These samples are not intended to prescribe how materials. fabricated to allow for translation and copyright issues.

Transcription

1 Visual'Arts' Compara've*Study* Student*A*(SL)* Please note that these sample materials have been fabricated to allow for translation and copyright issues. These samples are not intended to prescribe how materials should be presented for assessment.

2 Come into my painting: an exploration of landscape as an invitation to participate in the picture space or story. A comparison between the work of the Chinese master Xia Gui( ), Southern Song Dynasty, and Australian indigenous artist Malya Teamay (b1947) Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 1

3 Cultural background - China The Song Dynasty ( AD) of China remains one of the most civilised cultures the world has ever seen. The Song emperors put great store on intellectual achievement and education instead of military endeavour. Books were widely available through the medium of woodblock printing. Artists and thinkers were appointed to government positions in the civil service and tended to be effective administrators. While there was a return to Confucianist thinking (Neo- Confucianism), Buddhist morals of compassion and kinship with all sentient beings (Lee, 1994 p359) lingered, along with the concept that the cosmos and nature had an implicit moral order. The Song empire tended to hold to the concept of serving its people, and so public and charitable works were common. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 2

4 The emphasis on landscape painting that characterises the Song period was developed over the previous Tang and Five Dynasties periods. Visually, the new landscape art offered a realism based on patient observation and conveyed through disciplined brushwork (Lee, 1994 p359). The universe, the world and nature were seen as reflecting a moral order, and so are statements of philosophy and belief, as well as being an expression of the artist s character and a realistic observation of the landscape. Nature is vast and deep, high, intelligent and eternal. The order inherent in nature is called li. Painting a landscape and observing (either the real or the painted landscape), becomes an act of spiritual knowing and regeneration (Lee, 1994 p 361). It is this understanding, this knowing that I experienced as I trekked through New Zealand on a Duke of Edinburgh hike, pondering on the beauty of the environment, my Christian faith and the regenerative power of nature. I was inspired to try to impart some of my realisations to an audience through their participation in my artworks. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 3

5 Xia Gui Little is known about the life of Xia Gui (active ). He attended the Imperial Academy, and was known, along with Ma Yuan, for leading the Lyric Style of landscape painting of the Southern Song Dynasty. Poetry and painting went hand-in-hand as an expression of feeling toward the natural environment. The manifestation of the natural order inherent in creation was basic to Buddhist thought, although elements of Taoism and Confucianism are present in the cultural background. The style of Xia is more intimate than that of the Northern Song painters, who encompassed vast landscapes in their handscrolls and hanging scrolls. Like all the best painters of the time, Xia was a master of brushwork, ably using all the conventions to indicate rocks, mountains and trees. Most experts agree that he worked very fast, indicated by the sharp, choppy brushstrokes he used to render trees, foliage and rocks ( Delicate tonal gradations characterise his use of ink and wash, with occasional and sparing use of colour. However, it is the arrangement of the picture space, the delicate balance of elements and the masterly use of space that I find most compelling. It is this in particular that invites the viewer into the artwork, to journey through and experience the natural world, its balance, its serenity and its lyric beauty. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 4

6 Xia Gui from Twelve Views from a Thatched Hut. Four scenes titled separately, top right to left, bottom right to left: Flying Geese Over Distant Mountains; Returning to the Village in Mist from the Ferry; The Clear and Sonorous Air of the Fisherman s Flute; Boats Moored at Night in a Misty Bay. Section of a handscroll, ink on silk. 27.9cm x 2003cm. Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City. (Image sourced from ) The work has been divided to fit into the slide space. In a handscroll, the viewer should look at the artwork continuously from right to left. The effect of doing this is almost filmic. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 5

7 Xia leaves so much of the picture space blank. The content of the space is implied, but also for the viewer to imagine the invitation is also to be in the space, contemplating. Volume created by thick lines that fade into watery shading on one side. Flying Geese over distant mountains Text & geese linked similar brushstrokes. Viewer is focused on the distant long view before moving on to the more intimate details of the village. Controlled -> mastery of medium / uncontrolled -> chance effects exploited Pale wash that hints at aspects of the landscape, possibly water, with mist rising. Sophisticated simplicity. Restraint Returning to the village in mist from the ferry. Details are approximated Mist is often used to imply distance (Ntun song) However here the scenery emerges from the mist. Images sourced from Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 6

8 The clear and sonorous air of the Fisherman s flute -> The words evoke the sound Details are clearer and sharper, reflecting perhaps the idea of the sound. The space allows the mind s eye to wander slowly through the scenes The effect is quite filmic in some ways. The journey through the artworks is peaceful and serene. As night falls, the forms again dissolve through the judicious use of ink wash. Boats moored at night in a misty bay. Images sourced from Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 7

9 Twelve Views from a Thatched Hut These views show the sophistication of the artist through his mastery of brushstroke, ink wash and control of the picture space. So much is implied in the sparing use of textures and lines rocks which would once have been textured with rippling lines of ink are now indicated by planes, trees are heavily outlined in such a way as to imply volume. Sharp lines contrast with soft watery blurs showing the mist rising from the water. Occasional ripples are the only indication of the surface of the water, large areas of blank space are filled in by the imagination of the audience. Distance is shown with pale wash (or blank areas) and asymmetric balance (like that seen in the work of one corner Ma Yuan ) appeal to our modern sense of abstract organisation. Such restraint and sophistication have an enormous attraction to our need for peace and calm, and the invitation is to the viewer to travel meditatively through the artwork, participating in the contemplative environment. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 8

10 Cultural Background aboriginal art Australian aboriginal culture is possibly the oldest continuous culture in the history of the world, going back perhaps 60,000 years or more. When Europeans first discovered Australia, aboriginal people were regarded as primitive. However, they lived in total harmony with their environment. Some of the important issues facing our world today and in the future, such as maintaining social cohesion, avoiding major wars, dealing with overpopulation, preventing the degradation and destruction of our environment, and the use of non-renewable resources, had been overcome by Aborigines and their ancient culture as they filled every part of the Australian continent. (David Welch) Artmaking was an integral part of traditional life, and almost always had spiritual significance. Often dance, music, ceremony and ritual combined with artmaking to transmit story and culture. Concepts of material possession are not a part of aboriginal culture, but land and the stories associated with country are often owned by specific tribal groups, and are sometimes regarded as secret. So, artmaking comes from a completely different understanding and mindset than that of the Chinese tradition. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 9

11 Malya Teamay Born in 1947, Malya Teamay grew up in Central Australia. His language group is Pijtantjatjara, spoken by many groups in the Western Desert area that includes Uluru. Teamay has long been concerned with many of the problems facing aboriginal people in Australia, and has used painting (among other methods of communication) to tell the stories of his people. He reveals histories, spirituality and issues in his artworks. Traditionally, artists would have used paints made from ochres on bark, rocks or bodies. They may have made raised designs in the sand. Techniques varied greatly from region to region, but in the central desert, generally non-figurative designs prevailed. Most artists now use acrylic paint on board or canvas. The surface is divided up and covered with patterns of dots and lines that form symbols that reveal the story. Often the artwork is meant to be seen from above, like a map. This is the technique that is generally favoured by Teamay. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 10

12 Malya Teamay Broken Law, 1989, synthetic polymer paint on iron. 100cm x 90cm. CAG Image sourced from Malya Teamay, Broken Law, 1989 c/o Pictoright Amsterdam Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 11

13 Malya Teamay, Broken Law, 1989 c/o Pictoright Amsterdam Ref: Michele Stockley Art Detective, 1991, Rigby Heinemann, port Melbourne, VIC. Each group sits around a campfire. The space is divided into spaces & sections that represent family groups, possibly bank huts dwellings. The top section of the work symbolises the past, the dreamtime. The black beaded line symbolises traditional law. Here it is continuous and unbroken. Shoeprints this represents white invasion, a white settlement or city. This section is the future. Here we see the law again is unbroken. Teamay represents aboriginal and Europeans working together for reconciliation. Graves This section is the present. Traditional law is broken. Cans of petrol or glue. Teenage aboriginal people no longer part of the family group. White people invade aboriginal groups. In each family group we see these shapes. This represents the mark a person makes when seated in the sand. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 12

14 Broken Law In his painting Broken Law Teamay tells us one of his stories. The artwork is divided into three sections by a beaded line that represents traditional law. The top section is the past, the time before white invasion. Here we can see the extended family groups living together peacefully. The emphasis is on the cohesion of the individual groups, and this can be seen in the way they are gathered together around the fire, cushioned and protected by the shelter or dwelling. These shapes and colours echo the shape and colour of the land, demonstrating their oneness with their environment. Traditional dots and lines and traditional ochre colours are a link with the past, but modern western media show how material practice reflects Teamays concepts. In the middle section, the time of white invasion is represented. White shoeprints lead from elsewhere, somewhere other, into the painting. The symbol for campsite, the concentric circles, is white, indicating a white settlement or city. The white shoeprints move from the city out into the aboriginal environment, bringing with them things like alcohol, petrol and glue ( ) Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 13

15 These cause the division of family, the destruction and death of teenagers in particular, shown by the four graves in the bottom left of the painting. The law is broken, symbolised by the broken beaded line. This is reflected in the way the people now stand out from the land, some of the deep connections have been lost. The third section shows Teamay s hope for the future. Once again the beaded line is whole. Aboriginal and white people work together for reconciliation, but the deep connection with the land may never be the same. Just as Teamay has fused traditional and modern media and techniques, so he understands that two cultures are now fused together. How can we move forward, bound together by the land in which we live? Teamay s work is significant because of the way he invites the viewer to participate in his story, which becomes our story. Something deep and personal is shared with the audience. We are invited to understand his connection to his past, the injustices of the present, and in acknowledging this, look to a future of reconciliation. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 14

16 Comparative observations Xia Gui and Malya Teamy both invite the viewer to participate in different aspects of the landscape. Xia s control of the picture space and the personal expression of the contemplative and spiritual aspects of nature allow the audience to imaginatively enter the painting and wander through, savouring each aspect of the landscape as designated by the lyrical text that accompanies each scene. Teamay invites the viewer to participate in a journey of understanding that is both accessible and moving. The landscape is the ever-present representation of the spiritual heart of his people. Its importance in this work is understated, but it is the underlying narrative to this story, drawing all stories together. I find both these works incredibly moving and they have fed into my own experience of the landscape. Both works come from completely different times and cultures, yet both speak to a deep spirituality that I also find in nature. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL) Page 15

17 Annotated Bibliography All sites visited Feb Background image for slides. Xia Gui, Pure and Remote View of Streams and Mountains. The full scroll measures centimeters ( inches) National Palace, Taiwan. Some expanded information on the symbolism in Broken Law, and a good large image. It was difficult to find a large clear image of Xia Gui s work. But this website had a good one. Sherman E Lee A History of Far Eastern Art, fifth ed. 1997, Thames and Hudson, London Lee s exhaustive and comprehensive knowledge of Chinese painting (and indeed far eastern art generally) has captured my imagination. I have developed a passion for Chinese landscape painting, particularly that of the Song dynasty. Michele Stockwell Art Detective, 1991, Rigby Heinemann, Port Melbourne, Vic Useful general text. Specific information on Malya Teamay. Visual Arts: Comparative study. SA (SL)

18