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simultaneous with
ukiyo-e, was
chiyogami, printed with woodblocks, just like the prints.
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one story has it that the prints were "discovered" as they were used as wrapping paper;
chiyogami was created as wrapping paper!
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considered as decorative rather than narrative, the collections and comments are far rarer than are those for ukiyo-e. i'll recommend some great books; if you want the whole story, it really is all over the internet.
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it was used for bookbinding and toy-making as well as for wrapping gifts. when i first saw
chiyogami, i felt aha! i have found the missing link.
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but researching this post, at this moment in my life (of which there is always one), has opened up in me more questions than i would ever answer.
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and i ask, should i always want to? the brain may wonder, and allow that to be it. does everyone have to be a scholar?
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perhaps i will list some of the questions: why is all of the western design i see so orderly? do the japanese prints seem orderly to the japanese?
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why do color combinations and print pairings seem so often off-kilter to my eyes; we would never wear that print with that one. see all the kimono prints. do the japanese see the west as having an odd sense of color and coordination in a look?
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what about the wiener werkstatte allowed more chaos in design than other western styles of the time? why do a blog? to look things up in wikipedia or books? to parrot informative information?
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why have we insisted upon answers and orderliness? have we understood anything about the japanese at all? stop thinking.
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just.
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stop.
Labels: carl otto czeschka, charles rennie mackintosh, chiyogami, gustave baumann, liberty co, maria likarz, paper, pattern