Yukinori Yanagi Q&A

1) What is your initial reaction?

I responded really well to what was said in the opening paragraph: “He chose, instead, to enlist an animal as his equal, his artistic collaborator… Yanagi chose to create art with an ant, an insect that is normally considered neither beautiful, individuated, endearing, nor directly useful to human enterprise.” But it is indirectly useful to human (I saw a special on ants a few weeks ago). Ants can destroy our homes or they help aerate our soil and kill pesky critters. In many countries they are used as a source of food and medicine. The Chinese have used ants for hundreds of years to help them cultivate citrus fields for harvest later. Ants maintain more than we think.

Another thing I thought about was the Jains of ancient India, who are still around today. Jainism is a religion/philosophy that stresses the equality of all life in our world. It’s very strict when it comes to killing other creatures and they are hardcore vegans. Non-violence is of the upmost importance, especially if you want to reach Moksha, which is similar to Satori or Nirvana. I practiced Buddhism in high school, and since Jains and Buddhists have very similar ideals, I restricted my travel, constantly looked where I was walking, and I never stepped a foot in the grass for about a year and a half. Traditional Jains almost always carry a broom with them, so as they travel they can sweep away any insects or living organisms. Killing a creature would hurt their chances of reaching an understanding of the true nature of the soul. So all in all, Yanagi’s work hits home. I remember constantly keeping an eye on the ground. When I came home from school I would pay very close attention to the way the ants and other insects moved so I could step over them to enter my house. I still have many of the same beliefs that killing anything is wrong, and non-violence is the answer.

2) Why does he do this kind of work?

To reach perfection is the first thing that comes to mind. Ants construct and maintain a perfect environment… never deviating, always at equilibrium. Yanagi is showing us what Utopia is like to experience. I see it as kind of an ‘informal interview’. By following the ant he is recording its journey through it’s life; the boundaries that have defined him and gives clues to what will come in the future. ‘The ant’s work’ is a direct representation of Yanagi himself. I think we could all learn a lesson from our tiny ‘friends’ as well.

3) “…Ants and humans have missions. But an ant’s mission is predetermined.” Response?

Does knowing your purpose in life make you a more evolved creature? Sure ants can’t learn culture, appreciate cool winds on a hot summer day, or cook a flambé, but does that make their existence less profound than humans? Do we really need to try to find ourselves, or learn other languages, or achieve our life goals? Do we really need to exist at all?

4) Who does this remind me of?

As far as meditation goes, Oliver Herring comes to mind. He said that his work with the knitted Mylar was meditative, even though it was time consuming and hard on his body. Frankenthaler comes to mind as well. She almost didn’t do any of her work really. She would dye the canvas and move it around, so that it ‘painted itself.’ I feel like Yanagi is doing the same thing here. He isn’t really creating these lines. The ant is. His mass is moving the ant around, and he isn’t really letting the ant go anywhere it wants… he is confining it to the space he has created.

5) Has his work influenced me?

Yes. Before I read about his work, I knew that I could use anything and everything to inspire me to create works of art. But after reading this, it makes me feel like I didn’t really know that everything could really inspire me in the first place. Fuck this class is good… Epiphany after epiphany!

6) What are you going to do now that you have had so many epiphanies?

I’m going to rethink my life of course. Everything I have done up to this point feels so trivial. Some of my ideas are good, but I need to totally overhaul the way I perceive my own work and develop my ideas in the future.