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Pure Land
Presentation By Jennifer Lorber
Pure Land
Mariko Mori
1998 CE
Color photograph on Glass
Mariko Mori
Mariko Mori
Mariko Mori is an internationally acclaimed contemporary Japanese artist born in 1967 in Tokyo. She is known for photography, digital art, and sculpture. The daughter of an art historian and an inventor, Mori studied fashion design in college and briefly worked as a model. Mori then pursued art at the Chelsea College of Art & Design in London and the Whitney Museum of American Art's Independent Study Program. Mori has received various prestigious awards including the Menzione d’onore at the 47th Venice Biennale in 1997 for “Nirvana” and the 8th Annual Award as a promising Artist and Scholar in the Field of Contemporary Japanese Art in 2001 from Japan Cultural Arts Foundation.
Nirvana
Nirvana
Mori's piece Pure Land is actually a photograph taken from her seven minute 3D video installation entitled Nirvana, 1997, viewed with 3D glasses in a dark room. The installation was limited to twenty viewers at a time. Nirvana is not only a visual experience, but incorporates sensory elements of scent, touch, and sound as well. Mori incorporates audio in the meditative hums and whispers emitted from the central female figure. The installation includes scent and touch at the end of the video when a fan emerges and blows cool scented air on the viewers. The small audience adds an intimacy to the immersive exhibition.
Buddhism in Pure Land
Mariko Mori integrates spirituality and religion into her art through allusion and symbolism. The title, Pure Land, is a Buddhist idea. Pure Land Buddhism is a broad branch for those who believe they cannot, or find it too difficult to, achieve full enlightenment on Earth as humans and instead ascend to the Pure Land after death, a place where enlightenment is more easily attainable, between Earth and Nirvana, the highest state of enlightenment and the title of Mori's video counterpart to Pure Land.
Symbolism and Allusion
- Pure Land and Nirvana allude to Buddhist ideas
- Set on Dead Sea, known for high salinity, salt used for purification in Shinto tradition
- Lotus blossom represents purity and rebirth into paradise
- Space craft resembles Tibetan stupa, sacred Buddhist monument used as burial mound
- Female figure inspired by Kichijoten, originally Indian goddess Shri Lakshmi, who was eventually incorporated into Buddhism; typically represents fertility, fortune, and beauty
- Circle formed by index finger and thumb signifies wheel of law, called mudra
Artist as Object
The central female figure in the photograph Pure Land is the artist, Mariko Mori. In the piece, she bares likeness to the famous 8th century painting of Kichijoten from Yukushi-ji Temple in Nara. They share a serene elegance, softly fluttering gown, and wish-granting jewel. The woman in the 8th century painting represents happiness, fertility, good fortune, prosperity and became an object of worship during the Chinese New Year.
Artist as Object
Rembrandt
Self-Portrait with Saskia
Rembrandt van Rijn
1636
Etching
Comparison
Comparison
- Artist featured as main subject
- Subjects in costume
- Two-dimensional
- Self portrait
Comparison
Multiple Choice
Why did Mariko Mori create Pure Land?
A. She was inspired by Rembrandt to create a self portrait
B. She wanted to depict the discrimination Asian women face in the art industry
C. She wanted to immerse the audiences' senses in allusions to Buddhism
D. She wanted to display political propaganda