DAY 168

UNEXPECTED ART FORMS

The Art of the Uncontrollable

THE ZEN INSPIRATION OF THE GUTAÏ GROUP

“One who is steeped in Virtue is akin to the new-born babe...its bones are tender, its sinews soft...” —Tao Te Ching, chapter 55¹⁷

Drawing from a deep well of ancient Zen Buddhist thought, the Gutaï Group of post-war Japan gave central importance to the uncontrollable and the chaotic. The resulting art forms were diverse, varied, and unconventional.

Jiro Yoshihara covered the wheels of a bicycle with paint and rode across a vast white surface, creating haphazard strokes before an audience of spectators.

In a piece entitled Chizensei-Kouseimao, Kazuo Shiraga suspended himself above a large, paint-covered canvas, swinging overhead and swiping his feet with chaotic movements.

Other works of Shiraga’s incorporated a more elemental feel: In a performance piece known as Challenging Mud, the artist rolled his body in soft clay, becoming one with the earth.

Saburo Murakami added strong allusions to the theme of regeneration. In the appropriately titled Breaking Through Many Paper Screens, the artist represented the phoenix-like beauty that can emerge from destruction.¹⁸

Such deliberate incorporation of accidental elements into Gutaï art brings to mind the Zen koan: “How do you stop a bell from ringing if it is very far away?” —DJS