Interview report "How calligraphy means to me personally"

"How calligraphy means to me personally"

A reporter spoke to HouzanSuzuki :

Your calligraphies.
They are written very very carefully, cherishingly.
But you don't have any attached feeling to the writings at all.

By following the written trajectory of the finished calligraphy,
it seems like you can experience that track movement.
It's like watching a dance.


HouzanSuzuki responded :

Writing calligraphy, to me who is writing, is not fun at all.
That is the very important point.

When I am writing calligraphy, I personally am not enjoying that at all.

However, this is a situation that must be like that, although it is particularly limited to my situation.

Other people out there might enjoy themselves.
I don't deny that.

But that is not my job.

My priority is not to get in the way of the writing brush.

After a while the writing is finished,
when I see the completed work,
then at times I enjoy the writing.

No-mind writing, non-no-mind writing.
These two writings are written under the same extended single line of consciousness, likewise as the two states of small enlightenment and medium enlightenment are on the same extension,
but the final products look very different.

Whether the results are done well or not, could be judged in an instant.
It can be judged very easily.
So there are times when tens of paper are torn away.

Conversely, there are times when everything goes wholly well.

There is only one reason for not going well.
That is when I "thought" about shaping the character so it looks nice, even a single part, minding even the slightest moment.
Even if all the other 99% part goes well, that 1% spoils everything.

Hence, in my situation, the judgment of my work is only either 100 or 0.
If there is a sign of thought even 1% in the work, and I didn't like it, I rip it up.
I save or give to other people, only the works that satisfy me 100%,

But that satisfaction is not the kind of type that is gained when someone had "something inside him that he wanted to express," and was able to express that outside.

Those are the typical kind in usual art.
Those are typical activities of human thought, seen everywhere continuing for thousands of years.

My works become as a result, something interesting to see, as a finished result.
I myself am not even trying to write something interesting, at all.

Professional calligraphers tend to seek taste and beauty in the writings, and cheap spirituality at times.
Calligraphy teachers tend to "expect their students to enjoy writing" at times.

My writings, when I am writing,
"there is nothing."

Something that is there, is nothing else but the slow-fast motion of the brush,
and the movement of writing calligraphy.

There are no enjoyment nor satisfaction,
no wandering thoughts,
no thinking,
no expressing myself,
no desire that I want to write.

If there was a rare occasion that I could enjoy, is after the writing is finished.
Simply put, I am not enjoying it as my own writing.

It is like something written by someone else.

Probably there isn't a single professional calligrapher who could do the same.

"Merely writing without wandering thoughts,"
even this won't make that possible.

"Not to put some sort of spirit,"
"not to even put some feeling,"

"not to speak of any reasoning for the writing, nor to speak of the opposite delusion, that there exists no description to the writing."

There are the paper, the brush, the certain mixture density of the ink, and the particular condition of the brush at that moment.

There is also the last character to be written.
There is also, importantly, the situation that this calligraphy is being written to be handed to a certain person.

Or the situation why the calligraphy is being written
(for example, to explain some matters.)

"All those situations" are creating the character.


Therefore, the writing is not an art.
Certainly it is not an artistic "expression."

So to speak, it could be said as a bit of a natural phenomenon.

Or it can be described in another way..........

____

Please read this sequel statement in the next site.
The last of the next sentence has the whole sentence of interview.

http://www.mumyouan.com/k/?T4031

___

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Meditation
• Japanese-calligraphy
• Shodo
• Sho
• Art
• Zen
• ZenShodo

[5587ccnb]

どれもこれも素晴らしいですね。私は特に「猫」の字が気に入りま­した。

[kidosool]

Wonderful Houzan Sensei! In particular I find the following statement quite profound "My priority is not to get in the way of the writing brush". To me, this is the summation of Shodo ;-) Thank you!

[Elodie50a]

Don't worry for the delay :)

I see, so for a nice dream you say Kibou ?

[HouzanSuzuki]

I'm sorry for my late reply .

Yume(Dream) means a nightmare mainly in Japan.

A word meaning hope definitely is Kibou.

However, both include a meaning of a nightmare because both not realize yet.

[Elodie50a]

Oh ok I see and wich one is the dream of a future propects ?

In face DREAM and HOPE are my favorite words.

They mean a lot to me.

[HouzanSuzuki]

Yes,

in Japanese and English,maybe the meaning of Dream"=Yume" is similar.

One means a dream in our sleep

One more is a dream as our future prospects or hope.

[Elodie50a]

Thanks, so I love Yume 夢 better :)

Those two words means the same "Hope" ?

[HouzanSuzuki]

Thank you.

It is "Kibou希望" or "Yume夢" in Japanese. \(o^)/

[Elodie50a]

Cute cat :)

Personnally I LOOOVE Japanese food !!!

And I love Japanes culture and history also.

And it's funny cause I ate sushi Saturday ¦P ¦P ¦P

[Elodie50a]

My favortie word is "HOPE" :)

[HouzanSuzuki]

By the way, what kind of word do you like?

I want to try to write it by calligraphy sometime.

[HouzanSuzuki]

Merci beaucoup.

Le bout est mon fils. Il est environ 10 années maintenant.

Son nom est Hakase. Une signification est docteur.

J'ai observé le rapport que le chef qui a employé la sauce de soja japonaise et les actions de potage japonaises a augmenté récemment en France.

Je pense que le Japon et la France est toujours associé splendide dans la culture de nourriture. (^_^)