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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: January 14, 2007
Latest Update: January 14, 2007
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How Jun kaneko Became an ArtistI found this story in the New York Times, at p. 1 of the Arts and Leisure Section, on Sunday, January 14, 2007:
"In September 1959, when he was 17, the strongest typhoon ever to hit Japan struck Nagoya, where his family lived. It was the middle of the night, and thousands of people, caught in their sleep, died within minutes.
“Did you ever hear of a tatami mat?” he asked. “Well, they float.”
I needed a second to grasp the point. The water rose so quickly that people sleeping on the mats found themselves crushed against their own ceilings and drowned. Below sea level, the Kanekos’ neighborhood consisted mostly of old wood houses, which collapsed, but the Kanekos’ modest house happened to be concrete, and the family was able to scramble to a small room on the second floor before the water overtook the first one. “There were fish swimming in the living room,” Mr. Kaneko remembered.
The water rose to just below the second-floor windowsill. “And for some reason I decided to stick my hand out the window, into the water,” he continued. “Suddenly — it was pitch black so I couldn’t see anything — somebody grabbed my hand.”
He pulled. His father, finding a body dragged inside, rushed to the window, stuck his own hand out, and another drowning body latched onto him. “We kept sticking out our hands and pulling them in,” Mr. Kaneko said. Altogether they fished 36 strangers from death, later fashioning a raft from debris to go get supplies, and eventually boarding everyone in the house for two months.
He paused. “Maybe that helped me come to the United States, because after that I wasn’t afraid of too much.” But of course he didn’t just come to the United States. He ended up in the wide-open middle of the Midwest, as far away from the ocean as possible."
Discussion Questions
- Can you imagine how Jun Kaneko's early life experiences led him to a preference for "working big?"
Consider the story of his experiences in Japan in the typhoon of 1959.
- What kind of message is sent by sculpture that is very large?
Consider the message of the cathedrals in the Middle Ages: When something is very large it reminds humans of their very human size. In the Middle Ages one purpose this served was to impress upon them the awe-inspiring might and power of the Christian God. Consider also the mosques of the Middle East. Same effect: to impress upon humans in the Middle East the awe-inspiring might and power of the Allah. Same effect of awe before size with the huge Buddhist statues of Afghanistan.
Consider that relative size, one would hope, reminds humans of the need for humilty before the greater power of that which we cannot know, for our senses cannot grasp the the awe-inspiring power of the universe, the cosmos, Heaven, whatever spiritual Being we might worship.
- What is one of the advantages of reminding humans of their relative size before the universe?
Consider humility. Our relatively small size, as can be seen by colossal works of art, might remind of us how little we know of how much there is to know. Most cruelty and violence in the world is born of arrogance. Humility helps guard against the arrogance that permits us to ignore the Other, assuming that only we "know."
References:
- Giants of the Heartland By Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, Arts and Leisure, January 14, 2007, at p. 1.
- Jun Kaneko's Work at the William Traver Gallery in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. site accessed on January 14, 2007.
- Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, Paris.
- Chartres Cathedral Another view.
- Nôtre Dame de Paris On the same Great Buildings site. Inside Notre Dame de Paris. Imagine entering this cathedral as an unschooled peasant in the Middle Ages.
- North Indian temples Hindu. Explanatiion of Temple Architecture given.
- South Indian Temples On TempleNet.
- Statue of Gomateswara Colossal Statue of Lord Gomateswara, a Jain Saint. "This statue is regarded as one of the largest monolithic statues in the world. This statue of lord Gomateshwara was created around 983 AD by Chamundraya, a minister of the Ganga King, Rajamalla."
- Another view of the Statue of Gomateswara Gives a better sense of its size.
- Mosque_of_Sultan_Ahmed in Istanbul, Turkey.
- The Suleyman Mosque On the Great Buildings site. Istanbul, Turkey.
- The Suleyman Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.
- Buddhist statues of Afghanistan
- Giant Buddhist Statues in Afghanistan. Click on next image to see one of the larger Buddha statue that was destroyed.
- Buddhist Temple. Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto. Click on the third image to see the temple and its steps. Then click on Next Image.
