Art of Asia
A brief history of the cultures of Asia
Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, a beginner's guide
Hinduism and Buddhism, an introduction
Introduction to Buddhism
Beliefs made visible: Buddhist art in South Asia
The historical Buddha
Introduction to the stupa
Seated Buddha
Four Buddhas at the American Museum of Natural History
An introduction to the Jain faith
Jain cosmology
Imperial China, an introduction
Chinese landscape painting
Chinese calligraphy, an introduction
Chinese porcelain: decoration
Chinese porcelain: production and export
Chinese jade: an introduction
Jade Cong
Shang dynasty (c.1600–1046 B.C.E.)
Oracle Bone, Shang Dynasty
Da Ke Ding
Eastern Zhou dynasty (770–256 B.C.E.)
Ambition and luxury: Marquis Yi of the Zeng State
Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.–220 C.E.)
Funeral banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui)
Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 C.E.)
Longmen caves, Luoyang
Northern Qi dynasty (550–577 C.E.)
Bodhisattva, probably Avalokiteshvara (Guanyin)
Tang dynasty (618–907 C.E.)
Chinese Buddhist cave shrines
Mogao caves at Dunhuang
The paintings and manuscripts from cave 17 at Mogao (1 of 2)
Attributed to Zhou Fang, Ladies Wearing Flowers in Their Hair
Song dynasty (960–1279 C.E.)
Neo-Confucianism and Fan Kuan, Travelers by Streams and Mountains
Master of the (Fishing) Nets Garden
Liang Kai, Poet Strolling by a Marshy Bank
The art of salvation—Mt. Baoding, Dazu rock carvings
Yuan dynasty (1271–1368 C.E.)
Zheng Sixiao, Ink Orchid
Buddha of Medicine Bhaishajyaguru (Yaoshi fo)
Huang Gongwang, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains
The David Vases
Ming dynasty (1368–1644)
Tomb of the first Ming emperor
A Ritual Ming dish
Wang Lü, Landscapes of Mount Hua (Huashan)
Qing dynasty (1644–1912 C.E.)
Bada Shanren, Lotus and Ducks
The European Palaces of the Qianlong Emperor, Beijing
Lang Jingshan and early Chinese photography
People's Republic of China (1949–present)
Liu Chunhua, Chairman Mao en Route to Anyuan
Ai Weiwei, Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds)
Ai Weiwei, Remembering and the Politics of Dissent
A brief history of the arts of Japan: the Jomon to Heian periods
A brief history of the arts of Japan: the Kamakura to Azuchi-Momoyama periods
A brief history of the arts of Japan: the Edo period
A brief history of the arts of Japan: the Meiji to Reiwa periods
Japanese art: the formats of two-dimensional works
Kofun period (300–552 C.E.)
Haniwa Warrior
Nara period (710–794)
Tōdai-ji
The Shōsōin Repository and its treasure
Kamakura period (1185–1333)
Jizō Bosatsu
Prince Shōtoku at Age Two
Night Attack on the Sanjô Palace
Muromachi period (1392–1573)
Bamboo in the Four Seasons: painting and poetry in Japan
Ryōanji (Peaceful Dragon Temple)
Muromachi to Momoyama period Negoro ware ewer
Edo period (1615–1868)
A portrait of St. Francis Xavier and Christianity in Japan
Ogata Kōrin, Red and White Plum Blossoms
Utagawa Kunisada I, Visiting Komachi
Under the Wave off Kanagawa (The Great Wave)
Hokusai's printed illustrated Books
Beyond The Great Wave — Hokusai at 90
Mori Mariko, Pure Land
Gold and jade crown, Silla Kingdom
Korean Celadons of the Goryeo Dynasty
Water-Moon Avalokiteśvara
Portrait of Sin Sukju
Song Su-Nam, Summer Trees
Crossroads of the ancient world
Bamiyan Buddhas
5000 B.C.E. - 1000 B.C.E.
A brief history of the art of South Asia to 500 C.E.
An Indus Seal
1000 B.C.E. - 500 C.E.
Indo-Gangetic plain
The Pillars of Ashoka
Lion Capital, Ashokan Pillar at Sarnath
Bodh Gaya: The Site of the Buddha's Enlightenment
Bodh Gaya: center of the Buddhist world
Jatakas: the many lives of Buddha as Bodhisattva
Beliefs made visible: Hindu art in South Asia
A Buddha from Mathura
The Gupta Period
The Caves of Ajanta — Vakataka dynasty
The Cave of Shiva at Elephanta
Images of enlightenment: aniconic vs. iconic depictions of the Buddha in India
500 - 1100 C.E.
The Deccan and the South
The Great Relief at Mamallapuram
Shore Temple, Mamallapuram
Durga Slays the Buffalo Demon at Mamallapuram
Sacred space and symbolic form at Lakshmana Temple, Khajuraho (India)
Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi as the Goddess Parvati
Shiva as Lord of the Dance (Nataraja)
Three Hindu gods
Rajarajesvara temple, Tanjavur
The Qutb complex and early Sultanate architecture
The Deccan + the South
The Meenakshi Temple at Madurai
Tipu's Tiger
A page from the Mewar Ramayana
Exploring Color in Mughal Paintings
Discovering Sacred Texts: Hinduism
Submerged, burned, and scattered: celebrating the destruction of objects in South Asia
Ganesha Jayanti, Lord of Beginnings
The making and worship of Ganesha statues in Maharashtra
Varanasi: sacred city
Waqas Khan
Noor Ali
The Artist Project: Zarina Hashmi
The Artist Project: Shahzia Sikander
Inside Manish Arora's Studio
Zarina Hashmi – My Work is About Writing
The Artist Project: Nalini Malani
The Artist Project: Izhar Patkin
An interview with Sheba Chhachhi
An interview with Naeem Mohaiemen
An interview with Dayanita Singh
An interview with Sheela Gowda
The Singh Twins on the Impact of Empire
The Looting of Cambodian Antiquities
The Scourge of Looting: Trafficking Antiquities, from Temple to Museum
Sotheby's Returns Looted 10th Century Statue to Cambodia
Ban Chiang Clay Jar
The Emerald Buddha and pandemics
Mỹ Sơn Hindu temple complex
Jowo Rinpoche, Jokhang Temple, Tibet
Sacred arts of Tibet
Mahakala, Protector of the Tent, c. 1500
Mariko Mori, Pure Land
Floating on a lotus blossom
Set within a golden landscape, a female figure serenely floats above a lotus blossom while six alien musicians whirl by on bubbly clouds. Her pink robes mirror the predominantly pale orange, yellow and pink of the water, land and sky—firmly embedding her within the tranquil scene. Pure Land, a photograph set within glass, is the counterpart of Mori's three-dimensional video installation, Nirvana, 1997. Nirvana animates the imagery we see in Pure Land. Viewed within a darkened room with the aid of three-dimensional glasses, Nirvana's audience was limited to a group of 20 people at a time. During the seven minute video, the central female figure would hum and whisper echoed rhythms as if meditating, while the little musicians floated around her. At the conclusion, a fan came on and blew cool, scented air into the audience's faces. Through the integration of sensory elements such as three-dimensional imagery, sound, scent, and the gentle touch of a breeze, combined with the limited viewing audience, Nirvana created an immersive, intimate experience. As its photographic counterpart, Pure Land captures a moment of this experience, enabling the viewer a longer, perhaps more meditative, relationship with the work.
Mariko Mori, Pure Land, 1996-98, glass with photo interlayer, 305 x 610 x 2.2 cm
Mariko Mori, Enlightenment Capsule, 1996-1998, plastic, solar transmitting device, fiber optic cables, 108 x 83 x 83 inches
Symbolism and spiritual allusions
Every element we see here has significance that may not be apparent at first glance—the serene landscape, with its golden sky, smooth pink land masses, and perfectly still water, is rich with symbolism. Pure Land is set during sunrise in the landscape of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, called "dead" because the high salinity of its water does not support fish or plant life. In Shinto tradition, salt is used as an agent of purification. Floating in the water is a lotus blossom—symbol of purity and rebirth into paradise. This blossom resembles one in Mori's 1998 sculptural installation, Enlightenment Capsule (left), which featured a rainbow-colored acrylic lotus blossom set within a space-age capsule illuminated by sunlight. In both Enlightenment Capsule and Pure Land Mori blends traditional symbolism with futuristic elements. On the right hand side of the background of Pure Landis a fantastical object which resembles a playful futuristic spacecraft with arms. This may be a variation of a Tibetan stupa—a sacred Buddhist monument originally used as a burial mound. Through her imaginative reinterpretation of symbols steeped in tradition, the artist creates a timeless setting appropriate for meditation on death, purification, and rebirth.
The distant horizon line, combined with the larger island in the foreground that seems to continue into the viewer's space, create a sense of immersion, as if one were present with these fantastical figures. Perhaps this feeling of personal involvement ties in with the title itself, Pure Land, which is the paradise of Amida (or Amitabha) Buddha who descends to greet devotees at the moment of their death and takes them back to his "Pure Land of Perfect Bliss."
Descent of Amitabha and the Heavenly Multitude, Heian period, 12th century, National Treasure (Yushi Hachiman Ko)
Beginning with the eleventh century in Japan, several paintings and sculptures were made on this theme, such as the Descent of Amida and the Heavenly Multitude (above). In this type of imagery, Amida Buddha, resting on a lotus blossom and holding his hands in a symbolic gesture known as a mudra, is typically surrounded by celestial attendants in a sea of swirling clouds. These attendants are boddhisattvas, enlightened beings who act out of great compassion to help others achieve enlightenment. In a sculptural example from Byodo-in Temple, 52 boddhisattvas fly on clouds on either side of Amida Buddha (below); some are seated quietly with their hands joined in prayer, some hold a lotus blossom to receive the soul of the deceased, while others are playing musical instruments.
Jōchō, Amida Buddha, Heian Period, c. 1053, wood covered with wood leaf, 295 cm (Phoenix Hall, Byodo-in, Kyoto)
Oneness and universality
Mariko Mori, Oneness, on exhibit in 2007 at the Grand Duke Jean Museum of Modern Art, Luxembourg (MUDAM) (photo: Mark Weston, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
In Mori's version, these celestial attendants are pastel-colored alien figures with large pointy heads and delicate bodies. Each figure plays a different instrument as they float on their light blue bubbly clouds. The two musicians in the foreground are blurred, as if they are flying quickly toward the viewer. These muscians appear again in a later sculptural installation by Mori, Oneness, 2003 (left). In this work, the six aliens are given three-dimensional form, complete with soft, flesh-like material. They stand in a circle facing outward as they hold each other's hands. The viewer becomes an active participant in the work—when a person hugs one of the figures, its eyes light up and you feel its heartbeat. As in the Nirvana video installation upon which Pure Land is based, Mori seems to want to engage more than just the viewer's sense of sight and for each participant to have a direct experience with the artwork. Perhaps more significantly, Oneness is a metaphor for bringing in the outsider, achieved through revealing commonalities of experience. The binding together of seemingly disparate realities is a central theme throughout Mori's work.
Artist as object
Another element typical in Mori's work is for the artist to cast herself in the principle role, and Pure Land is no exception. The central female figure is the artist herself, wearing an elaborate costume and headdress, both of her own design. Born in Tokyo in 1967, Mori studied design at Tokyo's Bunka Fashion College and worked part-time as a fashion model, which she originally considered a form of personal creativity. However, she found modeling an inadequate medium in which to express herself fully, so she began to stage elaborate tableaux, taking full creative control of the process, acting as director, producer, set and costume designer, and model. This recalls the practices of other photographers, most notably Cindy Sherman, as well as Yasumasa Morimura, the Japanese photographer notorious for substituting himself for figures in famous paintings throughout art history.
In the Pure Land photograph, Mori's light blue, pupil-less eyes, gaze serenely somewhere beyond our vision. Like the Amida Buddha, she rests above a lotus blossom and holds her right hand in a mudra of blessing and teaching; the circle formed by the index finger and thumb is the sign of the Wheel of Law. In her left hand she holds a hojyu, or magical wishing jewel, in the shape of a lotus bud. This figure is inspired by Kichijoten, originally the Indian goddess, Shri Lakshmi, who was eventually incorporated into Buddhism, and typically represents fertility, fortune, and beauty. Here Mori bares comparison with a well-known eighth-century painting of Kichijoten from Yukushi-ji Temple in Nara. Similarities include the serene elegance, softly fluttering gown, and wish-granting jewel. The eighth-century painting depicts the clothing and appearance of an elegant lady of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, and it may have been an object of veneration during the annual New Year event when devotees prayed for happiness and fertility. In this manner, a beautiful, elegant woman was seen to embody the ideas of good fortune and prosperity and became an object of worship.
Left: Kichijoten from Yukushi-ji Temple in Nara, 8th century, color on hemp, 53 x 31.7 cm; right: Mariko Mori, Pure Land, 1996-98, glass with photo interlayer, 305 x 610 x 2.2 cm
By taking on this ancient persona, Mori dissolves her own identity and is transformed into the elegant Tang lady and goddess of fortune, while simultaneously performing the welcoming role of Amida Buddha. Mori's enlightened self-representation descends to guide the viewer into a "Pure Land of Perfect Bliss" of her own creation. Perhaps more significantly, the artist seeks to lead the viewer into her immersive paradise. In both formats, the multi-sensory video Nirvana and purely visual Pure Land photograph, the message is clear: enlightenment is for all.
Mariko Mori at the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art
Video—The Artist Project: Mariko Mori (from The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Scott Indriskek, "Mariko Mori wants to bring her nature-loving art to six continents," Modern Painters (May 2011)
Visualizing an Endless Universe: Mariko Mori Makes the Cosmos Life-Size
Cite this page as: Katrina Klaasmeyer, "Mariko Mori, Pure Land," in Smarthistory, November 20, 2015, accessed January 18, 2021, https://smarthistory.org/mariko-mori-pure-land/.