by ANDO Saeko (b.1968)
Heisei period, completed 2019
Coloured lacquers, eggshell and metal foil inlays
60 x 60 x 3.8 cm.
Sealed
The Japanese have long reflected on the relationship between nature and humanity, developing a profound sensitivity towards earthly and heavenly phenomena – in particular the moon, tsuki. In the 8th-century Manyoshu collection of waka poetry, almost 200 hundred poems use descriptions of the moon to depict, indirectly but very effectively, the dramatic setting of the scenes and the writers’ emotions.
There is an astonishingly wide variety of Japanese words to describe the moon in reference to its phase, the season, weather, time of day, its shade and colour. All go to reinforce the central importance that the Japanese place on the passing of time and the emotions prompted by such awareness of the moment. As recently as the 1980s a five-volume publication – the Nihon Dai Saijiki, edited by writer Yamamoto Kenkichi – continued the tradition. It created a source of 16,000 seasonal words for use by renku and haiku poets, in which almost 30 aspects of the moon were identified, and then could be expressed through more that 175 terms.
Starting from the classical Nara (710-94) and Heian (794–1185) periods, the Japanese aristocracy held moon-viewing parties, tsukimi, celebrating with music and poetry composition. Later, the tradition was taken up by commoners, and is promoted to this day. Alongside this, as in all traditional societies, the Japanese respected the power of the moon in setting agricultural cycles of planting and harvesting.
The question that Ando asks with this, her latest, work is When did we stop looking up at the moon?
She recalls when, in her adopted home of Vietnam, street lighting was low-level, and buildings did not block the views of the skies. By contrast today she sees that “the streets are full of headlights and buildings are brightly lit from inside and out. They are so blindingly bright that we no longer see gentle moonlight in the sky, which has become increasingly faint unless we search for it”.
One particular experience remains with her:
One night I sat outside and looked around. There were people’s faces, children and adults alike, all lit up brightly with their eyes fixed on the screens of their smart phones and game devices. I felt a chill in my back, sensing a hint of madness in their eyes. It seemed like they were no different from those moths and insects that are blindly attracted by fire till they get burnt to death.
Moonstruck was born through my attempt to bring the moon down to the eyes of those who might have forgotten to look up at the sky. I hope the moon’s mysterious energy may again strike them and snap them out of their hypnotic state.
The work has been created using a range of innovative techniques. The background texture is formed of inlayed eggshell pieces, filled and surrounded by lacquer in thick layers to create dynamic, wrinkled, textures. These, in turn, are filled partly with finely crushed eggshell with overlays of coloured lacquers and silver foils. The rich colours and complex textures symbolize the amazing modern world that we live in, while over it floats the Moon, vying for our attention, with subtle textures and silvery glow. Circles, resembling the craters of the moon, have been created using kerosene and water sprinkled on wet lacquer. The final top layer contains textures with complex lines and grains, created with silver leaf and powdered silver, which only become fully visible when viewed closely and from different angles. With time, the silver will oxidize and change itself into countless different shades.