English A and Architecture Unit 1 Text

 

1. Could Art be a part of the text? Comparison between a text and art. (Architecture, Text in art pictured in Japan)

It was the first impression of being hooked into our theme “Text” when I encountered the question “Is art considered text?”. As a student who wants to become an architect in the future, the theme of the relationship between art and texts was very anxious to define the conclusion for me, that architecture and art could be a text. Let me introduce why in what logic art and architecture is also a branch of text.

First, before I want to define my definition of a text. A text is a visual tool which can be expressed in any way, by fulfilling the basic statement of a visual form which we can see. It doesn’t have rules in a wider way, however, should have at least sympathy to communicate.

This is a comparison between a text artwork I photographed at the New National Museum of Japan in February when I went there for my portfolio artwork. 

I still remember my first feeling, while pointing out and laughing at the painting “Are we still friends” in the New Japanese National Museum. Since not the painting itself was funny, however, it reminded me of human relationships between teenagers in the MZ generation, such as friends who were not close enough or quite awkward to hand out. Nevertheless, being one of my most impressive artworks seen in the gallery, this again popped out of my head when I learned “This is not a pipe” in March. A feeling of blood shattered all over the text “Are we still friends” gave me a creepy but a feeling of noticing very clear pure art, similar to the pipe. It wasn’t a piece of work which had depth in the philosophical message of Plato like the pipe, instead expressing consensus throughout fine art, that was quite marvellous. The main reason for explaining the work as a parallel example for the pipe is it meant to deny something, and used text as visual effects to explain something. From my personal interpretation, I guessed that something miserable happened to the friendship, and this was 

the word itself drawing into art, at the time when they breach each other. The red bloody background quite conveys the wounds and bruises while spending time. That communicates a more honest and precise feeling. Hence, I thought art may be a text also.

(Untitled by Sangmin Lee, this may mean Korean-Japanese international relations from the past years, picture taken by me)

Furthermore, I’ve found some other pieces which quite convey my trend and style of art, which exactly shows my characteristics. This is a painting type which is closer to scribbling which I quite preferred to make when I was young. Which gave me huge sympathy for the artist, eventually since it was one of my favourites for quite reflecting my perspective of art, I took a picture beside it. In this case for the painting of the landscape, I pierced exactly through the artist’s personality, by the drawing techniques. Particularly I prefer to draw sharp insights while drawing nature, instead of warm ambiguous borders between colours. I instinctively felt an intuition that this artist may have a different personality from me, in the drawing itself. It was true, that my family who had quite different characters from me most favoured that painting.

(Me in front of the painting “Record” 「記録」 drawn by Chihiro Sakamoto)

I found out that this artist may not well coexist with me, after finding out their personality. Honesty, it was quite repelling to give a glance at it. From the details of drawing leaves standing on. Therefore, methods of using art may be texts also, which is quite indirect.

From the point of view of dividing texts and paintings, whether calligraphy is or isn’t text. It is a text, however, it is together an art. Isn’t then this case proof for art being text and text being art? 

In the traditional Asian calligraphy corner, many people revealed their messages in texts with artistic passion. Also part of their temperaments too. Is this then a text or a drawing?

(Calligraphy in the New National Museum in Japan taken by me)

Therefore, I support the idea that architecture also may be a text. Like when we consider the order when drawing, such as the direction of the lines or colours, it gives a different feeling each, in every step of progress. Both texts and art give different impressions from what tools were used to create results. Debates happen in interpreting arts, and it applies similarly to architecture too. 

(Picture of the Toyko Station taken by me. Which shows the combination and debates of various architectural styles such as Renaissance, Gothic, Baroque, Queen Anne Revival architecture, and Japanese traditional architecture)

Man sublimates feelings and messages into art, in form of poems, letters and music. With Taj Mahal, an landmark architecture in India, was constructed for mourning the queen’s death by the king, and has firm symbolism that is a type of text. An autocrat or a powerful person who has access to lots of manpower may create hymns and songs, poems and declarations to consolidate their power, or for their personal interests, however, it is all limited inside a frame of “Written Text”. At this point, I want to show that text in art isn’t only the text we defined as letters with prejudice. Without particular direct meanings, large monuments originated by massive wooden operations, meant power and authority, which also could be a text. This trend still exists around the world, such as in monuments and sculptures, especially with authority and social power. 

(Image of Taj Mahal from UNESCO)

Paintings and artistic outcomes form by the difference in the experience of the artist. Even in a text, the instant feeling of the writer may affect the feeling of the readers. This applies to art respectively. I claim that architecture is also art, and to somebody, it may become a text. Throughout architecture, they may share emotions or ideas through the usage of the building itself. Same characteristics as poetry and literature, which is an obvious forms of text, architecture sometimes has various interpretations in their styles. One of the mixed-controversial buildings in 

Right now, there’s something we are missing, not only concernedly heavy art such as paintings, right now some objects which are art and text concurrently. 

It is very small but enormous simultaneously. The Individual’s handwriting, and people’s signature. This may be a text with meanings, but something which represents itself as art.

(Signature of Barack Obama, cited from Smithsonian Magazine)

In the texts, various interpretations and points of view exist, and it is very debatable. In Architecture, it applies too. People then have debates about which texts are used as tools.

Then with these features, may everything which exists be considered as a text?

Dirt exists, and Mountains exist, they aren’t texts. However, according to the base statement I shared at the start of the presentation when they convey certain meanings, such as symbolism in a book, it may become a text. It needs a certain purpose to give a message as a communication tool, it becomes a text.

Consequently, we cannot define logically or neither mathematically how are art and text-related assets, whether it is equal or are in each other. Such as in parent concepts. It is because of high relativeness caused by differences in perspectives. Nonetheless, in my claim of point of view, art may be considered as a text, and text may be art. Thank you for listening.

Cited Image Sources 

Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. “Taj Mahal.” UNESCO World Heritage Centre, https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/252/. 

Magazine, Smithsonian. “President Obama's Autopen: When Is an Autograph Not an Autograph?” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 8 Jan. 2013, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/president-obamas-autopen-when-is-an-autograph-not-an-autograph-574822/.