Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Painting with fishies!

Gyotaku began in early 19th-century Japan. By applying ink to the outside of the fish and then pressing rice paper onto it, fishermen created permanent visual records of their catch. This became the primary method of recording images until the advent of modern photography.

Reading this the first thing I thought of was actually a table of pre-photography Anglo-Americans making prints with turkey drumstick grease to permanently commemorate their TDays. "Like finger paints and threshold markings of a growing Billy or Janey, the turkey impression, or Toritaku began in the early 19th century as a way for Americans to celebrate native American-Indian heritage in the comfort of their own culinary bounty."

Update: I just realized there are people who are allergic to MSG, so I want to apologize for any suggestion that MSG is totally safe. Nothing is safe kids. Nothing.

link to Gyotaku story.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gyotaku is one of my favorite weird arts. I never knew it was used for proof of something. But more than gyotaku, your idea of recording the first Thanksgiving in a similar way is brilliant. I think that was much funnier than veal sausage, but that was funny too. Sorta.