comparative analysis yergens

8/6/2019 Comparative Analysis Yergens

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/comparative-analysis-yergens 1/7

Yergens 1

Molly Yergens

Laurel Sparks

AIB MFA Semester 1

1 April 2011

Floating Perspective:

Adventures in Landscape and Culture

Uninhibited by conventions of perspective, Ts’ai Chia’s “Landscape with Scholar

Viewing a Waterfall” of 1777 (Figure 1) and Tony Berlant’s “Mountain Journey” of 1991

(Figure 2) provide similar opportunities for the eye to explore the imposing scale and unusual

presentation of space and place shared by both works.

Berlant’s “Mountain Journey” pays tribute to traditional Chinese landscape painting by

amplifying its colossal scale, its eccentric presentation of space, and the abstraction of itsinterlocking shapes, introducing a new cultural and historical context. Berlant creates a visual

remix of old ideas, the contemporary interpretation shedding new light onto a traditional style.

Ts’ai Chia’s “Landscape with Scholar Viewing a Waterfall” , is at the Minneapolis

Institute of Arts in a dimly lit room full of traditional hanging scrolls. Its size and the presence of

both meticulous detail and playful abstraction command attention. A figure sits in the

foreground, perched peacefully in the foliage on a throne-like rock. The title suggests that the

figure, enjoying his time with the waterfall, is harmoniously pondering intelligent and significant

thoughts.



Yergens 2

Not unlike many traditional Chinese landscape paintings, its composition reflects Taoist

philosophies regarding humanity and our relationship with nature. The scale dwarfs the figure

but he appears to be quite content, in harmony with his immense and imposing natural

surroundings (Figure 3). The distance between the figure and a tiny residence on the

mountainside is great, an overt visual suggestion of human insignificance, which illustrates an

important aspect of Taoist aesthetics typical of Chinese landscape paintings.

The landscape becomes progressively less detailed and increasingly fantastical from

bottom to top. For instance, the rocks near the scholar are intricately painted, solidly nestled in

the earth and the rocks in the upper portion of the scroll lack detail and visual weight. Waterfalls

seem to pour into pools of clouds. Fog shapes and water shapes become less easily

distinguishable as the altitude increases. The roots of the trees clutch the rocky land with

anthropomorphic intensity.

Visually wandering through the landscape is time consuming and challenging.

Spectacularly rendered detail and complex paths ensure that there are no quick and direct visual

routes through this landscape. The viewer embarks on a contemplative journey into the vast

expanse of craggy land, delighting in a harmonious connection with wilderness rooted in Taoist

thought. A keen sensitivity of one’s natural surroundings is be lieved to be the first step to inner

tranquility and balanced living.

In Michael Sullivan’s book The Arts of China , he explains that “what the Chinese artist

records is not a single visual confrontation but an accumulation of experience touched off

perhaps by one moment’s exaltation before the beauty of nature.”(Sullivan 156). He continues to

describe Chinese landscape painting as “a symbolic language through which the painter may



Yergens 4

texture. Some shapes are solid color, the surface of other shapes feature abstract expressionist

gestures and others are portions of photographic representations of wildlife and landscape such

as wood grain, hazy snowcapped peaks, seaweed, tree bark and grapevines. (Figure 4)

The “floating perspective” of Tony Berlant’s metal collage and Ts’ai Chia’s painting

provides similar journeys. Guo Xi’s concept of “the angle of totality” is exemplified in both

artworks. The eye wanders on unlikely paths, pausing at times to examine rich detail and

impressive craftsmanship and straining the next moment to make sense of peculiar and puzzling

juxtap ositions. In “Mountain Journey” the collaged photographic elements add actual glimpses

of foliage and animals within the abstract composition, inserting trees and creatures into a

viewer’s visual wanderings.

Standing at the base of the “Mountain Journey” the viewer is swallowed by an invented

world. Areas of the composition become obscured by reflected light and extreme distances

render intricate textures and shapes uniform and nondescript. One must venture up to the third

floor to view the upper portion of the piece through a window overlooking the museum

vestibule. A gray and black form resembling falling water, akin to the waterfalls found in

Chinese hanging scrolls, can be discovered only by drastically changing one’s vantage point .

“Landscape with Scholar Viewing a Waterfall” stimulates one’s curiosity in the same way; t he

distance between the eye and the upper portion of the ten foot tall scroll makes it difficult for the

viewer to experience the distant world intimately. In both Berlant’s and Chia’s pieces , the puzzle

patchwork of rock shapes, cloud shapes and indeterminate negative shapes is disorienting and

compelling.



Yergens 5

The process of creating a traditional Chinese landscape painting is an expression of a

particular culture and historical context, implying an undeniably Taoist approach. Meticulous,

formulaic brushwork, a neutral color palette, and a series of patient ink washes indicate quiet,

meditative methods. In contrast, the construction of Berlant’s installation was comparatively

physically rigorous in nature, complete with the loud hammering of steel fasteners and the

clank ing and cutting of metal sheets. I imagine the process of creating “Mountain Journey” was

nothing like a scholar’s peaceful, meditative experience by the waterfal l.

The graphic nature of Bertlant’s composition, its saturated color, the overt grandiosity of

its scale, and the rigidity of its industrial materiality reflect a modern context . “Mountain

Journey” provides a modern Taoist retreat for the viewer to explore, redefining wilderness in an

unexpected way; a juxtaposition of traditional subject matter and bold and brash contemporary

aesthetics. By employing contemporary materials and m ethods, Berlant’s installation mimics a

specific art historical canon serving to both recontextualize the landscape and deepen the

viewer’s appreciation for traditional Chinese painting. Both “Mountain Journey” and “Landscape

with Scholar Viewing a Waterfa ll” invite the viewer to wander and explore, along the way

discovering more than landscape, also immersing oneself in culture.



Yergens 6

Figure 1 Figure 2

Figure 3 Figure

comparative analysis yergens

Documents