My Reaction to the Japanese Culture and Craft vs. Art Symposium

This week’s symposium was intriguing due to its display of cultural and conceptual issues which I had not even been aware of previously. The idea that the Japanese phenomenon of vastly childish and cute artwork was spawned by the nation’s traumatic experiences during WWII is quite compelling. Before the symposium, no one had attempted to explain their thoroughly varied culture and I wrote it off as a strange foreign trend. I never would have imagined that their art style could have been so influenced by something which occurred so long ago. And I certainly would not have guessed that their response to such tragic events could be what on the surface appears to be such a pleasant and optimistic style. I have enjoyed the products of Japanese culture ever since I was a child and watched their graphic and stylized anime cartoons. To understand some of the cause behind their extremely unique visions of what media should be is extremely interesting and relevant to me. 

The second half of the symposium discussed the question of whether or not crafts could be considered arts and the controversy behind this debate. I had not previously realized that so much effort had been put into the creation of even the simplest objects, that there was no other conclusion but to deem them art. I was surprised to find that, despite this concise and unified agreement on what art was, a schism divided the art world in the form of painting. It seemed ridiculous to me that sculpture could be declared a mere manufacturing process while only the art form of painting could be elevated to the status of fine art. Luckily, critics and artists alike have moved past such pedantic biases and realized processes such as sculpture, digital media, and even weaving can be considered art as well. There is still debate among art historians, but I believe that in a short time, society will recognize the merit of all creative and meaningful endeavors and will cease to put such petty labels on the hard work and individual efforts of artists around the world.