NENDO-MICHI of JIN KATAGIRI ~NIPPON local the soul of clay~ vol.3

#Art #Clay #Clayfigurine #Dogu #Japan #Jomon #KATAGIRIJIN #NationalTreasure #NENDO-MICHI 2021.02.17

Vol.3 Nagano Prefecture 『Jomon no Venus Kamen』

縄文のビーナス仮面
by THATISGOOD2020
on Sketchfab

『Jomon no Venus Kamen』
Legal volume : Height x Width x Length ＝320 ×190 ×100
Materials: Epoxy putty, Sculpey, Hearty clay, Neodymium magnet, Plastic model parts

「Jomon no Venus Kamen」made by Jin Katagiri

Made by Jin Katagiri
Left) 「Kamen no Megami」 Height x Width x Length ＝225 ×155 ×75
Right) 「Jomon no Venus」 Legal volume : Height x Width x Length ＝185 ×90 ×65

This time, I used the “Jomon no Venus (the Venus of Jomon)” and the *”Kamen no Megami (The Masked Goddess)” from the Togariishi Museum of Jomon Archaeology in Nagano Prefecture as my motif.
　This is the only place that has two National Treasure dogu (clay figurine) in the same museum, so I thought it would be interesting to combine them. However, just because they are from the same region, the “Jomon no Venus (the Venus of Jomon)” made in the middle Jomon period and the “Kamen no Megami (The Masked Goddess)” made in the late Jomon period have completely different designs because there is a gap of almost 1000 years between them. For now, I created the exterior of the dogu with the intention of hollowing out the inside. It was difficult but fun to recreate the beautiful lines from the chest to the waist of the “Jomon no Venus(the Venus of Jomon)”, the volume and pattern of the helmet-like head, the asymmetrical patterns of the “Kamen no Megami (The Masked Goddess)”, and to balance the triangular mask. Also, there were traces of rope on the “Kamen no Megami (The Masked Goddess)” pattern, so I rubbed the rope on it.
*”Kamen” means a “Mask” and “Megami” means a “Venus” in Japanese.

After completing the dogu, I was troubled as expected. “What do you mean, ‘combine’? How? I wondered…. It would not be good if I cut it into too many pieces and lost the original… The body of the masked dogu has a lot of patterns on it, so it is difficult to cut…
　At that time, I suddenly realized something. Many dogu have no hands or are extremely small, but I thought, “What does this look like? I thought. That’s right! It looks like the underwater cruising form of an underwater mobile suit! I mean, isn’t the “Kamen no Megami” (the Masked Goddess) the very same *MS GOGG that retracts its hands? I even imagined that an *underwater MS might have been created based on a dogu. I even imagined it…
　So, I cut the torso of the “Jomon no Venus” (made by Jin Katagiri) diagonally. To convert the lower half of her body into arms, I built in the arm parts from the *Z’GOK plastic model, and hollowed out the legs of “Kamen no Megami” (made by Jin Katagiri) to make Z’GOK’s legs and Z’GOK’s thighs and hip joints. Remove the mysterious back of the head and the mask, and combine the thinner head with the upper body of Venus!　The removed mask is attached to the stomach! Combine the mysterious back part of the head with the top of the head!　Before I knew it, it looked like the Tower of the Sun Robot, or some kind of super-ancient civilization’s o-parts. I used plastic model joints and neodymium magnets to join the parts.
*Mobile Suit: One of the fictional weapon classifications in the anime “Mobile Suit Gundam”.
*MS GOGG: An amphibious mobile suit.
*Z’GOK: A robot that appears in the anime “Mobile Suit Gundam”.

It took about a week to make the main body of the figure, but it took me two weeks to hollow out the interior and work on the joints and internal organs. I felt strangely comfortable with it, so I used Zgok’s claws as they were. I like the fact that I was able to set the mysterious back of the head to look like a hoe on a suit of armor, which I wasn’t sure how to use. I think it would have been fun to take it to another level…?

For the colors, I simply finger-painted an earthy color mixed with seashell powder. The actual ”Jomon no Venus” (the Venus of Jomon) has mica rubbed into it to make it sparkle, so I rubbed pearl color into it. I also thought it would be interesting if the pattern glowed, so I painted it with phosphorescent paint, but the black base paint started to melt and it was very difficult.

By the way, the modeling of dogu is quite profound. Like Jomon earthenware, it has its own detailed rules that are different from both the West and the East, and if you just try to follow them, you’ll instantly feel uncomfortable.I think it has a magical power that makes people think, “I want to recreate that!

Jin Katagiri
Born November 27, 1973 / Born in Saitama Prefecture / Graduated from Tama Art University
Active in the stage, movies, radio, etc., mainly in TV dramas series. Major appearances in recent years include “99.9% -Criminal Lawyer-” (TBS), “Your Turn to Kill” (NTV), and “NHK Morning drama series Yell” (NHK).
In addition to acting, he also creates clay, and from 2016 to 2018 he held a national tour at the “Jin Katagiri Absurdity Clay Art Exhibit Giri Ten.” In 2019, he is holding his first overseas solo exhibition in Taiwan.

【About Chino City, Nagano Prefecture】

Nagano Prefecture is located in the middle of Honshu. Chino City is located near the center of the prefecture. The city is located at the foot of the western side of Yatsugatake, one of the 100 most famous mountains in Japan, and is part of the Suwa Basin, surrounded by high mountains, where people have lived and prospered since the Jomon period, and there are many Jomon remains. It is also home to many highland resorts such as Tateshina, Lake Shirakaba and Kurumayama, and is a popular place to enjoy rich nature and ancient history. Two national treasures, the “Jomon no Venus” (The Venus of Jomon) and the “Kamen no Megami” (the Masked Goddess), are kept in the Togariishi Museum of Jomon Archaeology in Chino City (Togariishi Jomon Koukokan).

photo credit : Togariishi Jomon Koukokan

「National treasure・Jomon no Venus」

Place of excavation：Tanabatake Site (Middle Jomon Period settlement site)
Date of excavation: September 8, 1986
Date of Designation as National Treasure: June 15, 1995

“Jomon no Venus” (the Venus of Jomon) was excavated from the Tanabatake Site, one of the largest settlement sites in Chino City. This site has been found to contain traces of life from the early Jomon period to the Edo period. In particular, a huge amount of earthenware and dogu from around the middle of the Jomon period, about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, have been unearthed. One of them is this “Jomon no Venus” (the Venus of Jomon). Most of the dogu found in Japan have been unearthed in a broken state (some say that they may have been broken for a reason), but the “Jomon no Venus” (the Venus of Jomon) was unearthed in its complete form, resting on its side.

Looking at this figure, it is easy to see why it was named the “Jomon no Venus” (the Venus of Jomon). The slit eyes, the pointed nose, the small needle-like hole, and the small mouth are all unique to the mid-Jomon period dogu of this region.

「National Treasure・Kamen no Megami」

Place of excavation: Nakappara Site
Date of excavation: August 23, 2000
Date of Designation as National Treasure: August 21, 2014

This dogu, known as the “Kamen no Megami” (the Masked Goddess), is a large dogu with almost its entire body excavated from the Nakappara Site. It stands a whopping 34cm tall and weighs 2.7kg. It is said to have been made in the first half of the late Jomon period, about 4,000 years ago. This one was also unearthed almost in the center of the ruins, buried as if lying down in what is thought to be a grave. The right leg was broken and detached from the body, but this is said to have been artificially removed as a result of the investigation.

This dogu, called “Kamen no Dogu” because it looks like an inverted triangular mask, is made by piling up clay strings, just like earthenware, so it is hollow inside. This form is often seen in large dogu, and these are called Hollow Dogu.

Reference : Togariishi Jomon Koukokan HP
Togariishi Museum of Jomon Archaeology(Togariishi Jomon Koukokan)【尖石縄文考古館】 – 茅野市ホームページ (chino.lg.jp)

Afterword

Don’t you think it’s very romantic that such unique dogu were made so long ago?
At present, five dogu are designated as national treasures. Mr. Jin Katagiri is well known for his love of Jomon dogu and earthenware, and has already published works based on the motifs of the other three national treasures. He has already published works featuring three other national treasures, which will soon be introduced in this series of articles.

Written by THAT IS GOOD editorial department Fujita