The Floating World

In the Japanese print world of ukiyo-e, a picture of reality is made by the artist that is a representation of reality, not necessarily that all art isn't. But in this case, often those portrayed are part of an unreal, floating world: prostitutes, geisha, samurai. The landscape of Japan figures in the floating world is drawn in such a way that there is no confusing it with more realistic art styles.

This print is an image of Mt. Fuji. It looks like an exaggeration, but if you see Fuji, you can see how the artist managed to gain this image of it. Never mind that it is a distorted, abstract of Fuji. Somewhere in this picture is a kernel of truth about Fuji.

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Last week I sat down and thought about madness. My family's dysfunction means that they see the world through a dirty sort of window. The reality of what they see and what the world looks like is abstracted to them, sent through a strange filter that sometimes means that they try to bend the world into a version that fits their hopes and dreams, as well as one that avoids their pain and suffering.

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Mirrored from Writer Tamago.