The Art of Arranging Japanese Volcanoes PDF Download

Author: Helen Chellin
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ISBN: 9780988887527
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Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Summer 2013 took me to Japan to do fieldwork for my artist book The Art of Arranging Japanese Volcanoes. Here I paint the forces that produce instability inherent in Japan's natural world, a world filled withvolcanoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. I then contrast that world with the humandesire for systems of order, balance, harmony and calm often found in Japanese Ikebana (flower arranging).The travel that brought me to Japan included attending the conference of International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) 2013. This scientific assembly was held in the city of Kagoshima on the island of Kyushu. Across Kagoshima bay is Sakurajima, one of the most active volcanoes in Japan. I accompanied USGS geologist Dr. Margaret Mangan. To construct my artist's journal I used the publication Stepping Stones to Japanese Floral Art written by Rachel E. Carr as my host book. Carr's book is then deconstructed and transformed into my sketchbook. Her book contains illustrations and instructions about Japanese floral arrangements. It was first published in Japan in 1955.Now in 2013, her book becomes the host pages for my painted entries and text. This process, reveals Carr's text and illustrations as an underneath layer appearing in a random fashion on the newly constructed pages. Like my paintings, Japanese Ikebana is a disciplined art form in which the forces of culture and nature are brought together.