GREAT WAVE

The picture shown is one of many woodblocks created by Japanese artists in the early 19th century. This particular painting was done by Katsushika Hokusai in 1831 representing a seascape with Mt. Fuji. The waves form a frame through which we see Mt. Fuji. Hokusai loved to depict water in motion; the foam of the wave is breaking into claws which grasp for the fishermen. The large wave forms a massive yin to the yang of empty space under it. However there is one primal aspect about this painting, similar to most Japanese art, in which I am going to discuss. That is the paintings ability to direct the eyes towards the edges of the image. Theodore Adorno would love this painting due to its enticement to imagine what is going on outside of the image. In Adorno’s article about free time he points out the lack of imagination people are rendered since their leisure is heteronomously determined. Adorno writes, “The lack of imagination that is instilled and inculcated by society renders people helpless in their free time. The impudent question of what the people are supposed to do with the abundant free time they now supposedly have – as though free time were a charity and not a human right – is based on this helplessness.”

As oppose to modern pop art, this painting does not wish for the audience to focus on a central element and exploit it. Rather it is a captured moment of mobility in space which leads you to ponder on certain questions and imagine their outcome. Such as “Where is the wave heading?” or, “How many people are at that location?” Instead of keeping your attention, which is what television advertisement successfully does, the painting invokes you to drift away from the central object and encourages a plethora of thoughts. Ardono argues that people are not free during their free time because of the rigid placements of our culture industry. Unfree people have no autonomy in an economy filled with advertisement and propaganda. As an example, Adorno points out that boredom need not exist in this world of labor, and its counterpart free time. “If people were able to make their own decisions about themselves and their lives, if they were not harnessed to the eternal sameness, then they would not have to be bored.”

In conclusion, Adorno would definitely have a lot of optimistic comments to give to Hokusai’s painting “Great Wave.” The notion to think outside of the “box” is where Adorno and Hokusai coincide with one another. Adorno’s writing about free time brings forth that people are under a spell; a spell which is driven by profit and continues to sublimate our desires into bogus consumption. Hokusai’s painting carries that of which a sense of freedom. A quaint depiction of Mother Nature at its peak of glory, this painting has the ability to release your psyche from political agendas. Adorno would appreciate all the awesome qualities of this painting and its significance on people.