Wednesday, September 15, 2021
This Japanese Village Creates Amazing Rice Paddy Art Every year
mymodernmet.com: Since 1993, the village of Inakadate in northern Japan has been revitalizing its culture through amazing rice paddy art, or tambo āto. Every May, about 1,300 volunteers come together to plant different varieties of rice in an intricate design. By the time summer comes along, their hard work is in full bloom, attracting thousands of tourists to the site.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I think this is so cool, I have never heard of this or seen it, but I am glad I read this article. I also think it is a great idea for this village. They saw a need to more income for their community and they looked at the resources they have and what they can do and found this idea which has since seemed to work really well for them. I do wonder if this rice is only farmed for these art pieces, or if this is then farmed and sold to be used a rice is used. I also think it’s interesting that these are all volunteers that plant the rice. Maybe one day when the city is out of debt they will keep doing this and they can pay the people that are planting. But wow these are so beautiful and intricate, they really do a great job with the planning and thoughtful execution. I’m surprised the rice growth is so predictable that they are able to plan this.
This is such an interesting way to challenge what the parameters of art can be. These creations have more purpose than to just look pretty as well. It seems like such a vital part of the village, as it has reached their goals of getting out of debt and bringing in tourists to the village. I wonder whether they use the rice after it has grown, this would further contribute to the sustainability of this form of art. Also, the designs are just outright impressive; to convey so much detail in a field of rice is incredible. I also found it interesting how they work around the selected colors that the rice grows in and despite that the artists create a lot of depth and clean lines throughout the piece. It would be so interesting to see just what the process is and how they increase the scale of the image from a computer screen to a whole entire field. Just the time and precision of the whole process make this not for any casual artist. These rice paddy designs must be truly something to experience in real life.
Holy crap???? This is SO COOL!!!!!!!! This is an incredibly unique form of artistry, and I am so entranced by this entire process and the meanings someone could pull from this practice. Not only is this the most unique version of artistic appreciation I have ever seen, it is the most patient and dedicated as well. Some of them even look 3D, like they are literally popping out of the ground. I am obsessed. It is awesome that they are able to pick themes that reflect so many different styles of film and television, and given that this was initially an effort to draw tourism money to the village of Inakadate, it is amazing how many cultures it could appeal to. Clearly it has been successful, since in 10 years the town has been able to cut their debt by two thirds of what it once was. This is beautiful, poetic, sustainable, and one of the most creative things I have ever seen. I hope I might get to view it in person one day.
When I first read the title of this article, I was expecting to see images of a subtractive style piece of artwork, like you’d see at a corn maze – with two “colors” which contracting each other, where rice is planted and where it is not. The shock I felt when I clicked open the article and saw these incredible works of art is unlike anything I have ever felt before. These colorful works of rice art are unlike anything I have ever seen. After the initial shock was over, another wave of it came when I realized another crucial detail – these are created proportionally to be viewed from a very specific angle. If the original image was simply scaled up, when viewed from the low angle shown in the photo, the image would look shortened, with the faces, words, and images being compressed vertically. The designer, however, clearly took this into account, to make these works of art appear perfectly proportional when viewed from the specific angle that it was designed to be looked at from. Not only is this an incredible feat of the volunteers who planted everything, but also of the man who designed it all so carefully, keeping in mind viewing angle when putting the design together.
This collection of photographs was so fun to see. I am fascinated by how detailed the images can get just by using different types of rice plants and the amount of planning that must go into each one. The scale was also so amazing. It really made me think that art can be made out of anything. As I always do, I tied this back to live theatre, and the scale and detail of it reminded me of the way Olympic opening ceremonies are done. It is often a massive live theatre, but I am often disappointed when there is only a singular person on a giant stage, and the audience can only look at them through a jumbo screen. I have so much more fondness for art and theatre that shows a bigger picture on a scale like this. Additionally I like how this art is sustainable and temporary, so even though the artwork changes every year, the meaning stays the same, which I found very moving.
When I read rice paddy art, I have to say, I SORELY underestimated the breadth and intricacy of their work. It's crazy to see how much art can bring to a community. In a time when they were financially struggling and were in need, it was creativity that brought people in to see what their dedications and imaginations could offer. Having lived in an area of dense rice paddies I WISH growing up I could have lived near something so cool. Although to be fair, I'm not sure the scale of this art piece would allow it to be seen well from on foot. I am curious about the logistics of using so many varieties of rice to get the colors. Does that include planting at different times to allow all varieties to be in full "bloom" and ready for harvest at once? Was it hard to find varieties that could grow in the exact same conditions for prolonged periods? Do the people of the town get competitive with one another about the scale and details of their paddies? It's so nice to see a community dedicated to creating something beautiful out of something that is generally treated as utilitarianly as farming.
Truly, nothing could have prepared me for the sheer scale and intricacy of this rice paddy farm. I am really entranced when looking at these fields because the perspective really throws me off. I see the surrounding town laid out and I expect the images on the rice to be stretched out (i.e. only in perfect perspective when viewed from directly above), but there they are, planted in anamorphic perspective so that we can see it without a perfect bird's eye view. It reminds me of "The Ambassador," the painting by Hans Holbein the Younger. In this painting, an extremely distorted skull is painted in an otherwise normal painting, requiring the viewer to stand in a particular spot in order to see the skull rendered normally as a memento mori. Maybe the images in the fields would still be undistorted from above, but the sheer scale of it makes the angle of viewing negligible. Either way, I love this.
Post a Comment