. Notice the deep, crisp shadows and the oh-so-subtle colorings, especially of the sky. Japan, although it is a land of heathens, is an artist’s paradise. How natural, how wonderful, how refreshing. I’ve grown so weary of Europe, you simply can’t imagine. Japan is elegant and simplistic, while Europe is just so….overgrown. And so ornamented. Fusty. Hmph. I am dreadfully bored with it.
My, my, my. Just look at how they try to emulate us! It amuses me so! This, darlings, is an “Intercollegiate Boat Race”. Hah! As if any of those savages could out row an Oxford man! As if any college of theirs could even measure up against the poorest school in England. What poor misguided people. Still, they are endlessly amusing. Always a good laugh.
Flower viewing is very popular among the Japanese. It's really just another indication of how backward and uninteresting their lives really are. They actually set aside time to look at plants! I love nature, believe me; I am an artist, after all. But I admire my plants as I go about my business. Still, I suppose it would be nice to take a break every so often, I just can't imagine having such boring lives as theirs! We are in the middle of the social season! And I know tonight will be the party of the year!
Oh, dear me, yes. I must say that the primitive cultural "musings" of the Japanese people are so...unique. I love their beautiful elephants. Oh wait, was it the Japanese who had elephants? Or was it the Chinese....No! The Koreans! Oh yes, the Koreans. My how I get these peoples mixed up. But really, who cares? Japanese, Chinese, Korean, they all look the same to me.
ReplyDeleteMay I ask, how the deuce (oh, pardon my language, I forgot we had members of the fairer sex amongst us) did the Japanese stand up on that bridge in the last picture? It looks like it is made of wood!! Seriously, would anyone be using wood anymore for serious construction?
Anyway, it's a fascinating album. Do bring me back some authentic Japanese silk. You know, like what Marco Polo wrote about. Or was that the Chinese...Oh, there I go again!
Hohoho toodle-pip.
The third photograph is interesting as it has a pathway in the water that seems to take the viewers eye from the bottom of the photograph all the way through to the top. The pathway also seems to divert the viewers attention away from how uneven the photo appears to be as the trees on the left side of the photograph create some sort of uneven distribution. It's interesting that the photograph following this one uses the same colors.
ReplyDelete-Michael T.
Well, Mizenko-sensei said to find a "voice", so hopefully everyone realized that wasn't me.
ReplyDeleteI decided on an elitist, "artist" voice, a person who obviously thinks that only one opinion matters and that's hers. I thought it would be a fun person to imagine, someone so ignorant that the "boorish travelers" she makes fun of (under the first slide)are actually just like her.
Now, about the third slide, that is one of the reasons I picked it - because it has that elegant sweep that moves the viewer through it.
I don't really see the trees as creating an uneven distribution, but as a starting point for the motion. Also, while the colors are similar, the third photograph's pinks and blues compliment each other well, whereas the fourth slide's complementary colors of blue and orange emphasize the abnormality of the new technology. The expanse of water, of nature, looks unnatural next to the smoke of the new steamboats and I think complementary colors work really well to stress the oddness of the new.
These role plays have been very interesting for me to read! The last photo in particular seems a particularly apt comparison to Monet's (1840-1926) Waterlillies...
ReplyDelete(For Example: http://www.bestpriceart.com/vault/abc_monet111.JPG)
Perhaps such a likeness forces the modern spectator to contemplate links between Japonisme in Europe starting in the late 1800's and the creation of such lantern slides. Perhaps in adopting the voice of an elitest artist, a comparison between the image and Monet would most definitely need to be drawn!
What was so particular compelling about the visual vocabulary of the Japanese water garden that caused artists, photographers, and collectors alike to represent it?