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The Smooth and Striated Spaces of Hiroshige

The following paper examines the pictorial space in the work of the Japanese print artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) with regard to the concepts of territory, and striated and smooth space in Deleuze and Guattari's A Thousand Plateaus. Hiroshige is one of Japan's best known artists, and I believe his enduring appeal lies in part with his dynamic and exciting compositions. It is the depiction space in Hiroshige's compositions, in particular images from the ＂One Hundred Views of Edo＂ series, that is examined here. The notion of pictorial space as a territory generated out of a particular artistic milieu is suggested as a means of examining Hiroshige's work. These compositions are indebted to various techniques for depicting space rooted in different milieus of art practice. These techniques are broadly categorized as the ＂floating field,＂ ＂axonometric projection＂ and ＂linear perspective.＂ Each technique is a striation or ordering of space according to a unifying principle. Hiroshige is able to combine these techniques, but when used in combination they are irreconcilable and do not create a holistic pictorial space. I contend that this fractures the striation of space in the image and reveals the smooth surface space that underpins the image's construction. The tension this creates in the image ensures our engagement with the work as we are constantly drawn into a tangible pictorial space only for it to shatter and reform again. I am suggesting it is this form of anamorphism that lies at the heart of Hiroshige's compositional dynamism and contributes to his enduring appeal.