Visitors to this year’s Trojan Horse was a Unicorn digital arts festival in Troia Portugal were wowed by Aoi Yamaguchi’s opening performance, in which the artist created beautiful large-scale calligraphic figures in response to pieces of music.
Chris caught up with Aoi and discovered more about the ancient art of calligraphy, including its range of 2,000-plus characters, the importance of the tools she uses to create them, and its role in the digital world. This isn’t just about writing, though — Aoi talks about overcoming her fears, following her dreams, mastering an art form, and expressing herself. There are lessons for everyone here.
Links:
0:05:07 An introduction to calligraphy
0:09:27 Aoi's background
0:14:36 Going to China and becoming a calligraphy pro
0:20:35 Moving to the USA to study
0:24:28 Representing Japan and teaching people about calligraphy
0:28:07 Aoi's THU performance
0:36:09 The four elements of calligraphy
0:42:17 Creating calligraphy ink
0:45:32 Innovation in calligraphy
0:51:36 Where to learn more about Aoi