The Art of this Culture

The culture I chose is otaku culture. Otaku culture-especially in the west-mainly surrounds the hobbies of anime, manga, and video games, and along with it, a branched fascination with Asian (primarily Japanese) culture. So of course, this culture wouldn't even exist without the art it praises.

Anime and manga itself are Japanese animation and graphic novels, dating back to 1917. They cover a wide variety of interests, from fighting to gardening to history, fiction and nonfiction. Storyline-wise, many tend to be fairly mature, dealing with murder, ghosts, romance, war, and so on, though some are directed towards children. Animated and drawn, the style is commonly associated with an emphasis placed on the eyes-partially because of the Japanese belief that emotion and character lie in the eyes themselves. Larger eyes often used are also attribute to the Japanese culture it spawns from, partially in relation to their 'kawaii' aspects in culture.

Here is a video of some of the art from this culture. Some of my own personal favorites in the video are from Naruto, Death Note, Rurouni Kenshin, Bleach, Ghost in the Shell, Yu Yu Hakusho, Trigun, and Fullmetal Alchemist.

I Love this Piece of Architecture

Okay. I'll admit-I have a bit of a weakness for the Ludwig castles. Apparently I've been to this place, but I can't remember-I was only a couple years old at the time.

Right. About the castle.

This is Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, Germany, close to the town of Hohenschwangau. Its name translates to 'New Swan Stone Palace.' It was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat for his muse Richard Wagner, with construction starting on September 5th, 1869. The castle's lead architects were Christian Jank, Eduard Riedel, and Georg Dollmann in the Neo-Romanticism style. However, it was never fully completed as Ludwig II was arrested and declared insane, then soon after found dead from drowning along with the psychiatrist that certified him.

Since then, this castle is one of the most frequently-visited buildings in Germany by tourists, and has been shown in several movies along with being the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's Castle in both Disneyland Park and Hong Kong Disneyland. Personally, along with the architecture itself, I believe it beautifully fits into the nature of the mountain and the landscape overall.

Favorite Artist-Edgar Degas

Alright, so it was a tie between Cassat and Degas, and eventually I decided on Degas. Edgar Degas was an impressionist painter who was born in Paris, France on July 19th, 1834. By his early life, he had begun painting seriously, though under his father's wishes he attended law school. Without much motivation at law school, he eagerly accepted admission into Ecole des Beaux-Arts and flourished while studying drawing with Louis Lamothe. He traveled to Italy in July 1856 for three years, drawing and painting copies of Michaelangelo, Raphael, Titian, and other artists if the Renissance, usually selecting an individual head for a portrait. During this time, he studied and became accomplished with techiniques involving high, academic, and classical art.

Upon return to France in 1859, he began copying paintings at the Louvre, and presented exhibits anually in the Salon for the next five years. His art began to incline more towards contemporary subject matter, which was especially influenced by Edouard Manet, whom he had met in the Louvre. In 1870, he joined the National Guard during the time of the Franco-Prussian War. After the war in 1872, he began an extended stay in New Orleans, Louisiana and produced more art, many of them consisting of family members and daily life for subject matter. When he returned to Paris in 1873 and became dependant on his artwork for income, he joined a new independent group of artists whom had been labeled the Impressionists. However, he had little in common with the others-not being a landscape painter and not painting outside, for instance-and eventually contributed to the break-up of the group.

Taking up photography and pastel, he is well-known for his works involving dancers and nudes. During his last years of life, which were sad and lonley, he was forced to stop his art due to near-blindness. He outlived many of his friends at an age of 83, eventually dying on September 27th, 1917.

Second Bit of Art on Youtube

Being a cosplayer (for those who are unfamiliar with the term, see the Momocon post below), I can honestly say that for those that make their own costumes, the whole thing is an art project in itself. All of the sewing and makeup and prop-building...it tends to be very similar to costume design in theater. This girl gives a look into that with this makeup tutorial for the Kingdom Hearts character, Axel. All of the detail, varying colors and shades-it's like a painting on a facial canvas.

First Bit of Art on Youtube

This is a video that one of my friends recommended to me after it inspired her to do some pieces of her own. Using some spray paint and some pieces of newspaper (and maybe an extra prop or two), you can get some amazing results in a short amount of time. So long as you can handle the fumes from the paint, I've been told that this is definitely a good form of art for one to look into if they're interested in creating something while on a tight schedule.

Dance

This is a traditional form of Japanese dance, which is derived from the dance 'Bon Odori.' It is a dance created to welcome the spirits of the dead. They tend to vary with every region in Japan with different music, but usually involves gathering around a yagura (a high wooden building made for for a Japanese festival. Sometimes the dance describes the region's history, using certain movements together that represent the past, such as a mining or weaving. Sometimes fans, small towels, and/or small wooden clappers are used as props.

This dance is typically performed during the Odon festival every summer, which is a Buddhist festival that commemorates one's ancestors.

Momocon and Cosplay Photography Pictures

So! Over the course of spring break, I managed to kill two birds with one stone. As well as going to a cultural event, I also managed to complete the photography assignment. The event that I went to was Momocon '09 during March 14th-15th at the Georgia Tech student center, which is primarily a convention focused on anime, manga and games, and more even more generally, an embracing of Asian (particularly Japanese) and otaku culture.

A group of friends and I went-two of us on both Saturday and Sunday. We made some bentos (which is basically a box lunch in Japan, usually arranged in an artistic or kawaii [cute] theme) and dressed up in our cosplay outfits (aka costume playing...this is normally the dressing up of a character from a book, show, ect.) The majority of our visit consisted of browsing the dealer rooms (where we ended up finding plushies, manga, soundtracks of animes and CDs of Japanese bands, Chinese garb, costume supplies, ect.), artist alley (the rooms where people sell prints and commissions of their fanart), karaoke (both of American and Japanese songs), and hanging out with various other cosplayers. At the end of the last day, we went to a Chinese restaurant in Atlanta called Mandarin Palace.

So, as for the photography, my theme for this is cosplay. These are only a few of some of the pictures that we got, but also some of the best.




















This is Sai from Naruto Shippuden.




















From left to right, Akasuna no Sasori and Uchiha Sasuke, also from Naruto Shippuden.















From left to right...Uchiha Sasuke, Subaku no Temari, Subaku no Gaara, Subaku no Kankuro, and Uzumaki Naruto from Naruto original and Naruto Shippuden.




















From left to right, Yagami Light and L from Death Note.




















Teru Mikami from Death Note.




















And finally, a picture of a couple of Turks. Me as Cissnei from the games Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and Final Fantasy VII: Before Crisis, and Reno from the Final Fantasy VII games overall.