Automatic Tendencies in Japanese Avant-Garde Calligraphy : Motifs Defined by Modernism and Tradition

Session III : Rethinking Design Culture in Japan

This paper focuses on automatic tendencies in the works of leading Japanese avant-garde calligrapher Morita Shiryū 森田子龍 (1912-1998), and the connection of said tendencies with abstract art and calligraphic tradition. In the first section of the paper the author examines the term ‘automatism’ and its meaning in the various movements of surrealist and informalist abstract painting; then, by analyzing a discussion on calligraphy between Morita and fellow calligrapher Hidai Nankoku 比田井南谷 (1912-1999), published in the journal Bokubi in June 1959, the author aims to establish the nature of the automatic tendencies in Morita’s works, undoubtedly developed to some extent under the influence of abstract art. However, when we compare the automatic tendencies which Morita discusses, with the automatism of abstract art, a significant difference between the two becomes clear: in automatic creation in calligraphy, Morita relies heavily on ‘knowledge’ and ‘experience’ derived from extensive replication of calligraphy classics. This is in stark contrast to automatism in Western avant-garde art, which mostly aims to break free from tradition. This peculiarity of avant-garde calligraphy could be explained by the fact that Japanese avant-garde calligraphers are all classically trained, and that traditional calligraphy treaties also deal with the topic of spontaneity and subconscious creation, under the heavy influence of Daoist and Buddhist philosophy. In said treaties there is no conflict between notions of technique and composition, and unthinking creation and spontaneity, as this paper demonstrates with examples from treaties by Zhang Huiguan 張懷瓘 (middle Tang dynasty, years unknown) and Su Dongpo 蘇東坡 (1037-1101). In conclusion, this paper aims to demonstrate that avant-garde calligraphy’s connection to and reinterpretation of this type of traditional discourse allows Morita to walk the fine line between relying on past models and breaking free from traditional formats.