{"id":506,"date":"2024-12-23T12:57:07","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T13:57:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/?p=506"},"modified":"2025-02-20T17:21:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T17:21:55","slug":"rice-straw-sculptures-by-arko-contemporize-a-traditional-japanese-material-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/23\/rice-straw-sculptures-by-arko-contemporize-a-traditional-japanese-material-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rice Straw Sculptures by ARKO Contemporize a Traditional Japanese Material"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rice<\/p>\n

Rice harvests produce straw, a natural byproduct of the dried grain. Traditionally, the material could be used for a wide variety of objects from tatami mats<\/a> to food wrappers to carrier bags. Many of those products are now made using synthetic materials, and rice straw is more often used for ceremonial or sacred decorations like Shinto shimenawa<\/a> festoons, which are installed around the New Year and can range from a few centimeters to several meters long.<\/p>\n

For Tokyo-based artist ARKO<\/a>, rice straw finds a contemporary application in elegant wall hangings. \u201cI started thinking that it should be something new, apart from the old traditions, given that there must be a reason why straw vanished from our life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

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Interested in the organic nature of the medium, ARKO embraces how environmental changes can influence the look of the work as a reminder that the fiber originated from the ground. Sometimes moisture in the air makes the pieces feel heavy or the straw will emit a scent. Most of the time she maintains the natural color of the thin stalks, occasionally dying layers black or using contrasting string to hold the composition together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn modern times, straw has been replaced by artificial materials and is manufactured with the premise of environmental pollution. (It) is mass-produced and discarded in large quantities,\u201d ARKO says. Although she doesn\u2019t prescribe a ritual meaning to the work, the sculptures evoke \u201cthe laws of nature and the great power of life that are often overlooked in modern society where economy takes priority.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARKO is represented by Somewhere Tokyo<\/a>, and you can find more work on her website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Rice Straw Sculptures by ARKO Contemporize a Traditional Japanese Material<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rice harvests produce straw, a natural byproduct of the dried grain. Traditionally, the material could be used for a wide variety of objects from tatami mats to food wrappers to carrier bags. Many of those…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading “Rice Straw Sculptures by ARKO Contemporize a Traditional Japanese Material”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":525,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506\/revisions\/525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}