Once students conclude that it is a representation of a woman, comparable to, but with very different emphasis from, the Woman of Willendorf, you can then ask students why they think contemporary creators almost unanimously focus on the “monstrous” quality of this figure, disregarding its feminine identity, and why this prehistoric design, highly stylized and full of creativity, seems to perfectly fit visual fictions of our time. Since these Japanese pop-cultural products frequently draw visual and narrative motifs from art and literature of the past, ranging from ancient to modern times, one possible opening exercise could be a formal analysis of Goggle-Eyed Dogū-a motif often adapted to monster/alien/enemy characters in recent Japanese visual culture. These concepts can perhaps relate to many of your students’ prior knowledge on Japanese art and culture, predominantly derived form manga comics, animé, and video games. Perhaps, instead of lecturing on such a preset of ideas, ask students to contemplate on what they detect as distinctive qualities of Japanese art for themselves.Īnother theme in this lecture is the urge for imagination, animation, and storytelling in visual art. Nobuo Tsuji, the art historian who authored the most recent survey of Japanese art history ( Nihon bijutsu no rekishi, 2005 no English trans.), identifies the tendencies towards “decorativeness,” “playfulness,” and “animism” (including a secular interest in “animating” inanimate things) as three crucial features of Japanese aesthetics. While Buddhism, spread through the Silk Road, is the most important vehicle for cross-cultural exchanges at this stage in history, comparison to Chinese artifacts, such as ancient pottery and medieval scroll painting, can also be effective. Thus, often following the lessons on South Asian, Chinese, and Korean art, this lecture can provide great opportunities for students to develop skills in comparative analysis, through which they gain critical assessment of pan-Asian internationalism vs. A recurring theme in the history of Japanese art and culture is the constant flow of influence from China and its transformation into a unique Japanese form. This lesson plan will cover Japanese Art before 1392, from the Prehistoric to the Kamakura period.
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