The art of Ukiyo-E

Narao Rapids - by Ando Hiroshige

Ukiyo-e (浮世絵, lit. "pictures of the floating world"?) (Japanese pronunciation: [ukijo.e] or [ukijoꜜe]) is a genre of Japanese
woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters.Usually the word ukiyo is literally translated as "floating world" in
English, referring to a conception of an evanescent world,impermanent, fleeting beauty and a realm of entertainments (kabuki,
courtesans, geisha) divorced from the responsibilities of the mundane,everyday world; "pictures of the floating world", i.e. ukiyo-e, are considered a genre unto themselves.
I spent quite a few hours researching for that giant wave poster Id seen the other day in a second hand book store at charring cross.And I learnt about a new form of art- called Ukiyo-e.Literally translated as 'pictures of the floating world', this japanese art form refers to woodblock prints and paintings produced between the 17th and 20th centuries.
The concept of a evanescent world, impermanent, fleeting beauty and the realm of entertainments (geisha, kabuki, etc) divorces from the responsibilities of the mundane everyday world - found a warm corner in my heart.I can only imagine such dis-attachment while staring at the beauty of the giant waves.

When I was hunting for this particular picture, called the Navaro Rapids, I had chanced across Katsushika's 'Great Wave' and unknowingly identified them to belong to the same genre.Interestingly, Ando was greatly influenced by Katsushika and the 36 views of Mt. Fuji. He went onto

Hiroshige's The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō  and One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856–1858) greatly influenced Monet, Van Gogh.Infact, Van Gogh copied two of the One Hundred Famous Views of Edo .

 

left: Hiroshige, "The Plum Garden in Kameido" , right:Van Gogh, "Flowering Plum Tree"                       
                           

 

The great wave of Kanagwa

What makes a great artist? Its a million dollar question.Should we consider popularity?Well art can be popular for all sorts of reasons....Last I heard Bryan Adam has decided to buy a fancy DSLR and go over to his other famous friends houses and shoot some stuff.And thats apparently popular.Ronnie Woods art being converted to t shirts and hand bags and even apna sallu has picked up a brush once in a while. How about style- Picasso and Monet rose to fame with the radical difference they brought into the art world with the subject they focussed on, the strokes they showed the world that the 'old masters' wouldnt have dared to .
Without going into a detailed essay on art, Id say I would want to define a great artist as someone who can mesmerise you with his/her art.
If thats a blank page with a series of squares a.k.a. joseph albers or Van Goghs colourful canvasses , whatever works for you.And if that mesmerized group is restricted to a eccentric bunch of 20 people, so be it.Why should that make an artist with 20 followers any less than one with 20 million . I know, a lot of us will say ' well I can drop a ink drop on a white page and does that become art'.Well if you truely have even one mesmerized follower- and you really have to be honest about this- if there is even one person who feels like staring at you art work and is moved by it - that does make you an artist.
What would be interesting,is if that only one person, happens to be you !
I have a soft spot for illustrations.Theres something about clean black lines filled with smooth colours, a 3d world reduced to a simplistic layout. I guess years of Marvel Comics addition would have done that to my brain. Chanced upon a poster the other day , by Katsushika Hokusai and truely felt mesmerised.It was just a giant wave that had almost created a whirlpool which seemed like had been drawn in an illustration style. And yet I could stare at it long enough to realise I really really liked it.My eyes wanted to trace every line on that wave .Sadly , when I came back home, I couldnt locate that poster anywhere on the net.Maybe I havent searched well enough.
Hokusai started painting at the age of 6 and was known by at least 30 names during his lifetime. Although the use of multiple names was a common practice of Japanese artists of the time, the numbers of names he used far exceeds that of any other major Japanese artist. Hokusai's name changes are so frequent, and so often related to changes in his artistic production and style, that they are useful for breaking his life up into periods
He painted a 36 panel series , of views around Mt Fuji. Here is one of the more well known ones from that series - The great wave of Kanagwa.

Wishlist : A "Guillermo del Toro" Marathon

That's what I love about fairy tales; they tell the truth, not organized politics, religion or economics. Those things destroy the soul.

Pans Labrynthe - Guillerme del toro's contemporary masterpiece exploring parental relationships , opression and loss of innocence bound together by mythical undertones -an amazing portrayal of the immense urge of a traumatized child to escape from reality using her imagination.A far cry from the innocent and yet lavish canvas of imagination that the initial graphics laden trailers might have suggested.
Could I perhaps call it a grown up fairy tale?Ophelia does escape having to live a miserable life.So what if she dies young, she does die happy.Her awakening to the world around her was beautifully portrayed by her transition , from her mesmerization in her fairytale world to begging her unborn brother to be kind to her mother during his birth.What tore me was the scene where the mythical Faun/Pan gave her a magic chalk that could bring to life anything drawn with it -- a door in the wall that allowed her to leave her room.Her desperation to escape from the world around her and her struggle with reality , is but obvious.

The movie made me shudder a bit imagining the contrast ,life then and now.We live in good times.Times when we can afford to focus a lot more on us as individuals.And before I launch of into more emotional statements (well with the recent bomb scares at NCR have left me feeling a bit shaky) let me scream "Hell Boy" !!

A bit of research made me an instant fan of GDT.Anyone who has loved hellboy (and well seen blade 2), and is eagerly waiting for HBpart 2 , would be happy to know that a HB3 is in the plans as well .He turned down a chance to direct I Am Legend and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to work on Hellboy II: The Golden Army .Cheers GDT!Send us more orange monkeys.

Mimic (sci fi horror), the devils backbone (spanish/gothic horror) and HB2 immediately jumped into my wishlist.

The directors father had been kidnapped and held to ransom in Mexico, which he later left and moved for a safer life to LA .Interestingly, both PL and HB dwell on the protagonist's relationship with their father.Are these movies self expression in some ways?

They felt happy and made happy felt

It was one of the last summer days.And just when you thought you had found the perfect spot to rest your lazy feet and soak all of it up,the flute yawned and tested a soft note. The music carried vague memories of olive groves, summer wine.Happy thoughts swelled up .Happy feet tapped out.

And they danced.Glided on the soapy white woolen mat, tracing circles and squares and other shapes.And the feet, happy being let out of the shoes and soaked in warm water made happy felt.

Simply put, felt is matted wool. Wool becomes felt when it is subjected to moisture, heat, and pressure.Hot soapy water makes the wool slippery, and causes tiny scales on the fiber to open up. The scales prevent the fibers from backing up again after they slide across each other; with agitation, the fibers get hopelessly tangled together.When cooled, dried and compressed, the scales close and lock the wool into the tough, durable material we call felt - the strongest smoothest lightest and most water resistant natural fabric known to man.

A special event of outdoor dancing was arranged at the Thames festival 2008 along with workshops in spinning, knitting felting and weaving..A pile of dyed sheeps wool, some soap suds and hot water, a lively band and a whole bunch of dancing feet was all that was required to create a pretty carpet in felt.

Beauty and the beast, and a few POWs

Another fantabulous weekend!!
The wild child in me woke up one fine sunday , and decided to pack off somewhere for a few hours.So I decided to visit Kanchanaburi, the home of major remnants of Japanese POWs and the famous river Kwai.A more detailed post describing the wonderfull journey shall follow :D


Bridge on the River Kwai



Sher Khan ki dahad



..aur maine use sula diya



..sherni di chher

You might be a penguin if...

In the running lexicon, the word "Penguin" has come to mean a person who runs more for the joy of running than for recognition and public rewards.Some mean humour I dug out from the net on penguins :D


* ...you have to politely (for the third time) tell the men in the policecar moving behind you that No you do not wish a ride.
* ...during a race, you keep turning around to see if there is still anybody behind you.
* ...the rest of the pack is out of sight before you've run 100 yards.
* ...you meet both the hare and the tortoise running back towards you doing their cool-down after a race.
* ...you recognize all the regular runners on your favorite route from behind.
* ...you get passed on the uphill by a runner pushing a double baby jog stroller.
* ...you shoot a 24-shot roll of film during a marathon.
* ...you are more worried about the porta-potty lines than the start line.
* ...your support crew talks about meeting you for supper, not lunch.
* ...the truck picking up the cones is pressing on your behind.
* ...the awards ceremony is over before you cross the finish line.
* ...you finish before the blind guy, barely
* ...you finish before the sanitation sweepers
* ...you go to the nearest print shop and have a T-shirt specially made with the following words on the back "Hey, somebody has to finish last" that you wear to all your races

Where in the World is Phil The Frog?

The name is frog.Phil the frog.
Has run 27 official international races, has hopped across 115 different cities across the world.He is 5 inch tall, has goofy eyes and a kiss on his cheeks, prefers traveling in his own tube shaped pill and has even made a guest appearance in the Sydney Olympics.

Though both Phil and Phil's pill are cute and tempting to keep, once a runner receives Phil he/she is faced with a decision to follow the rules and send him to someone else, or be socially deviant and keep him for selfish reasons.And so , from one runner to another, across the globe, Phil has been passed over for the last 7 years.


Started by 'run planet' team, as what seems like an anthropological project, the aim was to helps break down xenophobia, teaching people to live together and resulting in world peace.

So this November, be it bangkok or delhi, will Phil be Poached Salmons run buddy for the marathon?

Pehchan

Awesome production by UPenn students(Thanks chaitya ;) )..called Penn Masala.The amazing part is..its an entire song without a single instrument..all vocals.Click here to to go the link , and then click play.

On a lighter note...Skye Sweetnam is my favourite musician for today.A great reason for everyone to buy her cd "Noise from the Basement".

The song can be heard here.

And for those who are so drugged with Penn Masala that its still not hit them why this uk based singer is so special...here are the lyrics of her chart topper (hopefully)

Once upon a time there was a girl
You really wouldn't call her typical
Had her own definition of cool
She lived in her own world
She had her own style her own rules
She played along like it was usual
Nobody really even knew her name
Her life was one big game

She got her head up in the clouds
Sharada, Sharada
Don't know when she'll come down
Sharada, Sharada
She can't get to bed
Sharada, Sharada
She's got this song stuck in her head
(her head, her head, song stuck in her head)

Dreaming all day
That's all she did
Ever since she was a little kid
All the teacher's thought that she was slow
She was just dreaming about her show
And when they told her she's delirious
She didn't care
She's just oblivious
She likes to make everyone curious
One day she's gonna be famous

She got her head up in the clouds
Sharada, Sharada
Don't know when she'll come down
Sharada, Sharada
She can't get to bed
Sharada, Sharada
She's got this song stuck in her head
(her head, her head, she's got this song stuck in her head)

She got her head up in the clouds
Sharada, Sharada
Don't know when she'll come down
Sharada, Sharada
She can't get to bed
Sharada, Sharada
She's got this song stuck in her head
(her head, her head)

She got her head up in the clouds
Sharada, Sharada
Don't know when she'll come down
Sharada, Sharada
She can't get to bed
Sharada, Sharada
She's got this song stuck in her head
(her head, her head, her head, her head, her head)