Art in Japanese Internment Camps

The Japanese have a philosophy: “shikataganai”- “you can’t help it.”  Things happen the way they happen, so live just day by day. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin D Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, the internment of Japanese Americans. This was the relocation of all citizens and aliens of Japanese ancestry from the west coast.  This project will examine the art that was produce within the Japanese interment camps.  By analyzing articles, books, and the actual art that was produced in the camps, I would like to show how big of a role it played to keep the internees’ morale up and help create a community within the camp. The art in the internment camps that was produced really depicts what life was like in the camps.  Many of the paintings and pictures are scenes of everyday camp life. They showed the emotion of the internees, whether it be sad or angry or happy. Many looked to art as a way to express their emotions, an outlet from reality and what was really going on. I think that another reason people turned to art because they weren’t allowed to have cameras and contraband of that sort, to remember what the internment camp was like so no one could forget.  It was an outlet so people could focus on the good instead of the bad. There was art within the schools of the camps and art exhibits. There was all sorts of art made in the camps from painting to toys and dolls, hats made of citrus fruit wrapper woven together. Whatever resource they could get their hands on they would use.  It was a great influence on shaping camp life.  A picture is worth a thousand words, right? The art work whether it is a painting or a bird pin it says so much about the person who made it. 

Through out my process of research I found there was a lot of information about art in Japanese internment camps.   Art was a way for the internees to document the history of the internment camps so it was very easy to find artwork. There was actually so much it was hard to choose what artist and what artwork to show in my presentation.  The first thing I did like any good researcher would was go through of my sources and pick out the ones that were most useful to me. One of my primary sources Beyond Words by Deborah Gesensway, had many pieces of art and to go along with that was an interview of the artist and why they created the art during this time. This book basically was my bible for this research project, put a lot of the pictures on my power point from this book.  It helped to read articles and interviews from the artists because they themselves can best explain there art and why they created it.  In a sense we kind of lucky that a lot of these artist were still around when the art was resurfaced, otherwise we might not have know the full reasons behind the art. 

Ethno-Aesthetics

    What is Ethno- aesthetics? When I first started thinking about this blog entry I couldn’t help but wonder what ethno-aesthetics is. I know we lectured and discuss it in class but if someone to ask me I’m not sure if I could have an answer. So I went back through the lecture and made it more understandable for myself.  Ethno can be define as a race or certain group or people. Aesthetics is the nature of beauty, art, taste of things being appreciated, some that catches the eye and you immediately think it’s beautiful.  When you put those two together ethno-aesthetics is the local or indigenous categories through which the formal qualities of objects, activities, and practices are engaged.  Basically it is how people of a certain group create different things including art and the some other their traditions involve art in different ways than western art.   These indigenous groups are not only creating this art to be aesthetically pleasing but for purpose, instead of having all the rules or history of the tribe written in text it is shown in art. The Yolngu have paintings describe the territories of the different people, where the freshwater meets seawater, and things of this nature.  The ethno-aesthetics analysis of Calavera Revolucionaria: Jose Guadalupe Posada is meant to describe the events that were going on during the time that they were printed.   The prints were inexpensive and distributed throughout Mexico and were read by many people.  These illustrations made it so even the illiterate could understand the event of their times.  It is not only aesthetically please but has history and meaning behind it.  Tomas Ybarra-Frausto  explains, “We… have to find ways of convivencia – ways of making connections and being connected… I think that this is one of the great things about this country. It is what we call the American Dream. …  people come here looking for that convivencia, for that space, that energy- and I think we have it! ... I ask every person who has just come (to this country), “why do they come?”  and why they come are for those reasons- the possibilities of creation.” I think this is a great example of why ethno-aesthetics is sort of hybridization of different things making into one thing.  Dias de Los Muertos is example of a hybrid tradition the implements art with purpose, mourning of the dead with beautiful art that is also an offering to the dead.

Waiting for Harry

The film "Waiting for Harry" is quite interesting, the process of the burial is like nothing I have ever seen before. I find it very interesting because I just attended my grandfather's funeral and the ceremonies are very different of that of Harry's tribe. The ceremony itself is a much longer process than that of a catholic american. My grandpa's arrangement was finished with in a week, this ceremony took more than three weeks. This a lot because they were waiting for harry to bring people for the ceremony and harry was the one who was kind of the head of everything and gave permission to do certain things. The coffin that was use was a hollowed out log, painted beautiful to tell a story. This was my favorite part of film, the coffin was so incredibly beautiful, every little detail had to be perfect. Another tribe even came to give their two cents and painted on the coffin as well. The story of the honey bees waiting in a line and coming in the log  to procure life once again is very interesting to me. The fact they are continuing life, where as in western funerals you continuing life but as yourself in another world.  This I believe is an art form in itself, the creative expression that goes into painting the coffin take much time and effort.   The dance that contributes to the ceremony is also a form creative expression, it is really interesting how the men, women, and children are involved. Most western funerals there is no form of ceremonial dancing, we do not celebrate the life that have been lost we mourn.  It is so very interesting to see how different cultures have different funeral practices.

Human Like Figures

“As the boys set out on their hike, their dogs followed along. One, named Robot, was about to become famous” (Curtis, 82). Can you imagine going out into the woods for a nice hike with your friends and end up finding treasure? What sort of treasure you might be thinking, right? This was no ordinary treasure, not something that you could put in your pocket and take back home with you.  This group of young boys, with Marcel Ravidat being the eldest and also the group leader, chased his dog to a cave that ended up have remarkable treasure.  Cave paintings, of bulls and horses and what is really interesting to me is a human figure painting. “A human figure, the only one in the cave, seemed to be falling over backwards. It was a man with the head of a birds and hands with only four fingers. He had apparently been knocked over by a bison that was standing beside him” (Curtis, 86).  This painting is spread over 6 feet if the cave wall.  This really just blows my mind, not only the sizes of these cave paintings, but that it is a human like figure.  From what I have been reading in The Cave Painters by Gregory Curtis and what I been learning in my classes is that human figures where not as important or tended to than the animals that were painted.  Yet we have this figure here that is not entirely human, but resemble closely to a human. Was this some sort of spirit that was being worshipped? Being that both the bison and the human figure are spirits and they are fighting with one another or one is making fun of the other.  Was it some sort of animal that was of great importance in ritual or for food?  It seems that way for a lot of the animals that are painted. But it could have just been a mere doodle as it was down a second passage of the cave. The fact is we may never know, I just find it so interesting that in most caves animals is the predominate theme but in this cave that could be argued as not so.  I wish that I could go and see this with my own eyes; I would love to experience it. Any cave paintings for that matter.

Rebecca said after watching Exit Through the Gift Shop this friday, "Is this just a put on by Bansky or is it the real thing?" That question would of never crossed my mind. I don't even know what my answer would be because it could easily be a real documentary or it could be a big joke about street becoming more a art gallery kind of art. How that people are fall so easily for something if there is big hype attached to it.  I will probably be thinking about this question all weekend. 

Ballet as a Ritual

We have been discussing ritual in class and it got me thinking about different types of ritual, some things that would not dawn on me to ritual. Like ballet, I never would of thought as ballet as a ritual but as we continued to talk about ritual structure, and I realized that ballet is very much a ritual. It is not only a performance but also an art form that takes much needed structure.  First comes practice, practice, practice, I myself am a dancer and I know from many hours of practice a dance cannot be learned right away.  We would work on a dance for a month or so before we would perform it.  You must get every step and move in sync with all the other dancers in the piece.  Once the dance is learned it can be performed, almost always there is a story that goes alone with the dance. Whether it is a very simple story about a little girl and her imagination or the complex story of Swan Lake. 

            Once the performance actually takes place there is very much ritual that goes into it.  First is a warm up which is very important to a dancer because if you do not warm up you could easily hurt yourself, just like any sport really.  After warm up there is the ritual of getting ready; you have to put your put stage makeup on and get your costume ready. And just the performance the instructor or director of the show will usually say a few inspiring word to excite the dancers. Then the show begins!! Creative expression is shown to it fullest with every dancer pouring their heart and soul into the dance. An art form with structured ritual at its finest.

        

Snow

Growing up in Lake Tahoe there is no way for you to avoid the wonders and reality of winter, in fact you come to love it.  Or at least I did, I love winter, as much as I love summer because you are not in school and you feel like you have the world at your finger tips, winter quietly captivating.  The snow mostly is what I love about winters in Tahoe, from building snowmen to sledding to skiing. But not the activities that come along with snow but the snow itself it so aesthetically please.  My absolute favor thing about snow is snowstorms, if you have ever stepped outside during a snowstorm you know what I mean.  The perfect snowstorm is so peaceful and quiet you can’t even hear the snow falling on the ground and yet it is so destructive at the same time.  And yes of course there are those raging snowstorms with high-speed winds or wet wet snow that is basically slush coming out of the sky. But there is something so incredibly breathe taking about a quiet peaceful storm. This to me is very outside the order and ordinary, usually when it is snowing most people are indoors keeping warm next to the fire, they have no idea that snow is anything more the frozen water in their driveways. It gives you this amazing feeling that is very hard to explain, the crisp clean cold air, the silence. The silence is what always gets me, that something so silence can be so destructive.  It can kill; avalanches, frostbite, hypothermia, and much more. Yet you would never know what hit you because it is not like other storms that are big spectacular events. The emotion of knowing that such a beautiful thing is so damaging, like a poisonous flower it may look beautiful but you would never want to touch it.  Snowstorms are aesthetically pleasing for the eye and the mind.

My Desk

If someone was to walk into my room they would not critique it on where every little item is placed or what color my bedspread is.  But for me when I was putting together my room every item has a place and reason to why it is there.  I did not realize it until we were talking about the act of make special in class, but the more I thought about it the more I discovered that my room is an act of me making special. 

My desk for instances it has essentials like my printer and pens and pencils, yet it has other items that there purely because I like them and they are important to me. I have an old record that I melted into bowl, now it holds all my pens, tacks, and tools, yet to me it is not just a bowl to put utensils in it is a special because I made it and I created something new out of something old. The posters above my desk are not just slapped on there because I wanted to fill up a blank wall.  I have a poster of Bob Marley and I remember when I was about 12 I went to a record store with my dad and bought this poster.  Now this is no ordinary poster, it is an actually poster from when Bob was on tour. So not only is special in that sense but it also special to me in that it is a memory I share with my dad.  I can also hear my dad saying do your homework Ally when I sit and do my homework.  I also have a poster of the tallest redwood and three pictures that I drew myself. The redwood poster reminds me what a beautiful place we live in and how lucky I am to be going to school here. The three drawings remind me to stay creative. I also have a mosaic frog above everything on the wall; I made this as well and gave it to my dad who told me to take it with me when I went to school.

 This is an act of making special to me because every single piece is important to me in one-way or another. Every item is unique in its own way and is placed there because of the significance it has to what I do when I am working at my desk. Whether it is schoolwork or artwork or just jotting down a note from a phone call, every item reminds of something significant or small little memory that makes me smile.