Auspicious Objects

Now that I refer to UW-Stevens Point as my “alma mater,” there are some exciting things happening there. This is not to say, however, that there weren’t exciting things happening there when I was attending, but some high profile stuff is in the works. And, interestingly enough, The Pointer looks to be cleaning up its act slightly, and one day it may even be worth reading. Who’d have thought! Anyway, I’m referring to a specific event on campus today, and that is the COFAC Creates – Japan The Floating World series. Even if you have never heard of the term ukiyo-e, you have probably seen this picture somewhere:

Frankly, failure to recognize this woodblock print should be declared “unamerican.” Of the many woodblock reprints adorning my apartment walls, The Great Wave never fails to elicit a response from visitors. I knew Hokusai’s legacy was far-reaching when a tipsy friend attempted to hug my framed reprint, saying “I loooove this.” There is, of course, a lot more to the world of ukiyo-e (yes, I did just say “the world of the floating world”) than just Hokusai, but he’s a good starting point given his popularity with Westerners. Still, the COFAC series will look at the broader picture, and even includes some related film showings and a Kabuki (!) workshop. Here’s a brief overview of the event schedule:

October 26: Exhibition opening reception

October 29: Drew Stevens, Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the Chazen Museum of Art Lecture: Printmakers in Edo

November 1: Japanese Film Festival: Kwaidan (1965) Masaki Kobayashi

November 5: Dr. Larry Ball, Art Historian, Department of Art & Design, UWSP Lecture: Admiring the Sunrise: Japanese Woodblock Prints as seen by 19th century Europeans

November 6: David Furumoto, Associate Professor of Acting, Department of Theatre and Drama, UW-Madison
Lecture Demonstration: The Path of The Onnagata-Male to Female

November 7: David Furumoto, Associate Professor of Acting, Department of Theatre and Drama, UW-Madison
Interactive Workshop: A Kabuki Primer-A,B,C’s of Performing Kabuki

November 8: Japanese Film Festival: Double Suicide (1969) Masahiro Shinoda

November 11: Dr. Julie Davis, Art Historian, Department of the History of Art, University of Pennsylvania
Lecture: Appraising Desire in Ukiyo-e: Representations of Courtesans in Late 18th-century Japan

November 15: Japanese Film Festival: Ugetsu (1953) Kenji Mizoguchi

November 17: Junichi Semitsu, Adjunct Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law
Lecture: The Race to Erase: Reflections on a ‘Post-Racial’ Society.”

November 18: Yuji Hiratsuka, Professor of Fine Arts, Department of Art, Oregon State University
Lecture: “Persona Perspective: Prints by Yuji Hiratsuka”

November 20: Exhibition closing reception

There is something for everyone here, and I think the diversity of events will help draw in even students and members of the public that aren’t particularly interested in or familiar with ukiyo-e; exposing such people to Asian culture is one of the cornerstones of East Asian studies. My hope is that, if the series goes well (and I expect it to), it will lead to increased interest in the creation of an East Asian studies department at Point – talented faculty in this field are already teaching in diverse subjects (art history, history, geography, etc.) there, so it seems only natural to begin offering a degree program some time in the future. Were I still a student at Point, you can bet I would have been at every event listed, but now that I live in Madison, I’m unfortunately going to have to be choosey. I have a night lab on Wednesdays, so the Julie Davis and Yuji Hiratsuka lectures are out. I’d certainly like to see the Drew Stevens lecture, but I’m not sure it would be worth driving an hour and a half on a Tuesday night to see someone who works at the Chazen, which is 15 minutes walking distance from my Madison apartment. It would be worth it just to be in the company of good friends, I suppose. I was excited to hear that the film selection and screening process is being handled by my old film professor, Leslie Midkiff Debauche, who has an eye for good cinema. On a related note, I recieved a message on my Facebook wall yesterday from a friend and coworker at the video store who is currently in her freshman year at the University of Minnesota:

When you started taking film, did you go through the silent ones? I’m to my mid-term and we’ve only seen one film with sound.

Here is my response, worthy of inclusion on this blog simply because of how overwrought it is for a Facebook wall post:

Unless you’re specifically taking a “classic film” class, I think an intro course should be more encompassing than that. Film has evolved, of course, and it’s important to think about all of the elements and methods modern films are composed of and made from – mise-en-scene, cinematography, colors, lighting, sound, etc, and also how different cultures affect how these are used. If I remember correctly (this was two years ago), we didn’t watch any silent films in our class. Some of the ones we watched included “North by Northwest”, “Strangers on a Train”, “Rear Window”, “Casablanca”, “Apocolypse Now”, “The Mission” (a Hong Kong film), “The Birds”, “Shadow of a Doubt”, “The 39 Steps”, “Broken Flowers”, “Goodfellas”…They are pretty varied from each other in a lot of ways (even though a lot of them are Hitchcock productions), and each one helped our class explore different facets of film.

I will have to go more into my freshman “Introduction to Film” class sometime, but if you are still in college and need a humanities credit, give some serious thought to enrolling in a film studies class. A good professor will be able to assemble a syllabus featuring films that broaden your understanding of cinema worldwide and captivate your imagination. And if you have a bad professor who can’t do this, you still get to watch movies in class. You win either way!

Before I wrap this post up, I thought I’d share another ancedote about learning Mandarin, because I’m sure my poor foreign language skills are fodder for hilarity. I showed up to the UWSP Chinese Culture Club’s Moon Festival last weekend with hopes of eating way too much moon cake and watching a play where guys played girls and girls played guys (no explanation was ever given for that use of artistic liscensing). Unfortunately, by the time I got there things were wrapping up, and while I still got some moon cake, I missed out on most of the night’s festivities. Bummer. I sauntered over to a table where CCC members were writing people’s names on paper with calligraphic brushes and requested that my Chinese name, 八大山人 (Badashanren), be written. My name is taken from a famous Chinese painter of the Ming/Qing dynasties, so I thought it’d be pretty easy for them to understand my bad Mandarin accent. For those who aren’t aware, Mandarin is a tonal language, and how you say words affects their meaning. Thus, tones are very, very, very important. The guy behind the table asked me to repeat my name a few times, and I realized that this probably meant there was a problem with my pronounciation. Props to him though, because he soldiered on and struggled to write out what he thought I said:

After he finished, all of the other Chinese students gathered around the table looked quizzically at the paper. One girl said, “Hmm…that doesn’t make any sense.” This “name” is a noble interpretation of what I said (even though it’s gibberish), and I fully attribute the misunderstanding to my poor Mandarin skills. The problem here is that these characters – “å·´”, “上” ,”æ–‡” – are homophones that correspond to words in my name. See? Tones are not to be underestimated! Luckily, this incident didn’t involve me accidently offending anyone by unintetionally saying something bad. I asked if I could try using the calligraphic brush, and the students running the table were awesome enough to let me. Here’s my actual name in my calligraphy:

As I produced each stroke, everyone gathered around the table spoke out each syllable as I finished writing them – “Ba…da…shan…ren!” The Chinese students seemed impressed, and congratulated me on my writing. Of course, “Badashanren” is composed of really simple characters with only few strokes, so the real challenge is going to be doing some more complicated calligraphy next time.

David Blog college, japan, mandarin, wisconsin