History of Gutai Art Movement - Research Paper Example

? Gutai Art Gutai Art The Gutai was an art movement which was started by Jiro Yoshihara in Japan in 1954. This movement included many artists of that time who worked together in a specific manner for a specific purpose. The Gutai movement held immense importance because of its new and different concepts which were brought in by its members. The members of this movement were all young artists who were raised under the traditional values of spiritual and religious importance. The artists knew the Japanese artistic traditions as well, but they took the platform of this movement to completely overrule the traditional approaches and attempts. Thus, this revolutionary movement was initiated. Gutai artists produced artworks which completely revolutionized the traditional Japanese art through the convergence of ordinary materials and their own bodies1. In 1956, there was a declaration written by Yoshihara which expressed the beauty which is fascinated and raised from something after it gets damaged. However, this process was known as the process of damaging and it revealed the inner life of the material. The movement included the artwork which relied upon this manifesto and many artworks of the artists were the evidence of how the appearance of the object changed as it damaged over time. The damage and destruction was caused to the object usually in a course of centuries and it was also described as the beauty of decay. The artists of this movement had a rather different vision towards this movement. Their main aim was to create a relationship between art, body, space and time through their artwork. The revolutionary Gutai movement had started in Japan almost ten years after the World War II had ended. The roots of the Gutai movement went back to the Oriental tradition but also covered some aspects from the Western art. The Western art was, later, also influenced by the evolution of the Gutai movement. In 1945, after the World War II had ended, the Japanese society was under severe desperation and chaos. This was the time when these artists had tried to make an effort and bring a revolutionary change in the society through their art. This movement was an effort which would promote the different artworks and at the same time carry out activities to make a new world. Yoshihara had also declared that the liberal position of the people was however the most important message which was conveyed through this art movement2. The people who were living in the Japanese chaotic and desperate society at that time were the group of people who were focused in this movement. The artists believed that the liberal position of these people is very important because freedom is a major source for human development. Through the artwork promoted by this movement, the position of the people was described as free. Thus, the artists of the Gutai movement were together to uncover the realities of the society in order to overcome the intense situation. As described by the artists and seen in the artwork, the features of the movement had emerged from the concepts of portraying the relationship between the materials and the artist’s body. The most influencing type of art which was presented by this movement was the performance art because it expressed many of the messages using newest techniques. In the initial years, the movement had received great attention from the European world but eventually the art lost its importance. The Gutai movement had become less influencing by the 2000’s, was criticized and looked over. The Western art did not find it an influencing movement but later it was influenced and understood its importance. The traces of Gutai ideas and expressions are seen in the western art as they were accepted with appreciation and praise. The main characteristic and important feature of the Gutai movement was the contribution of the artists. These artists had worked together to give a new face to the world of art. They created a unique combination of totally opposite aspects which were experimentation and communication. Experimentation was done for the innovations and communication helped these artworks to be promoted worldwide. In 1972, Yoshihara died leaving a great example of leadership which was highly acknowledged and praised by the Gutai members. However, they failed to stay together after his death and the group broke apart towards their individual frameworks. The artists from the Gutai movement used many different objects and techniques in order to make more expressive forms of art. These techniques were used to experiment and convey the message of these artworks. These experiments resulted in the introduction of new types and techniques of expressing authenticity and independence. The Gutai artist was a beautiful way in which the artists changed the damage material into an exceptional piece of artwork reflecting the ideas of artists using wood, plastic, water, cloth, metal, light bulbs, mud, sand, smoke and other various types of realistic elements found in daily life. Through these elements, the artists created many performances which included the stage outdoor and indoor3. The initial focus of the group was in the expression of the performance but later they focused on the traditional artworks as well. The performances which held immense influencing impact were ‘Electric Dress’ by Tanaka Atsuko which used electric light bulbs and showed the relationship between light and body. Saburo Murakami performed by passing his body through various layers of Kraft paper. Kazuo Shiraga painted with his feet. Shimamoto Shozo created explosive abstract paintings by throwing bottles of paint on the canvas. Kanayama Akira used remote-control toy cars filled with paint. The Gutai movement expressed the artists’ vision as their reaction towards the military society of pre-war Japan which was extremely rigid. The time before the Gutai movement was initiated; the Japanese traditional art used the ‘Zen’ vision which focused on the time and space. This vision was restricted to two-dimensional paintings which were spread worldwide. The Gutai movement had thus been a movement which came with immense power and imagination to promote the artwork from the damaged materials and objects. Tanaka was an artist who was influenced by the ideas and concepts of Yoshihara and joined the Gutai movement. Through her work she displayed the abstract art which showed the happenings of the society. Since the Gutai movement promoted inventions, experimentation and performance art, Tanaka was more attracted towards it since her work was known as abstract work. Most of her work which included abstracts, installations, sculptures and performances consisted of elements that were around us such as light bulbs, door bells and others. However, the work she is best known for is the ‘Electric Dress’ which was invented in 1956 and was made out of light bulbs4. The ‘Electric Dress’ was her signature work and she wore it to exhibitions. According to her what inspired her was the pharmaceutical advertisement illuminated by neon lights. The dress was worn as a costume and expressed the body circuitry. When the lights lit up, it gave the sensation like that of an alien type creature and blinked like fireworks according to Tanaka. The members of the Gutai movement said that this portrayed the rapid transformation and urbanization that took place after the World War II in Japan. Her ‘Electric Dress’ was reconstructed later and put up in many museums and exhibitions. Tanaka’s work was seen as a new and interesting idea because such a thing was never done or created before. The ‘Electric Dress’ was basically stage clothes. The concept behind this creation was related to performance art. She performed in this dress and during the performance, she changed her clothes frequently which highlighted the colours of the dress and the bright blinking of the electric light bulbs. The light bulbs showed the beauty which could not be created by the human hands. This technique was used for the first time on stage after which performance art saw a new turn. Later the idea was taken and blended making the performances becomes attractive every time to please the audiences. Tanaka is known to have used the newest technology for her experimentation and application. She had used electric gadgets to promote her work of art. The western art and modern art is hugely influenced by her work and skill. Tanaka, however, did not receive much appreciation by the Japanese art because her work was highly technical for the newly formed art movement but later it received immense appraise and was recognized largely. It was seen as a threat to modernization at one time. Saburo Murakami invented another style of performance arts which included layers of Kraft paper through which he passed his body by making a hole from his wrist. He performed this in the first Gutai exhibition and it shocked the audience. Even though many did not understand the concept of the performance, but Yoshihara was content and influenced by the experimented, new way of performing art. The act of tearing the paper was filmed and photographed every time it was performed. In fact, the remains of the torn paper that were left after the act was performed, were also collected and preserved in some museums as the torn pieces from Murakami’s performance. The idea behind Murakami’s concept was to try something different than the forms used in the past, to be creative in expression and to invent unique and fresh ideas of art. Murakami developed his own type of expression which showed the relationship between the body and outside world using a very common everyday element: paper. The use of this technique surprised the viewers and inspired them towards this form of performance art. He used a unique way of expression through body and objects, and it was appreciated worldwide. Kazuo Shiraga entered the Gutai group and introduced a new technique of painting. He never used brushes; rather he dipped his feet in paint and painted on the canvas while hanging on a rope. His work was seen as one of the best and monumental landmarks for the Gutai movement. He had learnt painting, but by the time he had joined the Gutai movement, he had become an expert in painting with his hands and feet. This was the type of artwork and talent for which Shiraga is still remembered today. Shiraga himself declared once that through his painting he wanted to display the traces of action carried out with speed. The flow of paint in his work created a dynamic effect with violent strokes on the canvas. Yoshihara had insisted and urged Shiraga to invent a form of art which was never seen before and thus the first performance of foot painting took place and it was called Sambaso Super-Modern. Shiraga also staged a performance in Tokyo which was called Challenge to Mud. This performance included the artist to hurl himself in a pile of mud and then wrestle them to form sculptural shapes. The concept behind these performances was to show the relationship between the body and art by using several objects such as mud by Shiraga. He preserved the mud sculptures and foot paintings on paper later. Another artist that invented a new way of artwork was Shimamoto Shozo. Shimamoto was the co-founder of the Gutai group along with Yoshihara. He was known as the best experimentalist of that time and his artworks are still preserved in several museums today. In 1956, Shimamoto used the explosive technique to paint. This was called the ‘Bottle Crash’ technique which included the placement of a large canvas on the floor, then throwing bottles on it with different colored pigments inside it. This would result in a painting of a tree or anything but for him it was the performance of the art which valued not the subject that was produced. The concept behind this artwork was to apply new techniques and experiments into the artworks and show the audience something they had never seen before. Even though the artist had thought that this method might seem violent and aggressive since it involved throwing bottles and shooting them at the canvas, but he believed he was an artist and his purpose was merely to produce something beautiful by using a new technique. The purpose was to create something beautiful through a way which shocked the world. As a result, he has created many different and interesting paintings for which he was well known throughout the Gutai movement. Akira Kanayama’s contribution to the Gutai movement was through the painting technique which used a toy car operated by a remote control to create paintings. The toy car was usually called the painting machine invented in 1957. The paintings were made on a canvas which was kept on the floor and the machine moved around it dripping paint to make a picture. This machine was a good example of the early innovations of technology used in art. This painting machine’s idea came from the technique of drips painting introduced by Jackson Pollock in the 1940s. Although the machine followed the ideas of Pollock to create an automated physical relation between the artist and his painting, it was brought to a new level by Kanayama. The paintings made by this machine started becoming popular and were appraised by Yoshihara and other members. This style of painting was new and unique which impressed the audience. It had great value for self expression and gestural painting. The machine paintings were made by joining a box of quick drying paint to an automated toy car. The automatic car created the paintings even when the artist was not in the room and thus it was seen as a critique to automatism for some critics. However, Kanayama created a new form of abstract paintings and expressions. His concept was to use new techniques to express the soul, and pour out the art on a canvas. His technique involved a rather more technological aspect rather than a psychological one. All these artists were important members of the Gutai movement and their contributions proved the best for the movement. They contributed in their own ways but their work had many similar aspects. All the forms of artworks were new and fresh ideas that the audience had not seen before. They were forms of expressing the condition of the society. These artworks were a start to the new era of art which was way different than the traditional methods used in Japanese art. These art forms showed the relationship between the artist’s body and the artwork. The artists experimented and tried new innovations out of which the above mentioned are their best and famous ones. The traditional Japanese art was influenced by the Zen Buddhism. The Zen Buddhism had a huge impact on the Japanese culture, spiritual and aesthetic foundation. Many moral and spiritual values of the Zen were taught in Japan and adopted in the practice of arts. As the art forms developed, they became strongly influenced by Zen Buddhism especially at the time of Japan’s self imposed isolation. Many of the art forms in Japan such as the chado, ikebana, shodo and martial arts were all influenced by the Zen philosophy. These art forms included the Zen vision of spirituality, simplicity, calmness and self-growth. Soon after, the tradition of studying art initiated in Japan for spiritual purposes. Art was seen as a peaceful journey leading to concentration, serenity and calmness when practiced under the Zen vision. The Zen vision promoted the art which focused on the artist’s mind and body for the mastery of art. The Zen vision involved the mind to be aware of the nature while practicing art. Even though it was different than the Gutai movement, it is true that the Zen vision played a key role in taking the Japanese art to a higher level. There were some major differences in the way the art was practiced with the Zen attitude and the way the Gutai members looked at it. The fist aspect to consider is the Gutai attitude where the artists had thought that they would overrule the traditional practices completely and create art from new ideas and techniques. The artists of the Gutai movement had aimed to not look at the traditional artworks, and rather create a new era to describe the situation of the society. The relationship with nature and creating beauty out of the imperfect and incomplete things was the aim of the Zen attitude. The Zen attitude largely focused on the spiritual bond with nature. The Zen attitude mostly involved the mind and psychological aspect in the artwork whereas the Gutai movement was dependent on various new types of artwork created through materials, objects, technology and artist’s body. The main characteristic of the Gutai movement was the relationship between the artist’s body and his artwork which was simply evident to the audience as well. The Zen attitude promoted a very spiritual and simple form of art which included religion, nature and meditation. Figures, landscapes, symbolism and personal convictions were usually expressed through the artworks influenced by the Zen vision. The Gutai movement had created a new concept behind the artwork which included abstract painting, performance arts, use of technological tools, and different other techniques like painting with feel or tearing through paper. The basic motive was to promote creativity and fresh ideas in the artwork rather than focusing on traditional elements such as religion, simplicity and nature. The aims of both the art forms also varied. Even though both the art forms were aiming to express effectively, the Gutai movement also aimed to change the conditions o the society through their artwork. The major reason for the Zen vision to enter Japan was the religious purposes since it was related to Zen Buddhism. On the other hand the main reason for the Gutai movement to initiate was the post war chaotic society of Japan where all artists thought of coming together and forming artworks that would show the violent and chaotic situation of the society and promote the importance of freedom. However, it is true and evident that the Gutai artists had created a revolutionary movement which was nothing even similar to the traditional Zen vision present in the Japanese art. As discussed above, the Gutai artists used different materials, objects and their own body to create and experiment new techniques of artwork whereas the traditional Zen vision artists used simplicity and self-growth. The artworks from the time of the Zen vision in Japan had created their own importance portraying the cultivation in arts, but the Gutai movement had enhanced the meaning of art and shown that art is not just simplicity but also creativity. References Alexandra Munroe. Gutai: Splendid Playground. USA: Distributed Art Pub Incorporated, 2013. Frederick Lau. Locating East Asia in Western Art Music. USA: Wesleyan University Press, 2004. Rupert Cox. The Zen Arts: An Anthropological Study of the Culture of Aesthetics form in Japan. NY: Routledge, 2003. Thomas Berghuis.,. Performance Art in China. China: Timezone 8 Limited, 2006. Read More