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Friday, October 06, 2017
Giant Straw Animals Invade Japanese Fields After Rice Harvest And They Are Absolutely Badass
Bored Panda: Fall is a season of harvesting, and festivals to celebrate it are currently taking place all over the world. In Northern Japan, the Wara Art Festival recently rang in the September-October rice season, and it’s a wildly inventive and fun way to repurpose rice straw left over from the harvest.
7 comments:
Monica Skrzypczak
said...
These straw sculptures are absolutely phenomenal. They blend so many levels of straw manipulation to create the different textures of the animal’s skin and fur. It’s really impressive how dynamic they made it when it is entirely to of straw. I have the notion that straw is a really flimsy and brittle medium but when woven and wrapped so much it looks incredibly sturdy. I especially like how the crocodile is all braids - it really gets the scaly look across. The poses they chose for the animals are also really good, it shows the character of each animal and tells a story. I really wish they showed more of the process of creating these sculptures. The three pictures are good, but How did they coordinate with so many people all working on so many spots and have it all come out so cohesively? Also what does the understructure look like? Did they build a framework out of street or wood or is entirely straw?
The sheer scale and execution of these statues is truly impressive. Having just finished our line and form project, which is put to shame by these if I am being honest, I can imagine the staggering amount of meticulous work that must have gone into creating these giant animals. The use of straw is also impressive, as it is not a naturally sturdy material. I can only imagine the intricacies involved in building such massive sculptures out of straw, so it adds another element of marvel to the already commanding presence of the sculptures. The straw also connects the statues to their surrounding environment, creating a sense of unity and belonging in the space. The unity of the design lends further emphasis to the sculptures' exaggerated scale, making for a highly effective and incredible piece of work. Seeing the effective use of nontraditional materials on such a scale inspires me to experiment more in my design work and open mydelf up to new possibilities.
I do not know what I was expecting when I opened the article, but definitely not the sculptures shown. A few summers ago I was in Atlantic City and on the beach were giant animals made out of sand. I think the use of material and scale is what is really the most interesting about this art and the sand art. Also just how uncommon it is, in a place where you are not expecting anything to be. This is also no small task, you can see all the people working with the straw and weaving it together in a room, and then to assembly it, high amounts of scaffolding were used. At first I thought it might have been a couple people with a lot of time to spare, but it really looks like some kind of organization or group that does this, perhaps for profit. The detail and the different ways they use the texture of the straw is really amazing.
Holy cow! I do not know what I was expecting when I clicked on this article, but when I scrolled down to the first picture of one of these straw sculptures, I was incredibly impressed. These sculptures are both much larger and way more detailed than I originally thought. It looks like the material they use is straw that has been recycled after the rice festival, and I appreciate that greatly. I can not even imagine how much time each one of these sculptures took. The amount of time and skill these artists devoted to this art is impressive indeed. Judging from the pictures the artists who makes these sculptures there is no internal structure of the sculptures, it is all straw. I am sure the sculptures will eventually decay naturally, and will probably help fertilize the fields where they are set for the next rice festival.
These sculptures are incredibly creative and AMAZING! I love their use of texture in the direction of the straw and the different weaving techniques clearly used to insinuate different muscles, skins, furs, and joints. I wish they had included some more process pictures of them being constructed though. I would have loved to have gotten a closer look at the armature inside each of the creatures that allows them to keep such strong, striking shapes upright and intact. I love that this whole event has such a strong historical connection as well. Paying homage to former cultural practice with a creative and beautiful new one is fantastic to see and gives the process a depth that it perhaps would not possess without it. I also love how you can clearly see how much fun they are having creating all of these sculptures. And I have to admit that the crocodile is my favorite.
I’m always deeply fascinated by the sculptures that contain strong contrast within themselves. I still remember the steel-wired sculptures of whimsical and playful fairies. These straw animals are just like them. They look fierce and ferocious, but the fact that they are made out of flimsy, fragile and hallow rice straws makes them incredibly interesting. All of these sculptures show extreme attention to details and overall mastery of the postures, facial expressions, and motions of the animals. I was impressed how enormous they all are and this how rice straws that are gradually getting replaced by wood and plastic and hence not of much use any more has turned into a precious opportunity of creative collaboration that provides truly amazing hands-on practice to art students and at the same time help boosting the local tourism. The video in the end is just stunning. These animal sculptures made of natural products by human beings bring liveliness to the fields in the countryside.
That is one of the most interesting festivals I have ever heard of. The sculptures are absolutely amazing and breath taking. The time and energy that was put into these must have been a fair amount. The fact that these are created from the left over and unused rice straw is such a good idea. Rice being a staple there makes the straw abundant and so it has been used for a lot of different things but with modern technology, as the article notes, it isn’t used as much. Creating these sculptures out of it is so smart and must bring a lot of joy to people. The creation process is also quite interesting and looks like a lot of fun. I love that this straw is re-purposed and made into art. It is such an interesting idea and great use of it as the pictures alone brought me joy; I’m sure the actual things brought joy to many people who saw it in person as well as the artists who created the sculptures.
7 comments:
These straw sculptures are absolutely phenomenal. They blend so many levels of straw manipulation to create the different textures of the animal’s skin and fur. It’s really impressive how dynamic they made it when it is entirely to of straw. I have the notion that straw is a really flimsy and brittle medium but when woven and wrapped so much it looks incredibly sturdy. I especially like how the crocodile is all braids - it really gets the scaly look across. The poses they chose for the animals are also really good, it shows the character of each animal and tells a story. I really wish they showed more of the process of creating these sculptures. The three pictures are good, but How did they coordinate with so many people all working on so many spots and have it all come out so cohesively? Also what does the understructure look like? Did they build a framework out of street or wood or is entirely straw?
The sheer scale and execution of these statues is truly impressive. Having just finished our line and form project, which is put to shame by these if I am being honest, I can imagine the staggering amount of meticulous work that must have gone into creating these giant animals. The use of straw is also impressive, as it is not a naturally sturdy material. I can only imagine the intricacies involved in building such massive sculptures out of straw, so it adds another element of marvel to the already commanding presence of the sculptures. The straw also connects the statues to their surrounding environment, creating a sense of unity and belonging in the space. The unity of the design lends further emphasis to the sculptures' exaggerated scale, making for a highly effective and incredible piece of work. Seeing the effective use of nontraditional materials on such a scale inspires me to experiment more in my design work and open mydelf up to new possibilities.
I do not know what I was expecting when I opened the article, but definitely not the sculptures shown. A few summers ago I was in Atlantic City and on the beach were giant animals made out of sand. I think the use of material and scale is what is really the most interesting about this art and the sand art. Also just how uncommon it is, in a place where you are not expecting anything to be. This is also no small task, you can see all the people working with the straw and weaving it together in a room, and then to assembly it, high amounts of scaffolding were used. At first I thought it might have been a couple people with a lot of time to spare, but it really looks like some kind of organization or group that does this, perhaps for profit. The detail and the different ways they use the texture of the straw is really amazing.
Holy cow! I do not know what I was expecting when I clicked on this article, but when I scrolled down to the first picture of one of these straw sculptures, I was incredibly impressed. These sculptures are both much larger and way more detailed than I originally thought. It looks like the material they use is straw that has been recycled after the rice festival, and I appreciate that greatly. I can not even imagine how much time each one of these sculptures took. The amount of time and skill these artists devoted to this art is impressive indeed. Judging from the pictures the artists who makes these sculptures there is no internal structure of the sculptures, it is all straw. I am sure the sculptures will eventually decay naturally, and will probably help fertilize the fields where they are set for the next rice festival.
These sculptures are incredibly creative and AMAZING! I love their use of texture in the direction of the straw and the different weaving techniques clearly used to insinuate different muscles, skins, furs, and joints. I wish they had included some more process pictures of them being constructed though. I would have loved to have gotten a closer look at the armature inside each of the creatures that allows them to keep such strong, striking shapes upright and intact. I love that this whole event has such a strong historical connection as well. Paying homage to former cultural practice with a creative and beautiful new one is fantastic to see and gives the process a depth that it perhaps would not possess without it. I also love how you can clearly see how much fun they are having creating all of these sculptures. And I have to admit that the crocodile is my favorite.
I’m always deeply fascinated by the sculptures that contain strong contrast within themselves. I still remember the steel-wired sculptures of whimsical and playful fairies. These straw animals are just like them. They look fierce and ferocious, but the fact that they are made out of flimsy, fragile and hallow rice straws makes them incredibly interesting. All of these sculptures show extreme attention to details and overall mastery of the postures, facial expressions, and motions of the animals. I was impressed how enormous they all are and this how rice straws that are gradually getting replaced by wood and plastic and hence not of much use any more has turned into a precious opportunity of creative collaboration that provides truly amazing hands-on practice to art students and at the same time help boosting the local tourism. The video in the end is just stunning. These animal sculptures made of natural products by human beings bring liveliness to the fields in the countryside.
That is one of the most interesting festivals I have ever heard of. The sculptures are absolutely amazing and breath taking. The time and energy that was put into these must have been a fair amount. The fact that these are created from the left over and unused rice straw is such a good idea. Rice being a staple there makes the straw abundant and so it has been used for a lot of different things but with modern technology, as the article notes, it isn’t used as much. Creating these sculptures out of it is so smart and must bring a lot of joy to people. The creation process is also quite interesting and looks like a lot of fun. I love that this straw is re-purposed and made into art. It is such an interesting idea and great use of it as the pictures alone brought me joy; I’m sure the actual things brought joy to many people who saw it in person as well as the artists who created the sculptures.
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