Western Display Concepts

Harry, we'll start with the Pacific Northwest convention and then do Goldenstate with about 6weeks of doing nothing but working on trees, one stop to the next.
Wood

Wish I could, but I can't leave my trees and fish in the summer, I have to travel in the winter.

keep it green,
Harry
 
I also raise show koi and have two high maintenance dogs, along with a high maintenance wife as in a closet full of Coach and Burberry purses to deal with or I would go to some shows on the west coast............:(

keep it green,
Harry

Probably bought the purses out of the back of a station wagon with Mexico plates........
 
Probably bought the purses out of the back of a station wagon with Mexico plates........

No fakes here old friend, she just wants to keep me in check !!!!!!

keep it green,
harry
 
Do we need more options? I think we have not managed to refine 2-4 to any great degree... so trying to concentrate on that would seem the better task. :D

Though I do applaud whole heartedly your "out of the box" approach. We might however find ourselves in the tricky space of disrespecting the trees if we stretch much further than those four... all I can think to add is hanging one up like that new fad running around of growing tomatoes upside down. :p

Warmest regards,

Victrinia

I haven't read though this whole sting yet and hope this link has not been presented but as for growing trees upside down check out "Tree Logic" at MASSMOCA

http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=29
 

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Japanese Calligraphy Defined

Somewhere in the middle of this thread was a discussion that most Japanese can not read what is written on the scrolls...

This point needs to be clarified because in some cases the statement is true and in some cases it is not.

There are many writing styles in 書道 Shodo or Japanese Calligraphy. I will mention four, because these are the styles my wife submits monthly to her Japanese Calligraphy society.
1. 楷書Kaisho-Block Print This is legible and any Japanese could read this style. It is also the first style learned in Calligraphy.
2. 行書Gyousho-Semi Cursive This is legible, because even I can read writing in this style. It is marked by combining one or two brush strokes and abbreviating some of the writing.
3. 草書Sousho-Full Cursive This is illegible because the calligrapher is combining many strokes into one, two or three strokes for one character. It is very beautiful, but is still governed by rules. In most cases, Japanese can not read the characters, unless they are told by the artist themself. However, it is not random and my wife always utilizes her book to choose from a variety of Sousho styles to write the works.
4. かなKana-Woman's Hand This is a purely Japanese style of calligraphy. It incorporates a lot of hiragana and is written in uneven lines for poetic or conceptualization of the writing. I can read the hiragana in this form of writing but typically can not read the kanji.

Hope that clears some things for you to understand writing that may or may not be legible on scrolls more fully. If you want to see more samples of different writing styles go to my blog at www.wallscroll.blogspot.com
 
Somewhere in the middle of this thread was a discussion that most Japanese can not read what is written on the scrolls...

This point needs to be clarified because in some cases the statement is true and in some cases it is not.

There are many writing styles in 書道 Shodo or Japanese Calligraphy. I will mention four, because these are the styles my wife submits monthly to her Japanese Calligraphy society.
1. 楷書Kaisho-Block Print This is legible and any Japanese could read this style. It is also the first style learned in Calligraphy.
2. 行書Gyousho-Semi Cursive This is legible, because even I can read writing in this style. It is marked by combining one or two brush strokes and abbreviating some of the writing.
3. 草書Sousho-Full Cursive This is illegible because the calligrapher is combining many strokes into one, two or three strokes for one character. It is very beautiful, but is still governed by rules. In most cases, Japanese can not read the characters, unless they are told by the artist themself. However, it is not random and my wife always utilizes her book to choose from a variety of Sousho styles to write the works.
4. かなKana-Woman's Hand This is a purely Japanese style of calligraphy. It incorporates a lot of hiragana and is written in uneven lines for poetic or conceptualization of the writing. I can read the hiragana in this form of writing but typically can not read the kanji.

Hope that clears some things for you to understand writing that may or may not be legible on scrolls more fully. If you want to see more samples of different writing styles go to my blog at www.wallscroll.blogspot.com

Whats your point?

I said that at any given time a room full of Japanese people may not be able to dechipher any thing on a scroll. Is this true or not? If you answer yes then your post was moot. I said that just becasue your Japanese , that does not mean that every Japanese person that walks into a kazari can read every word on every scroll and could quite possibly not read any thing on any of the scrolls. Of course some may read some of the meanings and words, and still not understand the meaning.


The point is....or rather my point was that in useing scrolls with kanji there is always a risk of not only a western viewer not understanding it, but people from it's own origens not understanding it. Nothing more. We can split hairs all day but in the end we are both correct.


I have about 33 antique Japanese scrolls with more on the way, if you wish to translate the poems and kanji as well as translate a few names for me I would be happy to post them. My teacher is Japanese as well as his wife and the club I am president of is all Japanese, they can not help me. Some of the folks are over 80 years old as well as younger members. My teacher is the man who won this years Kazari, Katsumi Kinoshita. I came in second, I plan on reversing that next year:D:D:D;)
 
Whats your point?

It was written to give people the opportunity to understand more deeply about Calligraphy...that is all. I was clarifying what was said previously posted about Japanese being able to read may or may not be correct...it was not a personal attack. In some cases the calligraphy can be read, and in some cases it can not, but if you read my post and apply the principles written even an American who can not read Japanese can look at a scroll and say, oh... this is Gyousho or this is probably Kana calligraphy.

Sorry the post sounded so rude...it did not have that intention at all...

And no, I do not have the ability to translate a complete kana or Sousho writing without being told ahead of time by the artist what was written...

Yes, I wish you luck with your display next year...

Jonathan
 
but if you read my post and apply the principles written even an American who can not read Japanese can look at a scroll and say, oh... this is Gyousho or this is probably Kana calligraphy.

Jonathan


When I read a reply to a post I break it down to the lowest point and try to understand what the poster is trying to say.

Are you saying that Americans that cannot read Japanese could look at a scroll and say: "oh... this is Gyousho or this is probably Kana calligraphy."
Cause thats what you wrote. I could not do that and probably most if not all on this forum could not do that.


.....or are you saying that someone like you, that has apprenticed with a scroll master, may be able to read some Japanese kanji and has a wife that can write Japanese calligraphy could say: " oh... this is Gyousho or this is probably Kana calligraphy."


....cause this guy can't read either, and I can find far more that can't read it than can, so my perspective is that it is far more likely that given the fact that most Japanese can't read most scrolls, most Japanese at a kazari whether in Japan or America would be confused with a scroll and kanji....fair?

Al
 
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