Florida Institute of Technology’s Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts presents the 10th anniversary of its elegant and entertaining symposium, featuring Dr. Andreas Marks, head of the Japanese and Korean Art Department and Director of the Clark Center at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
Thursday, Feb. 19
Lecture: “Lethal Beauty: Design Elements in Samurai Suits of Armor”
Free Admission, 7 p.m.
Gleason Performing Arts Center
Florida Tech Campus
Japanese suits of armor stand out amongst the armor of other world cultures because of their flashy, colorful appearance and exquisite design. The armor most often seen in exhibitions or auctions ranges in date from the 16th to the 19th centuries. During this time a large industry of samurai-oriented crafts catered to a significant part of Japanese society. Based on the sense for aesthetics and beauty of wealthy samurai, such armor was custom made, employing a range of materials from different types of metal to leather, lacquer, and silk. An iconic part of Japanese armor is the head protection consisting of fierce face masks and dramatic helmets, underlining the owner’s superhuman image of power. This lecture will focus on the design of suits of armor and will especially address helmet forms and often found elements like demonic Chinese lions.
Friday, Feb. 20
10:30 a.m.: Lecture, “Weaving a Way Forward: Developments in Japanese Bamboo Art”
11:30 a.m.: Reception and Silent Auction
Noon: Luncheon
Denius Student Center, Hartley Room
Tickets: $75 (Limited availability)
Originally from China, bamboo baskets have been made in Japan since the 8th century, from which time they were used to hold flowers for scattering during Buddhist rituals. In the 9th century, bamboo objects became intimately connected with Japan’s two forms of ceremonial tea presentation—chanoyu and senchadō—each defined by the type of tea used. Flower arrangements in bamboo containers play a role in both traditions and baskets imported from China became popular. During the 19th century Japanese bamboo artists were predominantly engaged in reproducing the most complex forms for a demanding market.
Whereas an artist of any medium could use bamboo in his or her art, a “true” bamboo artist knows how to harvest bamboo and excels in numerous plaiting techniques. He must first learn how to process and manipulate the material, as it cannot be simply bought in a store. Solid technical knowledge and skills are vital, but to succeed as an artist, creativity and innovation are essential as well. Bamboo works remained predominantly utilitarian in nature until the mid-20th century, when a small number of artists began to experiment with nonfunctional, sculptural forms. Since then, bamboo artists have proven to be highly creative by challenging the conventions of basketry and pushing their medium to new conceptual and technical limits. Artistic forms emerged in the mid-20th century that influenced “traditional” baskets, transforming them from functional vessels to increasingly sculptural objects.
This lecture will look into the historical development of bamboo art in Japan and provide an overview of the leading artists in the early 20th century that were instrumental for establishing sculptural works as today’s second main pillar of Japanese bamboo art.
Contact the Funk Center for more information at 321-674-8129 or http://411.fit.edu/threads/.