Boku as a ‘Mono’ Es (| as a ‘Thing’) Gag RAEWI THs as SHOICHI HIRAI aay yeWhen « Gotai member hronght him what they tad made proudly lating ta have “ereated what no one else had done before Yoshihara would rest telling them, “it does not work” and unkindly saying that i€ had wlready bees done. Without the members’ repeate! trials with Yoshibars, Gutai could not have atained any trae originaliy in espeesion, Some works made him ‘say *Tersifc!”, and his positive response tothe members! work oni n preveded high evaluations in Europe and the USA by art ‘sport Atte end of World War I the whe nation became involved in a slp ten tarts democratization, and younger Japanese, who Inca ule dting the war found themselves esorentated and onffonted vith the question of have to five their own lives They vere lost-goneration who suffered disadvantages such as a lost ing owt the problems o ree ofthe world outside Jaan. Yeshihars appeared as 4 man who was sor than just an instractor of frmative art He was rege as master who could give advice and teach the value and meaning of the life an indleperslent individual should iv. He was vere a5 an alyolute parson beyond reasonable explanations This distinguishes Gutai from other Japanese artist groups alter World War IL Intemational recognition of the originality ara; his wide anv artiste quality of Guta owes much to Yos knowledge of Western art, his artiste insight and his talent as b leading master: His instruction was so illuminating that be hanged the mental hunger young Japanese were suffering from in the 1950s into the driving foe needled for developing thei seeeeing generations Without all of the Factors, Guta could not hae guined is imemational repstaton, Bs ad thse iterest i new atistic expressions united them hinder the bannee of Yostihara, This condition made i easier for them to aehieve solfrealization through making art, However there were some members wo were induced to Guta Firstly hy Yorw Ukita was a typical example of such a member. Ukita recognized something iw common with Yoshihara, He was impressed by his existentinlistie idea of puting stress on individuality asthe supreme value in ant creation 9 Although a magazine editor fs move fasitia with viewing artworks than pradcing them, Ula hud long been thinking alot the meaning ‘of man’s existence through observing children's pocms and pictures, Yoshilra closely observed the children's eveations chosen by Ukita to appear in Kiri, and admired his nesthetie sensibility, He seems ta have bee ste that man with sc an sesthetially trained eye coll be a good formative ati With the foundation of Guta, Yosbibars tried to open up a ne horizon i at H Toul a clue in aynthesin of diferent ‘sablished terrains. Gendai Bjytst Kondankai (Contemporary Ast Panel), the so-called Geabi, of whielt he was a member, was the motel he hal in perspetive, Yoshihara merited people from tier fields to Guta and Ukita was expected to play the role of stasis Also practeal reson for rcmiting professional eit ts fast wih eting and publishing the journal of his groups tied ales Gut, ties became im tothe pub Yoshi 4 acknowledged Ukita’s special abilities to the other ‘members Nonetheless, thee ta asi difference between viewing oat and eveatng it. These two aets are iferent i nate, and in the abilities they requir, Alitougl le decided to be 4 eneator svi Yoshibsans’s encouragement, Uhit imagined. In a was liffese ria the ae iat petoege aia et resill inthe serealization he sus of ability al siowp int his tenes in menibers. Ukita tried to-nespond to Yoshihara’ expectations by ‘reating"better pieces” g, widening a gap between the making and the ideal of slfxealiation, A manifestation of this dite be confronted as « Guta ats foun in-one of his retrospective tests, writen a6 am examination is is and work of the Gut peri: Eu if ecu not understand! the value of my on works Las happy with the resoguition given by Yoshibara-sense, hut i didJear my’ clouded mind, So, 1 thonght dt E shonin est to make better pieces and experimented with diverse new ethos ony to ave every single piece fil n vain. 1 1964, he “nally judged that” be “had no ability to erete new rt [and he tet Gutai, About 10 years had passed since he joined Dividing the 18 years of Gutaiativity 1951-72) nto Hee pero, the year 1964 clones the secon! perio was » turing point, a ind of de across which the group entered the pat ‘ofits activity, En the farmer stages, Yoshihara fought against th Dubie mble u wnderstanal Cutan, unite wth ele and like mminuled members, who became adults duving the war. tn contrast in its inal stage, Gua begun to gain inereasng reoguition a an uta ive iu Kana (tho westerw are of Japan}, and hecame an sspiration of young artists who came of ae afer the wa: When ‘the existential Featute diminished, Guts appeared to Ukita a mere collective foe formative arin spite of his endeavor for ereatiiy It as impossible for him to find the decisive season for Mis membership in Gutai anymore, reause what Finkel hint to the group was a wish to sine “ig season for living wits Yosisara tnd the other members, Alo tia woring Ofehery siigte picee filed in vain” wveals his feeling of disappointment, his ‘is paintings in the*informel” syle, the features of which aby the errs iitorest They belong to his work after July 1957 when the group Gai encounter Michl Typ (1900-1987 a French art ete Since then, Gutsi began to he recognized ay a representative of abstraet expressionist paintings in East Asa, the movement the French at critic asc His early work does however, show a quaity that no one bit Uhita could realize, work dome whet Gu was still young and all the members freely pursed their own antsic expresions, His work includes several square compositions shown in the te Guta tre Fslabion in Ortober 1955, and his ‘automatic’ drawings which Yoshihara admired for being“ of powerful tension and fre From the full of excessive artiliility whieh ad spoil many pieces of this type October 1956.9 iit creating without restiction hy a partieular syle, Ukita als might appeared in the 2nd Gutai Are Bhibiin is ai had never encountered Michel Tapi and continued Ihave developed is cretiviy iaeilferent way in his Coal years. However most remarkable i that Uita’s Guta years utr lh his views om are and artistic sensitivity whieh would underie all 11h that avakersa in tthe io aera Teint sliolal besten Hetween tis Gutel period and that f lowing the 1980s. is gins through Guta survived ad develped i hi sul 3 ‘ones? 9, that “it wns truly 8 most remarkable reformation of ray Hf" pg) Ulta was invited by to artists Shozo Shima 1928.2018) nnd Shur Murahaun (1925-1996), close friends met {hrough the young Gulia paticipate ina small group exibition in Disseldorf, Germany. 1988 marks his two-week experience living and working together with four German ae students under one oat According to his recollections, these German art stulents impressed” his by “He energy that shot out frou their Flfilled ifesiyles” their attitudes towant working om art and living like” and he learnt, more or lss at the age of almost 60, that how feats slioud live and whist Creators shou think Of ther real lives ontside art eneation is the vey hase for working on ar” atts wan ing life" he means, in his ore spect tems todo one’s best, no matter what the content ofthe art 3 He ads that, “if eretor becomes two ambitious to ake his amaeseellent ant he i not standing on sold ground and the work Ioccoies weak as 8 result” oy This statement refers to his Guta period when he could aol help being nervous aout Yoshihar's ag his en works with those by other members. Tt-yas almost 20 years after he lel Guta ad Yoshiary, after he retivated from the frontiers of contemporary ant. The period vas Jong enough for Ukia to rflet on the meaning of his existence nd on the reason hi selFexpession, He renemedd ties with his two Gut frenls and encountered those impressive Gem artats who devote themselves to ation without being troubled by others’ eyes, Sie intense and intimate experiences Finally released hi fromthe binding of Gta, el they aiakened jn him ag the desire fae selP-realization as vividly asin those pest years when the group Guta wns sill young and he himselt Inu cen very exited not only about Yoshihara’s words and de bau also every aetivily ofthe group. However his original belief that art creation should be a devotion to self-ralizaion ad inseparably connected wits hum sot hang, since this sery same elit had induced hi to join Gotai and to be an aris. Uhita, started his artistic carver much lator than other miembeors, an at the age of 0, reached the sane ground level of erwativity tat his cages of Guta did several dades earien UUkita understood “doing his hese” 1s to mean the attnude of eareflyobeving things in everday lie” gj “observing objects however simple nnd trivial they may be, with lose” is, and to esthetic sensors tentatively seeking for hea polish up, 1w)Acworting to my interpretati this understanding of doing his best” was his ows methodology for self-eealization: 1 keenly perceive “oneset” in the external world the ul ‘onese” can reflestively be formed and modeled as raetons ofthe set. Originality in his art style also followed that decisive experience of regeneration in Germany. Ukitalegan to compose ‘vith a vasety of materials like estured papers eaeoarl eile, metal panels le, These composed elements ane montly square in to primary culos, es, yellows, nd Dues he effectively eoutas the 1 sever enlored elements agains background on which they are composed. This clear element Iuaekgronnd contrast distinguishes his Tater style fom his early informe” styl, although both ahow emphasis on the texture ot different materials. His later style consists of these features: textured surfaces of different materials, simple composition, aul snap evlored areas which generated the effets of tension, omespondene nd harmon ‘he words simple’ and ‘lear’ may seem oppose to ‘materia The upposition of these tepms reminds one of a sentenee from Yoshihare’s Guta Art Manifest In Gutai art, the Inman mind anul th satevial reach ut hinds to each other despite their ‘opposition In this contest, ttle experiences of Ukita’s childhood are worth mentioning, One ofthe things that enchanted hina was the teste ‘of his chapped leather sco! bag, which was anded dove fom his two ekder bothers And the texhure of the elothes his father Irought ome also gave hin a geoat pense, “Such judgments alsin my everyday ile taught me something. much ‘nre important than an art teacher at school eould™ a, he wrote later. Those guods smal have impressed him beeanse of {genuine qualities; the school hag was ent out of a single sheet of jr, Uk raerias be chose - textiles, papers and metal panels, ete. a4 thick genming leather The ictphors of the word of matter In spite of their sared concerts about the dualism of mind and matter a radical difference between Yoshihara and Ukita should be pointed out. Yor’ concretzation of the dunism between tind and matter, whieh he b nyell proposed in his Gutai Art Manifisto demands physical al spontaneous reactions against his material uch ts avast anvouit of muy pigment the cans surface. 11 contest, Ui ta thought that his endeavor to embody the antagonisn Lelonged sot in the sesh of matters Yori, hut in that of mind, In the monlern philosophers’ view that the tind consists of dre faculties - cognition, will, and judgment the act of combining squares al colors into a work was regurded hy Ukita as a miore exclusively mental oper jon, even iit required instinctive and aesthetic clsies in practice 1 can porhaps be said that Uita interpreted the mind-mater ualis iu the Gutai Are Manifesto more rxpressively thanVoshiar, In this sense, Ukita sty “an authentic Gutai member" i views fm art age a8 expression, ‘uthennor, Ukita was a trnsmiter of Gata par iden of sl realization through art He passed it on to future generations, ‘who kes 0 lites of the group, through hi at shi Atelee UUkit’, founded in 1985 with his wish to give the joy of sll ‘lization throug making art to elisabled! people eiren and 4, Ze can provisionally conclude that Ukitas eveaivity was grouniled on his methodology of self-reaication, His regarded them aya eseronination of bis foner elings caused by the evereaiting relationship mind and mate or that of a the ester! world aid the self These points nel to be kept in perspective to consider that Ukita aimed to develop his eveativity further: After having solved the question of what effets pictorial ements on a surface, he advanced towards the more challenging, problem of how to muake a eve san equivalent to ane This question is clearly expressed in the Fllsming texts from For me nos, more than painting picre or making a work of se. fel that making thing bet dsexibes my feeling. 1994 T have a strong will to beak through ‘painterly factors and eae the ereaon of hing or the quaity ofa ‘thing? That has Frou these pieces in my exhibition into Being, (195) a have received a woe from the Heavens, *ynu have about freedom Hut, Fam wondering if my ereation of a thing’ fs based on bsolute freedom or not? Fill be geateful if you look at my ‘works und give me your impressions and your opinions on my 1 don’t id th ‘work tats fom a ste impulse Bur, its only throngh the growth and eare of strong sot Firmly anchored inthe work tha the atts au earvestly hope to reat anything origi 2000) Ata moment of lost concentration, [found mpsell making a Painting’ U refuse such pieces of mine, Creating a thing’ is fo hard that it eseapes me for » mowent. These days, [wish to make a piece in which this eonfiet in my consciousness is In these quotations the exporasion of thing is repeated. Perhaps Ukite wanted to distinguish i rom spnonyans oe inilar such as mates or mater A ‘thing’ in this contest means thing that exist? The expression ‘mast hase evoked in Ukita a profourn! and solemn connotation, and words ikea painting’ oe" work’ solely sensual and formative This ‘thing’ is a product resulting rom artistic strugate with his ime an equivalent of Ukita himself existing as» unique being in te material world Therelar thing’ must not exbt in the same vay as something belonging to 1 elsewhere This isthe very problem of originality that Yoshihara rigidly demandes! of every Gutat member: Other ways of expression and experimented with various ways never before tried. In contrast, Ubitn wnsderstoad his task given by Yoshihara as pursuing the realty of thing asa result of eveatvity: This typically existentialistie solution seems to mie the actual answer to Yosihara tha! could be given by no-one hut Uhita, who joined Guta bes How original is this piece as a thing’? Is this ‘hing’ as real as r exisiener af oneself 34, or “he evidener of 1 fonesell™ 2 Ukita was interested exclusively ‘hingthe lan yoar of his if, his works stared loi bout om the other band, they gine! simplicity snd composition an luminosity of color. Tn 2011 ab Gurstoe id msetion tn Toko, visite! it gol exhibition at LADS GALLERY in Osaka for the Fist time in a fey yous The new sees of works made me gus Beemnse, hough they were nichanged in man peered pine find “tension, correspondence and harmony” between oppositional aT observe! that soiling clearer fn more refreshing than ever filled them, shossng that he could A shost while Iter Mr Uta appeal at she gallery and took me to an Italian restaurant neasby, While eating pizza, we enjoyed Aalidig, old lim ay linpressions on his Hew rarla? you ol 11 of you, your body, getting more bition gave me visi land more iransparent” A look of the mos! aupreme happiness appeared on his foe ei one of the most unforgettable memories ave of hin, He hitself may have had conviction that he bad tedvancel free sep ubyar di had reat of Whenever that memorable expression of happiness on his face eines to 41mg int and fe vith the thowgh that Mr Ukita id no sae: Ihe achieved so much clarity that le, as thing’ has simply faded ee Shoichi Hirai (Curator Fat M nics ACE Ra) Notes: 1] Shoiehi Hira, “Gutai Dijuten to Gulai Shi wi tri Bukkoluban Guat Beseien, Geika Syoin, Kyoto, January ‘2010, Shoiehi Hirai, “Guta ~ Kinda Sesh Gutai Nip no ZoelIinem no Kiel (een) Nationa no isakyo" Art Center Toye, July 2012, Shoichi Hirai Guta and ts Intestinal,” Desay te Ptr: Painting the Vid 1990 1602, The Mises of Culenpivary Art (ed), Low Auge, Shits Ril Pal 2 As a eco example: Noro a," ation, Octler 2012 tai Dagan Gutsi University” (Exheat) Sotan Daigiku Tain Kine Kor (Phe Tin (Ceremonial Esibion for he retirement of Prof Novio Ini Seian University o Art al Design i), al ere e ce meget sre anette 0 Thithe Prfechec i BNL Dees Ue eslcee Gustin 4] YoroUkita, °UkitaYouo Spon: Testugakutetd Kosai ni Ote (Am Essay hy Yoro Ukita- in Philosophical Reflection Taurukamie Gallery (cd), Tarbame 5, Sly 2011, p23 5 il 24/6 Hii 8 ira Yosihary, "Conta Dain Gona-hijuaiton he 2nd ‘Gus Ant Esibiton), Gita. 6, Gti Art Association od heaton 9 Op. cite p25 ote 4 10 Thi 1) Mi p24) id) ih I yp. 2625.6 Ii p24. 16 ih. 25 hi p26 8 i. 25, 19, Op. ote) 20) dio Yoshiara, “The Gutai Art Mantes” Gea Shine, 12, Decent 1956, p. 20 21 Youo Uhita ote, «passage fom vil ats writen for the exhibition space of Yoxo Ukita Solo-Exhibiion in Gallery EIKO, fi Janey 1994 2 You Uhita no tile the invitation leer for Yo Uhita Sol Exhibition in LADS GALLERY, Osaka, Maro 15. 25} oro Ukitasmilled text, the invitation ear or Yeze Ubi Sal Bhibitn athe 3nd Gallery Arce ari GALLERY Nishinomiya duly 19%, 2 oro Uk Solo-Eehihition Ws Aet Sp Decetuber 001 28 oro kita nie txt, the snyitaton card for Yoo Chia Echibitng, KANEKO ABT TOKYO, August 345, 2a) Ii p28 ui ex, the fistou eal foe tose Cita Gallery Marya, Takstsukieon =IPE works oo Un seu cols ELEM ek et MULTE (Ito AMI AAAL BEE | Osaka City Museum of ModeraAst PIM TIRRINAER /Askipn Cy Museau of Art story Prefectural Mase of Me Ae IEA pbonerypher TRACE pla fel JigRAE= Koo Koa SR FOO ERC ame iin woe HE SUR FREED eager 720. 8 ri. 425 629 em. 528.640 2S (Koi Hla "BU plows ht) 287 #9 UATE ster UNETS 17) HB Yotake Ful ICH He pa ann! 19,7 84M Fan 7) NIE Keizo Kalish 86-2918 1A hoki ld 19) {RIGHT ida Riva 07 FAR URIEN eer RTS. 208) PAAIEE Koni Nakashima RM plas prsielly 3) i186 wt) ORIZDRERT (Hyogo Pett Meu ot 214/21 PME |Ackiya Cty Mugen of Art & History eet BAe 9. ‘ADAIR MINIMA (eas City Manoa of Morn Ne nuh Fo k-¥e 2) LADS GALLERY tev Yuko Ohne WeRHOrOmNE. techs htogeahs without ariel dexespion are al on Yor Rossi FI pls re p2het fh 391 9 Rf it 3 Ort 1958 pate SSH” DL fro Cano tly 1980 me gs 956 9 & 9 fe rom Co. 6. Api (6ST 9 IL from Gita na. 7 July hehe AE 6H 9 RAR oes Gt. 8 Septem 197 ater JE 8119 9 Go Cat None 190 5M 5 9 pho rede PR MAURY Engl ein pot ais pe aa RU OR Te 2m PURROREHL 4 Sunnonst fog BEAD Mont arora maine) ARIAGE Maiko O14 1.04 N= Ce fia SPM Danube Monk iki SRNL art be Fea fap P1ey 2292 | Sinn Ecrngo TELA Haie TobinBABRB=AaOtK SBS Faz= YOZO UKITA Hee, FBS fr RRS (NA AR EF - ‘lity: YOIO URITA ART WORKS EDITING COMMITTEE 2015 4 7H 11 ae 2015 4 74 21H te IFA AAA atin