Optimism
A bunch of sunflowers in a salt desert. That can only be the work of an artist. A sunflower is one of the greatest optimists; it turns with the sun. A salt desert is one of the saddest places on earth where the most essential is useless.
How long will these sunflowers last? One of the characteristics of an artwork is that it is durable and perhaps made for eternity. So we can assume that the artist is optimistic.
Or is there perhaps a caveat? The question is how long we humans can keep on living. Perhaps Makoto Azuma wants to say that we humans are turning the earth into a salt desert. In that case, the artist is less optimistic.
By Theo, www.artatsite.com
Optimisme
Een bos zonnebloemen in een zoutwoestijn. Dat kan alleen het werk zijn van een kunstenaar. Een zonnebloem is n van de grootste optimisten; die draait mee met de zon. Een zoutwoestijn is n van de treurigste plekken op aarde waar het meest essenti le onbruikbaar is.
Hoe lang gaan deze zonnebloemen het uithouden? E n van de kenmerken van een kunstwerk is dat het duurzaam is en misschien wel voor de eeuwigheid is gemaakt. Dus we mogen wij ervan uitgaan dat de kunstenaar optimistisch is.
Of is er misschien een addertje onder het gras? De vraag is wel hoe lang wij mensen het leven volhouden. Misschien wil Makoto Azuma zeggen dat wij mensen de aarde veranderen in een zoutwoestijn. In dat geval is de kunstenaar minder optimitisch.
Door Theo, www.artatsite.com.
www.diariodecultura.com.ar:
The Japanese artist presented a proposal for five video installations and an arrangement of ikebana at the Muntref Art and Nature Center, within the framework of Biennials. 'My art is based on a Buddhist perspective of the importance of visualizing decomposition as a form of consciousness and self-learning,' he said.
Makoto Azuma and his Salt Flower, installed in the Salinas Grandes de Jujuy (Biennialalsur).
The visual blow is so intense that, if your eyes are closed, the aroma of the blooms seem to emanate from the five video installations that Japanese artist Makoto Azuma presented at Bienalsur.
Azuma (Fukuoka, 1976) is the reference point of floral art in the world, a technique he began to develop after his work experience in the traditional Ota floral market. His works, perishable, ephemeral, intangible and, therefore, unrebuyable, arise from a philosophical thought in which beauty is something of the moment, which can last only a few moments and at the same time mutate in the face of the inclement weather and the difficult scenarios in which they are installed.
www.bienalsur.org:
Makoto Azuma is a radical artist. His unique approach to creating the most visually stunning contexts for his meticulously elaborated ikebana, Bonsai and Flower sculptures surprises even the most cynical of audiences. His work is about making tangible the most ephemeral of all art forms, the Japanese flower arrangement.
Educated in traditional Japanese flower arranging techniques, he has subverted the whole process by adding technology, photography, video and insane logistics in order to turn the ancient decorative practice into a contemporary art form.
From his flower laboratory in Tokyo, Makoto Azuma imagines how his art can reach the farthest points in Earth, and sometimes even beyond. He has submerged a bonsai in the depths of the ocean, sent an ikebana into outer space attached to stratospheric helium balloons, and frozen huge blocks of ice that melted in a catwalk. He has also created a parade of flower bicycles that stopped the city of Sao Paulo, during one month, creating confusion in one of the world s most intense cities.
His practice and media are strikingly diverse, ranging from ephemeral sculptures, acrylic objects, photography, public intervention, video, performance, fashion, temporary architecture and many ingenious initiatives on Social Media. He has also created a range of social projects activated by Art and Flowers in Indonesia, Japan and Brazil. For BienalSur, Azuma took the idea of reaching out to the salt pans in Jujuy, Argentina, to create a Sunflower sculpture. He wandered through the stunning arid expanses of the Salar desert landscape, only to bury the sculpture in an underground bed of salt. Then he waited for a year to see the sculpture turn into a salt flower (flor de sal). A metaphor of the eternal-ephemeral, life and death, endurance and fragility.
Azuma is searching for a context where flowers can change our perception of place and landscape but more importantly how they can change the interaction between people. In this way he is recovering the true use of flowers in ancient society, taking it to a dimension where people become sensitized to the fast paced world in which we live.
Makoto Azuma is a master of cultural exchange, using the universal language of flowers to create works of art that transcend cultural barriers and embrace our humanity. We are destined to wither and die, for death follows life, and his works reminds us of our transient nature.
www.untref.edu.ar:
Elementos cotidianos como la sal y los girasoles salen de la mirada acostumbrada y se vuelven materiales para hacer arte.
En esta actividad conversaremos sobre los videos de Azuma Makoto y los espacios en donde realiza sus videos. Vamos a observar especialmente el que tiene el salar de Jujuy como escenario.
Qu es un girasol? Conoceremos sus caracter sticas y los productos del cual derivan. En el taller se modelar n las flores con una masa especial para realizar una peque a escultura decorativa floral.
www.wikipedia.org:
Makoto Azuma (Azuma Makoto, born July 24, 1976) is a Japanese flower artist, botanical sculptor, and co-founder of Jardins des Fleurs.
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Azuma moved to Tokyo in 1997 to pursue his dream of becoming a rock musician. Around this time he took a job as a trader in the Ota Market, one of Japan's largest flower and produce markets. He cites his job at the Ota Market as the inspiration for pursuing a career in flowers. With his interest in ornamental flowers piqued, he then took a job managing a flower shop in Azabu-Juban in 1999.
Azuma began his career as a flower artist in 2002 with the opening of the flower shop Jardins des Fleurs. He partnered with photographer Shiinoki Shunsuketo to open the flower shop. Around 2005 Azuma began to explore a new form of floral design that he called botanical sculpture, the work for which he is now known.
A bunch of sunflowers in a salt desert. That can only be the work of an artist. A sunflower is one of the greatest optimists; it turns with the sun. A salt desert is one of the saddest places on earth where the most essential is useless.
How long will these sunflowers last? One of the characteristics of an artwork is that it is durable and perhaps made for eternity. So we can assume that the artist is optimistic.
Or is there perhaps a caveat? The question is how long we humans can keep on living. Perhaps Makoto Azuma wants to say that we humans are turning the earth into a salt desert. In that case, the artist is less optimistic.
By Theo, www.artatsite.com
Optimisme
Een bos zonnebloemen in een zoutwoestijn. Dat kan alleen het werk zijn van een kunstenaar. Een zonnebloem is n van de grootste optimisten; die draait mee met de zon. Een zoutwoestijn is n van de treurigste plekken op aarde waar het meest essenti le onbruikbaar is.
Hoe lang gaan deze zonnebloemen het uithouden? E n van de kenmerken van een kunstwerk is dat het duurzaam is en misschien wel voor de eeuwigheid is gemaakt. Dus we mogen wij ervan uitgaan dat de kunstenaar optimistisch is.
Of is er misschien een addertje onder het gras? De vraag is wel hoe lang wij mensen het leven volhouden. Misschien wil Makoto Azuma zeggen dat wij mensen de aarde veranderen in een zoutwoestijn. In dat geval is de kunstenaar minder optimitisch.
Door Theo, www.artatsite.com.
www.diariodecultura.com.ar:
The Japanese artist presented a proposal for five video installations and an arrangement of ikebana at the Muntref Art and Nature Center, within the framework of Biennials. 'My art is based on a Buddhist perspective of the importance of visualizing decomposition as a form of consciousness and self-learning,' he said.
Makoto Azuma and his Salt Flower, installed in the Salinas Grandes de Jujuy (Biennialalsur).
The visual blow is so intense that, if your eyes are closed, the aroma of the blooms seem to emanate from the five video installations that Japanese artist Makoto Azuma presented at Bienalsur.
Azuma (Fukuoka, 1976) is the reference point of floral art in the world, a technique he began to develop after his work experience in the traditional Ota floral market. His works, perishable, ephemeral, intangible and, therefore, unrebuyable, arise from a philosophical thought in which beauty is something of the moment, which can last only a few moments and at the same time mutate in the face of the inclement weather and the difficult scenarios in which they are installed.
www.bienalsur.org:
Makoto Azuma is a radical artist. His unique approach to creating the most visually stunning contexts for his meticulously elaborated ikebana, Bonsai and Flower sculptures surprises even the most cynical of audiences. His work is about making tangible the most ephemeral of all art forms, the Japanese flower arrangement.
Educated in traditional Japanese flower arranging techniques, he has subverted the whole process by adding technology, photography, video and insane logistics in order to turn the ancient decorative practice into a contemporary art form.
From his flower laboratory in Tokyo, Makoto Azuma imagines how his art can reach the farthest points in Earth, and sometimes even beyond. He has submerged a bonsai in the depths of the ocean, sent an ikebana into outer space attached to stratospheric helium balloons, and frozen huge blocks of ice that melted in a catwalk. He has also created a parade of flower bicycles that stopped the city of Sao Paulo, during one month, creating confusion in one of the world s most intense cities.
His practice and media are strikingly diverse, ranging from ephemeral sculptures, acrylic objects, photography, public intervention, video, performance, fashion, temporary architecture and many ingenious initiatives on Social Media. He has also created a range of social projects activated by Art and Flowers in Indonesia, Japan and Brazil. For BienalSur, Azuma took the idea of reaching out to the salt pans in Jujuy, Argentina, to create a Sunflower sculpture. He wandered through the stunning arid expanses of the Salar desert landscape, only to bury the sculpture in an underground bed of salt. Then he waited for a year to see the sculpture turn into a salt flower (flor de sal). A metaphor of the eternal-ephemeral, life and death, endurance and fragility.
Azuma is searching for a context where flowers can change our perception of place and landscape but more importantly how they can change the interaction between people. In this way he is recovering the true use of flowers in ancient society, taking it to a dimension where people become sensitized to the fast paced world in which we live.
Makoto Azuma is a master of cultural exchange, using the universal language of flowers to create works of art that transcend cultural barriers and embrace our humanity. We are destined to wither and die, for death follows life, and his works reminds us of our transient nature.
www.untref.edu.ar:
Elementos cotidianos como la sal y los girasoles salen de la mirada acostumbrada y se vuelven materiales para hacer arte.
En esta actividad conversaremos sobre los videos de Azuma Makoto y los espacios en donde realiza sus videos. Vamos a observar especialmente el que tiene el salar de Jujuy como escenario.
Qu es un girasol? Conoceremos sus caracter sticas y los productos del cual derivan. En el taller se modelar n las flores con una masa especial para realizar una peque a escultura decorativa floral.
www.wikipedia.org:
Makoto Azuma (Azuma Makoto, born July 24, 1976) is a Japanese flower artist, botanical sculptor, and co-founder of Jardins des Fleurs.
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Azuma moved to Tokyo in 1997 to pursue his dream of becoming a rock musician. Around this time he took a job as a trader in the Ota Market, one of Japan's largest flower and produce markets. He cites his job at the Ota Market as the inspiration for pursuing a career in flowers. With his interest in ornamental flowers piqued, he then took a job managing a flower shop in Azabu-Juban in 1999.
Azuma began his career as a flower artist in 2002 with the opening of the flower shop Jardins des Fleurs. He partnered with photographer Shiinoki Shunsuketo to open the flower shop. Around 2005 Azuma began to explore a new form of floral design that he called botanical sculpture, the work for which he is now known.