A particle of matter in quantum physics. Quantum physics: no observer - no matter. Our space is curved
Okimono in the traditional European sense is a figurine. In Japanese culture, a “carving” is a work of Japanese arts and crafts, a figurine designed to decorate an interior. Historically, the term okimono referred to small sculptures or decorative objects placed in the tokonoma of a traditional Japanese dwelling.
Okimono is similar to netsuke both in design, in plots, and often in size, but in okimono there is no hole for the cord, which is in netsuke.
Basically okimono are made of wood, ivory, bronze, silver. Combinations of these materials are not uncommon. To give a greater decorative effect, the craftsmen used inlay with mother-of-pearl, enamels, coral, and gold lacquer. The most valuable are items made of ivory, sometimes tinted with tea solution and decorated with engraved ornaments.
Udagawa Kazuo. Woman feeding a baby
Kazuo's work has been exhibited at several international exhibitions and rightfully won the fame of the "Japanese Madonna". In the image of a young mother, one can guess the resemblance to the famous Benois Madonna by Leonardo da Vinci. The master created several versions of it - in bronze (one of the copies is in the collection of Nasser D. Khalili), in wood and bone. The most valuable, of course, is the model carved from ivory, which adorns the collection of A. Feldman.
formed under the influence of China and partly India. Decorative Chinese style has become a model for Japanese artists, but they have created their own unique art system. It should be noted that in ancient times and in the Middle Ages, Japan practically did not know foreign invasions. This allowed her to create certain traditions, primarily related to the poetic attitude to the surrounding landscape. Decorative Japanese paintings are closely related to the attitude of the Japanese to nature, which they considered as part of a single cosmological picture of the world, where everything is interconnected and hierarchically ordered. The Japanese painter, choosing this or that motif, sought not only to reproduce its visual authenticity (pine, cypress, peony, iris), but to find a way to convey its connection with something more general and significant, how to connect centuries-old layers of cultural memory to perception .
In Japan, as in China, motifs and ornamental elements are always symbolic: birds and butterflies symbolize love experiences, wishes for happiness, the crane (tsuru) is a symbol of good luck and prosperity, long life; radish (daikon) is considered symbols of strength and power, procreation - orange, chastity - lotus, cherry (sakura) - a symbol of tenderness, bamboo - stamina and courage, a mandarin duck sitting on a rock under a tree is considered a symbol of marital happiness and fidelity.
The fragility and variability of being are reminiscent of cherry blossoms falling in the spring, long-blooming chrysanthemums signal longevity. At the beginning of the XVII century. The motif of blooming peonies was considered a symbol of a noble, noble person.
The symbols of the seasons are some natural phenomena, animals and flowers: foggy haze, cherry flower, willow tree, camellia - spring; cuckoo, cicadas, peony - summer; scarlet maple leaves, chrysanthemum, deer, moon - autumn, plum flowers in the snow - winter.
A stylized chrysanthemum flower with six petals in the form of a circle was a symbol of imperial power in Japan. He personified the sun, illuminating the Land of the Rising Sun with its rays.
Many patterns in Japanese art have names. For example, the traditional "sei-gai-ha" pattern is a wave of the blue ocean. The honeycomb pattern is called kikko (tortoise shell), symbolizing good fortune. Round chrysanthemums form the marugiku pattern, which was often used on kimono fabrics. Sparrows were depicted on the fukura-suzume pattern, and stylized water chestnuts (hishi) were depicted on the hishi-mon pattern. The only element of the uro-ko-mon pattern was an isosceles triangle; hundreds of such triangles formed pyramids of various sizes.
Narrative and symbolic compositions dominate in the decor of Japanese works of art. There are relatively few geometric ornaments. On the other hand, plant, landscape and animalistic themes occupy a central place in the paintings of Japanese works.
Tree branches, herbs, flowers, feathered dragons, fantastic monsters and snakes, butterflies and other insects are the main subjects in the paintings of porcelain, lacquerware, fabrics.
Unusual ornamentation significantly distinguishes the products of Japanese masters from the products of other peoples. The Japanese style is characterized by a deliberate asymmetry in the decor, a free ratio of artistic decoration and form, not subordination, but vice versa, their contrasting juxtaposition, lack of perspective in the image, and the significance of the material. There is always strict logic and expediency in the works, harmony based on the balance of color combinations, the exact correspondence of empty and filled space.
Each pattern should have a good meaning and a favorable lexical expression. The Japanese believe in the magic of the word - kotodama. They still believe that a word can bring trouble or, conversely, bring good luck. Ornaments associated with words that develop action, for example: 'open', 'begin', 'grow', 'continue', 'dance' - were considered good, and patterns associated with the words 'end', 'fall', 'shrink' , 'torn' - bad. But even here there are subtleties. A stormy stream is depicted - it means there will be a storm, disaster; the stream is quiet, calm - a wish for a calm, measured life.
The ornament can also have a favorable or unfavorable composition. If there are no buds on the branch or there is no free space in front of the bud where the flower could open, then this means that there is no future for flowering.
Japanese art historically developed mainly on the basis of a highly developed religious life, which was determined by Buddhism, Shintoism and Confucianism (there were also ideas of Taoism). Religion was explicitly and implicitly reflected in Japanese art. One of the effective means of creating an artistic image was the direct inclusion of sacred texts in the fabric of a work of art. But more often, religious motifs sounded only in the soul of the master, bringing to his creations a special atmosphere perfectly captured by the medieval Japanese.
The ornamental heritage of Japan is numerous and varied. The history of the art of ornamentation gives us the opportunity to clearly trace how social, aesthetic and cognitive forms of life were combined in human creativity.
Asuka-Nara period (6th-8th centuries) is characterized by the active use of ornaments and patterns from neighboring countries - China, Korea, although many of these patterns were brought to East Asia along the Great Silk Road from Greece, India, etc. There is an obvious similarity between the ornaments of this period and the ornaments of other ancient cultures of Eurasia.
The clothes were decorated with images of mythical animals and plants associated with strength and power. Images of a phoenix and a dragon, as well as outlandish birds and fish, according to Japanese beliefs, were able to drive away evil spirits. So the image of the Chinese lion, the king of animals, served as a talisman.
In the same period, Buddhist ornaments were borrowed - plants and animals of the Western Paradise of the Pure Land - a tortoise, a bird with a tree branch in its beak, the celestial fairy bird Kalavinka, mythical flowers.
The third group of ancient ornaments was associated with celestial bodies and natural phenomena - the sun, moon, stars, clouds, etc., which were considered the habitat of deities, which gave them magical power.
During the Heian and Kamakura period (9th-14th centuries) the Japanese decor system is taking shape, patterns have acquired new meanings in accordance with Japanese traditions.
Many ornaments based on Chinese classical literature appear, and the flowering of Japanese poetry and prose also contributes to the creation of a large layer of such patterns. Thanks to the invention of the kana alphabet, a calligraphic ornament appeared, in which the letters were woven into the decor in such a way that it was difficult to find them in the overall composition. This type of design was called ‘aside’ and became typical for that time. The 'Japanization' of the ornament also manifested itself in a wide depiction of objects, animals and plants surrounding a person - flowering cherries, chrysanthemums, maples, sparrows, deer, huts, fences, etc. At the same time, an aristocratic ornament was formed, known under the general name ‘yu: soku-monyo’. These were nominal patterns, which became the prototype of coat of arms.
Muromachi and Momoyama periods (15th-16th centuries) was marked by the widespread dissemination of the teachings of the Zen sect, and with it the arts of the tea ceremony and flower arranging. Ritual Buddhist objects began to be used as ornamental motifs. The military princes had their own values and aesthetic views, which was clearly expressed in the formation of a new everyday culture. At this time, the expression ‘The era is more important than the model’ (rei yori jidai) appeared, which testified to the desire to replace the Chinese models borrowed in antiquity with new ones that correspond to the new trends of the time. As patterns began to depict objects that were previously outside the scope of aesthetics. Thanks to the development of commodity-money relations, handicraft was improved, and many handicraft goods began to be used as a motif for decorating objects and clothes. In the second half of the 16th century Japan got acquainted with European culture, which had a strong influence on ornamentation and arts and crafts in general. The ornament of this time was more often applied with ink. During these periods, ink painting was popular on screens, fans and other interior items. It is worth mentioning the well-known group of artists - Noami, Geyami, Soami, who belonged to the Pure Land school.
In the 17th century there comes a period of diversity of patterns and ornaments. The era of the closure of the country, the peaceful development of the domestic economy, the improvement of the welfare of the urban population had a beneficial effect on the development of traditional culture. The traditional crafts of the regions spread throughout the country, and thanks to their development, it became possible to create new, more refined and complex ornaments. The reserved painting ‘yuzen’ (painting on fabric, batik) made it possible to depict complex landscapes on clothes. During this period, images of everyday life of people, genre scenes become typical. Thanks to the spread of literacy among the people, classical works of poetry and prose received a new reading, which, accordingly, led to a new interpretation of ornaments on literary themes.
During the Edo period (17th-18th centuries) printed catalogs of kimono ornaments appeared - hinagata-bon, which replaced traditional order books, where each order was described in detail from the words of the customer. Hinagata books and color prints became the first fashion magazines in Japan, on the basis of which the townspeople made orders for the manufacture of clothes.
After the opening of Japan in 1855 to the outside world, Japanese goods and works of art are brought to Europe in large quantities and quickly find connoisseurs in it. At the World Exhibitions in London and Paris, Japanese color engravings and various products of decorative and applied art (porcelain, kimono, screens, lacquerware, etc.) are demonstrated.
Japanese art amazed the West, had a huge impact on the art of many European artists, and contributed to the birth of the “modernism” style.
Artworks Japanese ceramic dynasty Raku occupy a special, unique place in the history of ceramics and the entire arts and crafts of Japan. The dynasty of Kyoto craftsmen maintains continuity for fifteen generations, continuing to create ceramics in the same artistic tradition in which it originated in the middle of the 16th century.
The products of the representatives of the Raku dynasty were initially focused not on mass or even serial production, but on the creation of unique works for a narrow circle of connoisseurs of the cha-no-yu tea ceremony. The repertoire of the workshop mainly consisted of tea bowls (tyavan), incense burners (koro), less often incense boxes (kogo) and vases for flower arrangements (cabins). This seeming limitation on the capabilities of the Raku craftsmen led to the refinement and crystallization of the style of the workshop. All these items bear a vivid imprint of the individuality of the masters who created them, and the time to which they belong.
The technology of the Raku family was based on the techniques of molding and glazing that were developed at the end of the 16th century during the work of the outstanding master, the founder of the Raku dynasty, Raku Tejiro: (楽 長次郎, ?-1589). Products were molded by hand (probably due to the low plasticity of local clays, which made it impossible to stretch them on a potter's wheel) and covered with fusible lead glazes in a polychrome manner (in imitation of the three-color Chinese Sancai ceramics of the Ming era (1368-1644)) or monochrome red and black glaze. It was monochrome products that became most famous among tea masters and received the names aka-raku (red raku) and kuro-raku (black raku). 
The most characteristic technological stage of Raku is firing: at a temperature in the firing chamber from 850 to 1000 ° C, the products are quickly removed and cooled in the open air or by immersion in water (green tea). Both the unpretentious, but lively and expressive forms of the bowls, and the glaze effects that occur during sudden cooling, gave expressiveness and individuality to the products of the workshop, and met the requirements of the wabi aesthetics that determined the tea ceremony of Sen no Rikyu (1522-1591) and his closest followers. In the 17th century, the recognition of this innovative style of ceramics was expressed not only in the high cost of the chawans of the Raku workshop, but also in the numerous imitations and interpretations of utsushi ("copying with differences") created by various ceramic artists. Hon'ami Koetsu (1558-1673) and Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743), the most influential craftsmen of the Edo period (1603-1868), studied with the masters of the Raku family and formed their own vivid interpretations of the style.
Thus, in Japan in the 17th century, both the products of the Raku family and those created by ceramists from other workshops and independent artists in the “raku style” already existed. Despite the fact that the name of a special type of pottery became a proper name, passed down from Raku Tejiro: I within the Kyoto workshop, the term "raku" acquired an independent meaning. So they began to call ceramics created in the technological and aesthetic traditions of the famous ceramic workshop. A large number of products in the style of raku (mostly also intended for the cha-no-yu tea ceremony) were also created by craftsmen during the 17th-19th centuries.
The opening of Japan to the West in the middle of the 19th century led to extensive borrowing of forms and decorative motifs from Japanese fine and decorative arts by Western masters. However, the ceramics of the Raku workshop did not attract the attention of Western connoisseurs until the beginning of the 20th century, because they did not meet the expectations of large trading companies and were devoid of the catchy decorative effect that distinguishes the export products of Japanese ceramic workshops of the second half of the 19th century. 
British painter and ceramist Bernard Leach (1887-1979)
Today, the term "raku" is widely used by ceramists in Russia, Western and Eastern Europe, Scandinavian countries and the United States. However, the concept of "ceramic raku" has undergone significant changes as it spread around the world, and consideration of the issue of the formation of "European" and "American raku" seems to be relevant.
The first European to introduce raku-style ceramics to Western craftsmen was the British artist and ceramist Bernard Leach (1887-1979). After receiving an art education in London, he came to Japan under the influence of the books of Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904), which described Japan as a country of sophisticated culture, beautiful nature, peaceful, hard-working people and beautiful women. Once in Japan in 1909, Leach got acquainted with the Shirakaba (White Birch) circle of young Japanese philosophers and artists, who published a literary and art magazine of the same name and sought to present to a wide range of readers the world artistic heritage, practically unknown in Japan until the end of the 19th century.
The activities of B. Leach in this association were originally devoted to the popularization of European prints. At the same time, his active work at Shirakaba introduced him to such young thinkers and artists as Yanagi So:etsu (柳宗悦, 1889-1961), Hamada Se:ji (濱田 庄司, 1894-1978) and Tomimoto Kenkichi (富本 憲吉記, 1886-1963). In 1911, after a solo exhibition in Tokyo, Leach took a certain place in the artistic life of Tokyo and throughout Japan as an engraver and textile designer. In the same year, he and Tomimoto Kenkichi were invited to a "raku meeting" (in his diaries Leach calls them a raku party).
Such gatherings were a popular form of intellectual and creative leisure among educated Japanese. The guests were provided with ceramic products that had previously undergone salvage firing; the participants painted and glazed them and watched the firing, which is especially spectacular at night, when the red-hot items are removed from the furnace and slowly cool in the air. For painting, they gathered in the room of the tea house (chashitsu), which emphasized the relaxed friendly atmosphere of the meeting and its connection with the tea tradition.
Until that moment, B. Leach, although interested in ceramics within the framework of Sirakaba, did not think about working with this material. Participation in the “raku meeting”, the spectacle of firing and the variety of results achieved by different participants in the meeting forced the artist to radically change his artistic career.
The first product of Bernard Leach, made at the "raku party", was a dish with the image of a parrot. This decorative motif was borrowed from the underglaze cobalt painting repertoire of Chinese Ming porcelain (1368-1644). Judging by the descriptions of this dish, it was polychrome, as well as other amateur products of such parties, which were quite often decorated with underglaze painting and were not close to the original products of Raku. This fact suggests that in Japan at the beginning of the 20th century, the technology of raku acquired a certain independence, no longer corresponded to the original family tradition, and was perceived as one of the well-known methods of decorating ceramics.
At the same time, it should be noted that raku meetings were clearly associated with the old traditions of artistic creativity, rooted in the ethics and aesthetics of the tea ceremony, joint poetic creativity, competitions of calligraphers, ikebana masters of the 17th-19th centuries. The return to this tradition at the beginning of the 20th century marked an important stage in the formation of the modern national culture of Japan: cultural and artistic forms associated with the authoritative elite culture of old Japan were again in demand. It is characteristic that it was at this time in Japan that there was a revival of interest in the cha-no-yu tea ceremony itself, in the sencha-do tea practice and other traditional arts, as well as in religious-philosophical and aesthetic teachings.
After several attempts to master pottery and ceramic painting on his own, B. Leach began looking for a teacher in Tokyo. Among others, he visited the workshop of Horikawa Mitsuzan, who specialized in the style of raku. However, Leach found greater mutual understanding with Urano Shigekichi (浦野繁吉, 1851-1923, Kenzan VI), whose ceramics inherited the traditions of the outstanding master Ogata Kenzan (Kenzan I, 1663-1743). Although, in Leach's opinion, the work of Urano Shigekichi and the commitment to decoration at the Rimpa school of art were devoid of energy and strength, this master possessed all the technical knowledge that belonged to the old and illustrious dynasty of ceramists, and was ready to teach the foreign student the basics of ceramic decoration.
For two years, Leach worked in the workshop of Urano Shigekichi with Tomimoto Kenkichi, who at first also acted as a translator, since Leach did not yet know Japanese well enough. In Urano's workshop, the creation of molds was not part of the work: blanks for painting were bought from other workshops or made by invited potters, but Leach also began to master pottery in order to be able to create molds himself. He noted that, not being Japanese, he could not fully feel the nature of traditional forms and decor. Many of the early works (1911-1913) of the master interpret European styles of ceramics in a peculiar way in the light of the Japanese pottery and artistic tradition. Later, the ceramics of the entire Far East and African countries would also have a great influence on Leach's work. 
After a year of apprenticeship, Urano allowed B. Leach to set up his own workshop in the corner of the garden on his estate and build a small raku kiln. A year after the construction of this workshop, Urano presented him and Tomimoto Kenkichi with official certificates (dense:) of inheriting the tradition of the Kenzan family, and Bernard Leach was officially recognized as the master of Kenzan VII.
Along with the name Kenzan, Bernard Leach also received a collection of "family" documents with glaze recipes and other production secrets, including the basics of "raku" firing, which were part of the Kenzan family's heritage. Subsequently, Leach partially published them in his works, including The Potter's Book, published in 1940 and which had a huge impact on the ceramics of Western workshops in the mid-twentieth century. Leach made the traditional technology available to all ceramists interested in enriching the artistic language of studio ceramics. Throughout his creative life, the master repeatedly turned to the raku technique, both while working in Japan and in St. Ives.
Speaking about the general state of European artistic ceramics at the beginning of the 20th century, it should be noted that it was B. Leach who became the first artist in Europe to establish an independent studio (in 1920 in St. Ives, Cornwall, after returning to England). Gradually, Leach and Yanagi So:etsu developed a new understanding of the role of the craftsman in the world artistic tradition: it partly coincided with the ideas of William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement (the history of this movement was a frequent topic in the conversations of Bernard Leach and Yanagi So:etsu). Like Morris, Leach opposed the industrialization of the craft and its transformation into a unified production.
For Yanagi So:etsu, as well as for many Japanese artists and thinkers of the early twentieth century, the prospect of the inevitable industrialization of the new Japan seemed a serious threat to the original culture of handicrafts and folk crafts. In the 1920s, the desire to preserve the folk tradition resulted in the influential Mingei movement, founded by Hamada Shoji and Kawai Kanjiro: (河井寛次郎, 1890-1978). The traditions of the old ceramic workshops were revived in the 1930s by Arakawa Toyozo: (荒川 豊 蔵, 1894-1985) and concerned mainly the ceramics of the Mino-Seto workshops of the Momoyama era (1573-1615).
The rehabilitation of the old arts was an important part of Japan's national policy in the first half of the 20th century; this policy found the most sincere and enthusiastic response from the philosophers and artists of the era. The Book of Tea by Okakura Kokuzo (岡倉 覚三, 1862-1913), published in 1906, had a great influence on the formation of interest in the national tradition - one of the program works on traditional arts, in which the enduring ethical and aesthetic value of the tea ceremony was justified cha-but yu. Published in English, this book has become a revelation for the Western reader. Along with The Potter's Book by Bernard Leach, The Book of Tea had a huge impact not only on ceramists in Western countries, but also on a wide range of artists, writers and thinkers of the mid-twentieth century.
In Cornwall, Bernard Leach and Hamada Sho:ji were engaged not only in creative, but also in pedagogical activities. One of Leach's first American students was Warren McKenzie (b. 1924), who studied at the St. Ives workshop from 1949 to 1951.
It was during the late 1940s and early 1950s that the interest of American artists in the Japanese pottery tradition grew. After a long economic downturn of the Great Depression and the militarization of the economy during the Second World War, a time of stability came in the United States, which could not but affect the development of arts and crafts. In the middle of the 20th century, the interests of American ceramists were mainly concentrated around improving the technique of ceramics and the formulation of glazes. In the post-war decade, the aesthetics of applied arts - not only in ceramics, but also in furniture design, artistic textiles, etc. - changed radically. The proliferation of new materials created by the military industry has led to an expansion of design possibilities.
Lecture by the legendary Shoji Hamada
Beginning in 1950, Craft Horizons began to feature publications on the work of masters of arts and crafts; in 1953, the American Craftsmen's Educational Council held an exhibition of "craftsmen-designers" in conjunction with the Brooklyn Museum; in 1956, the Museum of Modern Crafts in New York was opened by the same association. The number of educational institutions that studied crafts and arts and crafts grew, and gradually a fruitful environment was created in the United States for the work of artists, masters of various types of arts and crafts.
The rapidly changing post-war world demanded a new artistic language. After World War II, the world expanded significantly, and interest in the countries of the East also grew. The presence of American military bases in Japan, as a side effect, led to an expansion of American perceptions of a distant culture and a sustained interest in Japan. Japanese aesthetics gradually conquered the minds and hearts of American artists: the ideas of "organic" art, proximity to natural forms - all this was a response to technogenic culture and wartime design.
Interest also arose in the spiritual culture of Japan, which focused on Zen Buddhism. Knowledge of this Buddhist school spread in the West thanks to the publications and active educational activities of Suzuki Daisetsu Teitaro: (鈴木 大拙 貞 太郎, 1870-1966) and the religious scholar and philosopher Alan Wilson Watts (Alan Watts, 1915-1973). In addition to Watts' activities as a popularizer of Zen Buddhism, it is worth noting his ideas about the aesthetics of applied arts, born under the influence of the commune of Druid Heights (California, USA). The inhabitants of this commune, founded by the writer Elsa Gidlow (1898-1986), including Alan Watts, created all the necessary household items themselves, guided by ideas of natural and functional aesthetics. Watts saw a direct connection between the simple forms of "applied aesthetics" of American amateur artists and the aesthetics of those things that were created in the spirit of Japanese wabi aesthetics for those arts that developed in line with the Zen tradition (tea ceremony, flower arrangement of ikebana, etc.). At the same time, both the ethics of Zen Buddhism and its aesthetics were perceived by Watts and his followers as a way of "internal immigration", finding their own voice in a conservative state and unifying all forms of life in America. "Free-form" ceramics have come to prominence in the arts and crafts of the United States.
A huge influence on American ceramists in the 1950s was Bernard Leach, whose work The Potter's Book was published in the United States in 1947. However, the arrival of the English master Yanagi So: etsu and Hamada Se: ji in the USA with a series of lectures and master classes in 1952, after a conference held at Dartington Hall (Devonshire), had the greatest influence on the artists. This Anglo-Japanese conference was devoted to the art of ceramics and artistic weaving, its main task was to demonstrate the wide possibilities of international cooperation in this artistic field.
Thanks to the master classes of Hamada Shoji (the master rarely gave public lectures, but everywhere he found an opportunity to demonstrate his work - on any potter's wheel and with any clay that was provided to him), American ceramists got acquainted with the special plastic qualities of Japanese ceramics. Japanese ceramics began to be considered in terms of sculpture, with all the possibilities of this art form in creating a complex form, in interaction with the surrounding space, taking into account the importance of texture (and color) for conveying the internal dynamics of the form, etc.
In the 1950s and 1960s, such prominent Japanese masters as Kitaoji Rosanjin (北大路 魯山人, 1883-1959) and Kaneshige Toyo: (金重 陶陽, 1896-1967) also visited the United States, who had a huge impact on American artists. One of the most interested participants in such lectures and master classes was Paul Soldner (1921-2011), who is considered the inventor of the "American raku", which, over time, turned out to be a pan-Western trend in ceramics. He was a student of one of the most prominent and influential ceramic artists of his time, Peter Voulkos (Panagiotis Voulkos, 1924-2002). A small - only three years - age difference between the teacher and the student allowed the masters to experiment together and look for new forms of ceramics.
Soldner was greatly influenced by Zen philosophy, the tea ceremony, and the work of Japanese potters, but these phenomena did not have much influence on his early work - monumental, intricately shaped items made on a potter's wheel. However, in 1960, while preparing a class for students at the Scripps Institute, he became interested in Raku ceramics and discovered the limitless possibilities of freedom of creativity and improvisation characteristic of this type of ceramics.
Soldner abandoned complex forms in favor of "organic", close to natural ones, which also led to the abandonment of the potter's wheel - molding methods began to more closely resemble those adopted in the Raku workshops in Kyoto. Firing required special research: the greatest (compared to Japanese raku) changes were made at this stage of creating a ceramic product.
As the main source of information, Soldner used the description of Raku ceramics and the technology of its creation in the "Potter's Book" by B. Leach. Using his brief description and drawing on his own experience, Soldner created a small kiln. After several hours of firing, Soldner removed the red-hot ceramic pot and wrapped it in wet leaves from a nearby drainage ditch, creating a reducing environment as the piece cooled. This process was called "smoking" of ceramics (smoking) and was radically different from the traditional Japanese method of cooling raku products in an oxidizing environment. Nevertheless, it was this method that laid the foundation for the so-called "American cancer" and spread to many countries of the world. 
Soldner continued to make kilns of his own design: in the 1960s, he built eleven kilns for firing products at different temperatures and in different redox conditions, including kilns and reduction chambers for raku. Sealed steel chambers-smokers were about 1.2 m in diameter and made it possible to simultaneously cool 6-10 products in a reducing environment. In order to carry out partial oxidation of the surface of the products (which gave them a bright individuality), the lid of such a furnace could rise for a while. Thus, during his many experiments with ovens of his own design, glazes of different recipes and different forms of products, Soldner was very far from the original Japanese techniques used in traditional Raku ovens.
Such free treatment of the traditional recipe was dictated by Soldner's deep conviction of the need to move forward, guided only by intuition and experience. At the same time, abstract expressionism, with its special commitment to spontaneity and unpredictability of the result of artistic creation, was, according to the ideas of artists - contemporaries of Soldner, comparable to the principles of Zen naturalness and spontaneity. Thus, the Japanese medieval tradition in the middle of the twentieth century sounded sharply modern.
Chawan bowls, which were created by Soldner with a group of Otis students in the 1960s, are distinguished by their original and, at the same time, careful interpretation of the Japanese ceramic tradition. Forms are close to Japanese; the uneven surface of the sides of the bowls is covered with free
streaks of colored (black, red, yellow or brown) glazes, along which large tinted craquelures are located. The master turned to these classical forms of Japanese ceramics throughout his long creative career, bringing new and new original features to the free style of raku. In the 1980s, trying out more complex forms, already close to sculpture and an art object, Soldner also complicated the decor: the master applied glaze in layers of different thicknesses, creating complex transitions from an unglazed shard to thick, flowing areas of colored glaze.
At the 2012 exhibition, the Missoula Art Museum showed a large, almost globular vessel by Paul Soldner, covered with brown glaze and fired in the tradition of "raku". Vessels similar in shape made of dark gray ceramic mass were covered with a thin layer of glaze and decorated on top with engobe and colored glazes - expressionistic, abstract patterns of intersecting strokes and lines, impressions of wooden templates with different patterns - in the form of comb stripes, small depressions, etc.
By the 1960s, among American ceramists, there were already several ideas about what “raku” was: they were either objects fired in smoky chambers (“smoked”), or fired and cooled in chambers with smoldering fuel or in water. . Such diversity was recorded at the beginning of the 21st century in the description of the “raku” technology by Stephen Branfman: he defines “raku” ceramics as fired in a preheated kiln, taken out of the kiln at the maximum temperature in the firing chamber and slowly cooled in water, in a container with combustible materials or just outdoors.
Paul Soldner avoided uniquely defining raku pottery through technology. He proceeded from the idea that the main qualities of Raku ceramics - inner freedom and convenience - lie outside of technology, in the field of artistic understanding of life. The master had the opportunity to see the difference between his own technique and the original tradition of the Raku family during his visit to Japan in the late 1990s. However, by that time, the technology of firing products, proposed by him in the 1960s, became known as "raku" far beyond the United States - thanks to exhibitions, publications and teaching activities of both Soldner himself and his students and followers. Today, there are a large number of ceramists in the United States who continue the tradition of American raku firing, but various versions of this technique exist in other Western countries.
British ceramist David Roberts (David Roberts, b. 1947) is one of the most influential contemporary raku artists. His work not only constituted a new English reinterpretation of this Japanese pottery, but also led to a resurgence of interest in cancer in the United States, where he created the Naked Raku movement, which made this pottery even more modern.
The monumental forms of this pottery are created by hand molding (by building up bundles), then the surface is leveled and after biscuit firing (about 1000-1100°C) it is sometimes covered with a thin layer of engobe, and then with glaze. The second "raku" firing at a temperature of 850-900°C ends with a long "smoking" of the product in a reducing environment - in a container with paper and a small amount of sawdust. Within a few minutes, the dyes and compounds of engobe and clay are restored. The finished product is washed, and in the process of washing, the glaze is peeled off the surface, exposing a white engobe with a whimsical pattern of a blackened surface (which is why this technology was called “naked raku”). In some cases, the finished product is rubbed with natural wax to give the surface a deep shine.
Decided in laconic black and white, Roberts' latest works seem to be carved from stone: white marble with complex veining or hematite. All surfaces - matt or polished - have a deep luster without bright reflections, gently diffusing light. It can be recalled that it was this ability of the stone - namely jade - that made it a noble material in the eyes of the Chinese and caused a number of imitations of jade in porcelain and ceramics of China (starting from the 12th century) and Japan (from the 8th century).
Roberts' pottery is as far from the works of the Japanese Raku workshop as it is from the experiments of Paul Soldner. His "raku", in turn, caused the appearance of a galaxy of bright masters of the new, "naked" raku in many countries of the world. Western masters include Charlie and Linda Riggs (Charlie, Linda Riggs, Atlanta, USA) and Paolo Reis (South Africa).
In different workshops, artists experiment with different compositions of clays, engobes and glazes, different combustible materials for the restoration process in smoking chambers, as well as with new forms of ceramic products - from traditional vases to elements
interior decor and art objects. Many ceramists in Russia and neighboring countries create works in the "American raku" technology and adhere to the style of traditional Japanese products with rough organic forms, rich in glaze colors.
Summing up the study of the phenomenon of "raku ceramics" in the work of Western ceramists of the 20th - early 21st centuries, it should be said that the term "raku ceramics" has received an exceptionally wide interpretation in modern literature on decorative art and ceramics, as well as in the practice of ceramists. According to the content, the following definitions of "cancer" can be distinguished:
Ceramics created in traditional Japanese technology and aesthetics by the craftsmen of the Raku family (Kyoto);
ceramics created in traditional Japanese technology in other workshops in Japan;
finally, ceramics of Western masters who interpret the Japanese tradition both in terms of technology and aesthetics.
Despite the great technological and stylistic diversity of types of ceramics, summarized in the third group, they are united by one important artistic principle: following nature, cooperating with it in creating an artistic image (which corresponds to the "organic direction" and the principles of metabolism in architecture and design of the twentieth century).
This principle, associated in Western consciousness mainly with Zen philosophy and wabi aesthetics, allows all modern ceramists to consider themselves successors and interpreters of the Japanese spiritual and pottery tradition, no matter how far their works may be from the "original sources". The freedom and spontaneity of creativity, the cooperation of the master with the material, the unpredictability of the final result and the aesthetic originality make Raku ceramics attractive to all artists.
Japanese ceramics of the Raku family, which retained the foundations of technology and aesthetics from the 16th century, thus proved to be one of the most influential types of arts and crafts of the 20th century.
Japan is an amazing country, which very carefully honors and preserves its customs and traditions. Japanese needlework just as varied and amazing. In this article, the main needlework arts, whose homeland is Japan - amigurumi, kanzashi, temari, mizuhiki, oshie, kinusaiga, terimen, furoshiki, kumihimo, sashiko. You probably heard about some types, maybe you yourself began to create in this technique, some are not so popular outside of Japan itself. A distinctive feature of Japanese needlework is accuracy, patience and perseverance, although ... most likely these features can be attributed to the needlework of the world).
Amigurumi - Japanese knitted toys
Japanese kanzashi - fabric flowers
Temari is an ancient Japanese art of embroidering balls.
On the photo are temari balls (Author of embroidery: Kondakova Larisa Aleksandrovna)
- the ancient Japanese art of embroidering balls, which has won many fans around the world. True, Temari's homeland is China; this needlework was brought to Japan about 600 years ago. Initially temari made for children using the remnants of old ones, with the invention of rubber, the braiding of balls began to be considered an arts and crafts. Temari as a gift symbolizes friendship and devotion, there is also a belief that they bring good luck and happiness. In Japan, a temari professional is considered a person who has passed 4 levels of skill, for this you need to weave 150 temari balls and study for about 6 years!
another flourishing type of Japanese applied art, in its technology it resembles macrame weaving, but more elegant and miniature.
So what is mizuhiki- this is the art of tying various knots from cords, as a result of which patterns of stunning beauty are created, its roots go back to the 18th century.
The scope is also diverse - postcards, letters, hairstyles, handbags, gift wrapping. By the way, thanks to gift wrapping mizuhiki have been widely adopted. After all, gifts rely on every event in a person's life. There is such a huge number of knots and compositions in mizuhiki that not even every Japanese knows them all by heart, along with this, there are also the most common basic knots that are used to congratulate the birth of a child, for a wedding, commemoration, birthday or university admission.
- japanese handmade to create three-dimensional paintings from cardboard and fabric or paper using appliqué technology. This type of needlework is very popular in Japan, in Russia it has not yet received much distribution, although learning how to create oshie paintings very simple. To create oshie paintings, Japanese washi paper (which is based on the fibers of mulberry, gampi, mitsumata and a number of other plants), fabrics, cardboard, batting, glue, and scissors are needed.
The use of Japanese materials - fabric and paper in this art form is fundamental, because washi paper, for example, resembles fabric in its properties, and, therefore, is stronger and more plastic than ordinary paper. As for the fabric, the fabric from which they are sewn is used here. Of course, Japanese craftswomen did not buy new fabric for oshie, they gave their old kimonos a new life, using it to create paintings. Traditionally, oshie-paintings depicted children in national costumes, scenes from fairy tales.
Before you start work, you need to choose a drawing for the picture, so that all its elements have a finished, clear look, all lines must be closed, as in a children's coloring book. In short, the technology for creating oshie is as follows: each cardboard element of the pattern is wrapped in a cloth, and batting is first glued onto the cardboard. Due to the batting, the picture is given volume.
combined several techniques at once: wood carving, patchwork, appliqué, mosaic. To create a picture of kinusaiga, you must first make a sketch on paper, then transfer it to a wooden board. On the board along the contour of the drawing, recesses are made, a kind of groove. After that, small shreds are cut from the old silk kimono, which then fill the cut grooves on the plank. As a result, the resulting picture of the kinusaiga is striking in its beauty and realism.
- japanese art of fabric folding, the history of appearance and the main methods of packaging in this technique can be read. Use this technique for packaging, beautiful, profitable, convenient. And in the Japanese computer market, a new trend is laptops packed in the style Furoshiki. Agree, very original!
(Chirimen craft) - antique Japanese needlework, which originated in the era of late Japanese feudalism. The essence of this arts and crafts is the creation of toy figurines from fabric, mainly the embodiment of animals and plants. This is a purely female type of needlework; Japanese men are not supposed to do it. In the 17th century, one of the directions of "terimen" was the manufacture of decorative pouches, in which fragrant substances were put, they were worn with oneself (like perfume) or used to flavor fresh linen (a kind of sachet). Currently terimen figurines are used for as decorative elements in the interior of the house. To create terimen figurines, no special training is needed, it is enough to have fabric, scissors and a lot of patience.
- one of the most ancient types of weaving shoelaces, the first mentions date back to the year 50. Translated from Japanese kumi - folding, himo - threads (folding of threads). Laces were used both for functional purposes - fastening samurai weapons, tying armor on horses, tying heavy objects, and for decorative purposes - tying a kimono (obi) belt, wrapping gifts. Weave kumihimo shoelaces mainly on machines, there are two types of them, takadai and marudai, when using the first, flat cords are obtained, on the second, round ones.
- simple and sophisticated Japanese needlework something similar to patchwork. sashiko This is a simple and at the same time exquisite hand embroidery. Translated from Japanese, the word "sashiko" means "small puncture", which fully characterizes the technique of making stitches. The literal translation from the Japanese word "sashiko" means "great luck, happiness." This ancient embroidery technique owes its appearance to the poverty of the rural people of Japan. Unable to replace old worn clothes with new ones (fabric was very expensive in those days), they came up with a way to “restorate” it with the help of embroidery. Initially, sashiko patterns were used for quilting and warming clothes, poor women folded worn fabric in several layers and connected it using the sashiko technique, thus making one warm quilted jacket. Currently, sashiko is widely used for decorative purposes. Traditionally, patterns were embroidered on fabrics of dark, mostly blue, tones with white thread. It was believed that clothes embroidered with symbolic drawings protected from evil spirits.
Basic principles of sashiko:
The contrast of fabric and thread - the traditional color of the fabric is dark blue, indigo, the color of the threads is white, a combination of black and white was often used. Now, of course, the color palette is not so strictly adhered to.
The stitches should never intersect at the intersections of the ornament, there should be a distance between them.
The stitches should be the same size, the distance between them should also not be uneven.
For this type of embroidery, a special needle is used (like a needle for a sewing machine). The desired pattern is applied to the fabric and then a needle with a threaded thread is inserted, a small loop should remain from the inside. This embroidery is fast work, the difficulty lies only in the ability to apply strokes and mix colors. Entire pictures are embroidered in this way, the main thing is to pick up the threads to get a realistic drawing. The threads used for work are not quite ordinary - this is a special “cord” that unravels during work and due to this a very beautiful and unusual stitch is obtained.
- translated from Japanese kusuri (medicine) and tama (ball), literally "medicinal ball". The Art of Kusudama comes from ancient Japanese traditions, when kusudama was used for incense and a mixture of dry petals. In general, kusudama is a paper ball consisting of a large number of modules folded from a square sheet of paper (symbolizing flowers).
Japan is an amazing eastern country located on the islands. Another name for Japan is the Land of the Rising Sun. The mild warm humid climate, mountain ranges of volcanoes and sea waters create magnificent landscapes among which young Japanese grow up, which undoubtedly leaves an imprint on the art of this small state. Here, people from an early age get used to beauty, and fresh flowers, ornamental plants and small gardens with a lake are an attribute of their homes. Everyone is trying to organize for themselves a piece of wildlife. Like all eastern nationalities, the Japanese have retained a connection with nature, which is honored and respected throughout the centuries of the existence of their civilization.
Air humidification: the WINIX WSC-500 air washer generates fine particles of water.. Operating modes of a sink of Winix WSC-500: A sink of air "WINIX WSC-500" has a convenient automatic operating mode. At the same time, the most optimal and comfortable humidity in the room is maintained - 50-60%, and the plasma air purification and ionization mode (“Plasma Wave™”) is enabled by default.
Japanese architecture
For a long time, Japan was considered a closed country, contacts were only with China and Korea. Therefore, their development took place along its own special path. Later, when various innovations began to penetrate the territory of the islands, the Japanese quickly adapted them for themselves and remade them in their own way. The Japanese architectural style is houses with massive curved roofs that allow you to protect yourself from constant heavy rains. A real work of art are the imperial palaces with gardens and pavilions.
Of the places of worship found in Japan, one can distinguish wooden Shinto temples, Buddhist pagodas and Buddhist temple complexes that have survived to this day, which appeared in a later period of history, when Buddhism entered the country from the mainland and was declared the state religion. Wooden buildings, as you know, are not durable and vulnerable, but in Japan it is customary to recreate buildings in their original form, so even after fires they are rebuilt in the form in which they were built at one time.
Sculpture of Japan
Buddhism had a strong influence on the development of Japanese art. Many works represent the image of the Buddha, so numerous statues and sculptures of the Buddha were created in the temples. They were made of metal, wood and stone. Only some time later, craftsmen appeared who began to make secular portrait sculptures, but over time, the need for them disappeared, so more and more often, sculptural reliefs with deep carvings began to be used to decorate buildings.
Miniature netsuke sculpture is considered the national art form in Japan. Initially, such figures played the role of a keychain, which was attached to the belt. Each figurine had a hole for a string, on which the necessary items were hung, since clothes at that time did not have pockets. Netsuke figurines depicted secular characters, gods, demons, or various objects that had a special secret meaning, for example, a wish for family happiness. Netsuke are made of wood, ivory, ceramics or metal.
Japanese arts and crafts
The manufacture of edged weapons was elevated to the rank of art in Japan, bringing the manufacture of the samurai sword to perfection. Swords, daggers, mounts for swords, elements of combat ammunition served as a kind of male jewelry, indicating belonging to a class, so they were made by skilled craftsmen, decorated with precious stones and carvings. Also among the folk crafts of Japan is the manufacture of ceramics, lacquerware, weaving and woodcut craftsmanship. Japanese potters paint traditional pottery with various patterns and glazes.
Japan painting
At first, Japanese painting was dominated by a monochrome type of paintings, closely intertwined with the art of calligraphy. Both were created according to the same principles. The art of making paint, ink and paper came to Japan from the mainland. In this regard, a new round of development of the art of painting began. At that time, one of the types of Japanese painting was the long horizontal scrolls of emakinomo, which depicted scenes from the life of the Buddha. Landscape painting in Japan began to develop much later, after which artists appeared who specialized in scenes from secular life, portraits and military scenes.
In Japan, they usually drew on folding screens, shoji, walls of houses and clothes. The screen for the Japanese is not only a functional element of the home, but also a work of art for contemplation, which determines the general mood of the room. The national kimono clothing also belongs to the objects of Japanese art, carrying a special oriental flavor. Decorative panels on gold foil using bright colors can also be attributed to the works of Japanese painting. The Japanese achieved great skill in creating ukiyo-e, the so-called woodcut. The plot of such paintings was episodes from the life of ordinary citizens, artists and geishas, as well as magnificent landscapes that became the result of the development of the art of painting in Japan.