A Floating World Impermanence and Motion in Japanese Art

Matsuo Bashō (1644-94), one of the greatest Japanese poets, wrote the maxim fueki ryūkō 不易流行, which was also referred to as dialectical poetics. It deals with the tension between “immutability” (fueki) and “constantly changing fashions” (ryūkō) as a prerequisite for poetic creativity. The formula is also translated as “calm in impermanence” – in other words, it is about serenity in a world of constant change.

Bashō spent important parts of his life as a wanderer – the haiku cycle Oku no hosomichi (‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’) is one of his most important works. Wandering and (world) flight are two aspects of the same life concept, and it is of particular importance to Japanese art and culture. There is no doubt that this restless, dynamic and ultimately deeply relaxed way of life is also an expression of a fundamental sense of the fleeting nature of earthly existence. Where life can come to an end from one moment to the next through earthquakes, tidal waves or even man-made disasters, or at least be completely shaken up, this profound experience is also expressed in many different ways in various artistic expressions.

The awareness of these precarious living conditions creates a certain underlying melancholy in Japan – mono no aware 物の哀れ is the term for this emotional state, which is difficult to translate. Literally, it means ‘the heartbreaking / the pathos / the sadness of things’; it refers to a specific sensitivity for the ephemeral, for the transience of the world. On the other hand, Japanese art often seems like a carefree ‘celebration of transience’, an almost carefree living in the moment – in a sense an Asian variant of the ancient Greek and Roman concepts panta rhei (‘everything flows’) and carpe diem (‘seize the day/enjoy the moment’).

The exhibition A Floating World. Impermanence and Motion in Japanese Art demonstrates how Japanese art aesthetically permeates and comments on the changes and uncertainties of existence in a variety of ways. The show ranges from two weathered wooden sculptures from the 14th century, paintings and woodcuts from ancient Japan representing a life in motion, water depictions of various kinds and tea ceramics and lacquer works that ‘celebrate’ decay, to striking positions in contemporary Japanese art. Also on display are images depicting human life with and on the water, cherry blossom festivals and courtly butterfly dances. With Rikuo Ueda, Hide Nasu, Shiriagari Kotobuki, Peter Granser and Mari Kashiwagi, surprising positions in contemporary art, tea culture and poetry have their say, reflecting in different ways the panta rhei attitude to life that has always characterised Japan.

Curator: Dr Stephan von der Schulenburg

For Hide Nasu (*1950), there is no such thing as a finished work of art. Rather, the work lives on day after day, even long after it has left the studio. Hide Nasu’s work is also a game with our perception, as his largely monochrome paintings, which can also be seen in the exhibition, are not just still panel paintings on the wall, but are accompanied by their reflection – for example in a square, black basin filled with water on the floor, in which the reflection of the panel on the wall and its surroundings, which is constantly changing with our own movement, appears.

The video Into the Depth 間 shows the artist Hide Nasu at work and opens up a deeper understanding of his art.

Director: Gregor Alexander Heussen
Images: Hide Nasu
Camera: Heiko Giersberg
Sound: Pia Harm
Editing: Wolfgang Baumann