Sudden Shower Over Shin: Ohashi Bridge and Atake - Case Study Example

Critical Analysis of “Sudden Shower Over Shin-Ohashi Bridge And Atake” Critical Analysis of “Sudden Shower Over Shin-Ohashi Bridge And Atake” Introduction Hiroshige’s art work, “Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake” is aesthetically laden with the theme of ‘static dynamism’ expressed through a set of objects and frozen actions captured in a particular ‘floating’ moment. All of the objects and the frozen actions uniformly convey the hidden truth that life in this uncertain world is full of phenomena that are short-fleeting. The beauty of the captured ‘floating’ moment in the picture necessarily lies in the fact that all the forms and contents of the picture essentially to be brilliant symbols through the abstraction of particular objects. Indeed such abstractions have empowered the picture to attract its viewers universally. It is evident that Hiroshige’s artwork communicates with the viewers through a particular space-time matrix that essentially has exceeded the limitation of time. Hiroshige’s “Sudden Shower over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake” is fraught with a set of themes that serve him with the scope to convey a versatile and multifaceted meaning. Formal Analysis In a typical evening, it has suddenly started to rain heavily from the sagging dark clouds. The almost discernible raindrops have formed an opaque curtain of slant crisscrossing lines showing their downward tracks. Through this curtain of rains, one can see the massive Shin Ohashi Bridge, standing high in the gray-blue expanse of the Sumida. Hurrying men and women are trying to protect themselves with umbrellas, a traditional Japanese straw mat or hat from the torrents of rain. Meanwhile, the boatman in the Sumida River is sailing to his destination in an indifferent posture to the torrents of rains. Again, a remote panorama of “the Atake district on the opposite bank” has been worked out in a “silhouette of grey and blue tones”.1 Indeed both the forms and contents of Hiroshige’s work convey a sense of sudden downpour in a typical evening. Contextual Analysis: Static Dynamism and Ukiyo-e (Theme of Floating World) Static Dynamism and Japanese concept of ‘floating world’/Ukiyo-e almost go hand in hand, while the prior term involves freezing an action with static objects in any form of arts. Japanese Ukiyo-e or a picture of ‘floating world’ often ventures to capture the beauty of a short-fleeting moment, as a contemporary Japanese artist, Asai Ryōi defines ,it as following: “Living only for the moment, turning our full attention to the pleasures of the moon, the snow, the cherry blossoms [Sakura] and the maple leaves….diverting ourselves in just floating, floating... refusing to be disheartened…..this is what we call the floating world.”2 The theme of an Ukiyo-e often is associated with to ‘empathy towards things’ or ‘a sensitivity of transience of things”3 since an Ukiyo-e is the visual version of ‘mono no aware’. According to Khoon Choy Lee, the overriding theme of an Ukiyo-e is the awareness of the transience, of things, that produces a sense of bittersweet cognition of how things flow inevitably flow out into the past.4 Since things flow out the past or beauty is not everlasting, human attempt to retain it forever essentially gives birth to the pathos.5 In the three-dimensional landscape of Shin-Ohashi, the iconographic appearance of the hurrying men and women sketched from a remote vantage point and viewed through the opaque curtain of rain conveys the static dynamism of his theme of the floating world. Indeed the opacity rainy texture contributes to the picture’s mysterious and uncertain environment. The artist’s vantage in the picture greatly allows the remote objects and the people turn into almost abstraction using contours in implied lines. Though the use of light and shadow clearly contributes to the realism of Hiroshige’s work, the glow of the light surpasses the reality of its atmosphere and adds to its surrealism to a great extent. It is the surrealism that evokes motion of spirit in the viewers’ mind. Remoteness is also a prevailing theme and perspective of this artwork. It has thoroughly been maintained through the handling of shapes and sizes of the contents in the work. Indeed the people in motion refer to Time as the fourth dimension. Also Hiroshige’s artwork can be explored from an atmospheric viewpoint. From this viewpoint, human being’s kinetic miniaturization is contrasted with the enormity of the universe. Though the overlapping of the objects such as the bridge, the horizon, the rivers and various other objects upholds their relative distances from each other, the comparative brightness of the bridge conveys an aura of nearness and bigness of the bridge in respect with the riders. In contrast, the vastness of the mountain lines highlights the nihilistic smallness of human beings. As typical with an Ukiyo-e, Hiroshige’s work has an irresistible appeal to his viewers, as if a viewer “refused to be disheartened” by turning his or her back the beauty of the art.6 As if it is the snapshot of a particular moment that has frozen a number of events at the Shin-Ohashi. Taken from a vantage point that facilitates a panorama to include the endless middle of the bridge with a partial view of the gray-blue expanse as well as the darkening sky, the picture seems to be a mindless snapshot that does not hold anything special. Yet the picture is endowed with some dynamics that arrests a viewer’s eye for a while, but if not, it pushes him to take several successive looks at it. But contrary to its captivating quality, the picture’s contents are so common and familiar. Really the events in the picture are so familiar to a viewer that it immediately takes him to some common truths of life. The dim daylight, the darkening sky, and the gray-blue water of the Shin- all these three poses a question of uncertainty amid the vastness of the world. Moreover the picture is endowed with a window-view. That is, a viewer can easily be convinced that he or she is looking through a window. Such window-view of the picture is engendered by the decapitated middle of the bridge, partial displays of the dim dark sky and the gray-blue water. The absence of the closer bank of the river, the lack of the views of the nearer end and the far end of the bridge further contribute to the angst of the viewers’ uncertainty. The opaque view of the other bank at a remote distance along with the dim darkness of the environment further adds to this uncertainty. All these together convey the message that life in this world is uncertain. But the certain posture of the men and women in the picture indicates that they are in a hurry to reach their homes while saving themselves from the torrents of rains. The boatman, very possibly a rural layman, is sailing home with a pile of bamboos, the harvest of hard work. Cultural Confusion between the Brush Strokes: America and Japan In spite of the fact that the cultures of Japan and America are too distanced from each other to have some points of contact, the typography proves that as the two philosophies merge, the impossible can happen. Incorporating the ideas of the Western modernity and the Japanese symbolism, one can maintain balance between the two cultures, making them complete each other in the most organic and natural way. Tracking the meaning behind the heavy raindrops on the typography, one can say with certainty that the artwork relates to the picture of a famous Japanese artist, Hiroshige, “a wonderful Impressionist”7 to the Europeans, as Hagen marked. As the heavy raindrops in the picture fade into distant memories, the spectator recalls one of the most genial pictures of the artist, Sudden Shower over Shinchashi Bridge and Atake. Pierced with the same idea of pervasive rain washing the day away, the picture offers a journey to the world of the Japanese symbolism. This is how Trede depicts the images in the picture: The Atake district on the opposite bank is rendered in a silhouette of grey and blue tones. Hiroshige conveys an impression of saturated dampness, which, coupled with the evening atmosphere, is take up, for example, in the Nocturnes of James Whistler (1834-1903) and his picture of Old Bottersea Bridge, painted in the 1860s.8 It is quite peculiar that the artwork under the discussion bears only slight resemblance to the picture – these are only the color palette and the raindrops which resemble Hiroshige’s artwork; yet casting a single glance at the typography is enough to see what guided its author. Shot through with the recognizable motifs, the artwork is a reflection of Hiroshige’s unique style. This is exactly what Pavis called “aesthetic synthesis between American minimalism and Japanese simplicity”9 Considering the history of the artwork which gave the push to creating the typography, it becomes clear that the typography offers a combination of the typically Japanese elements of culture and the droplets of American minimalism. Dissolved in the ocean of the Japanese wisdom, these elements of the Western culture become the background for the precious gems of the Eastern culture. Unless these two visions of the world came in touch, it would be impossible to create such an original pattern, so simple yet enriched with various ideas. Providing a solid foundation for the picture, the Japanese symbolism fills it with meaningful details. The element without the Japanese society would have ceased to exist long before, this philosophic concept is the guideline not only for the Japanese art, but for the life of entire Japan: In a world where money, urbanism, the written word and advanced technologies normally destroy the integration of face-to-face, multi-level communications, they are able to communicate an enormous amount by the very minimalism which allows otters to fill in with their own meanings.10 Influence of Non-western Symbolism and Minimalism in My Art “Elevate” Therefore, I think the importation of some minimalist theme into western minimalism can render a minimalist art with a more perceivable meaning while allowing the artist to play role in his art. One of such minimalist themes is the theme of ‘Ukyo-e’ or “floating world” frequently used in medieval Japanese art. The “Ukyo-e” pictures capture some short fleeting moment that is often upheld by the static dynamism of some kinetic objects. In my piece of art, the luminous white lines are drawn in such a way that they look like the occasional visible moments of some unknown rays that are passing through in slants. The symbol of ‘slant ray’ has its own set of meaning in modern American literature. For example, Emily Dickinson’s ‘slant of light’ is a metaphor of dejection. But the visible rays in my art are the illuminator of the typography “elevate”. Through the use of non-continuous trails of rays, I attempted to create an aura that the illumination of the word ‘elevate’ is the captivation of a rare moment. Indeed it is similar to the portrayal of the floating world. In the background, the opaque and huge appearance of the circular 3-d object in the dim darkness of the universe serves as a foil to the smallness of the illuminated word “elevate”. The liner texture of the background essentially refers to something like ‘rains of rays’. Conclusion While the viewers of Hiroshige’s work will be moved by the beauty of a floating moment, at the Shin-Ohashi bridge, fraught with several themes, the viewers of “Elevate” are allowed to feel single typography, “elevate” produced by a fusion of Japanese concept of ‘floating world’ and modern minimalism. Whereas pure minimalism would never evoke a flux of meanings other than its literal one, a fusion of Japanese concept of floating world or static dynamism has helped ‘elevate’ to grow from a mere single word to a full-fledged story. The principles a piece of work conveys signify the subconscious and conscious beliefs of the artist, and therefore make the elements of the piece of art carefully chosen to reflect that artist’s view of reality. Looking at the pictures one can understand the artist’s thoughts and feelings. As a result, the thematic content, or form, of the piece of art serves a normative function. Bibliography Hagen, Rose-Marie and Rainer Hagen. What Great Paintings Say. Vol. 2. Cologne, DE: Taschen, 2002. Hiroshige, U. “Sudden Shower Over Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake (Ohashi Atake no Yudachi)”, 1797-1858 Hooker, Robert. “the Japan Glossary”, Washington State University, 22 Nov. 2010. Lane, Richard. (1978). Images from the Floating World, The Japanese Print. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lee, Khoon Choy. Japan--between Myth and Reality, Tokyo: Tokyo Unversity Press, 1995. Macfarlane, Alan. Japan Through the Looking Glass. London, UK: Profile Books, 2009. Pavis, Patrice. The Intercultural Performance Reader. New York, NY: Routledge, 1996. Trede, Melanie, and Lorenz Bichler. Hiroshige, 100 Views of Edo. Cologne, DE: Taschen, 2008. Read More