text by Shao Ting-Ju
For me, art is not about objects of high monetary exchange, its about reasserting our firsthand experience in present time”-Antony Gormley
As indicated by scientific research, humans had developed mental capacity as early as fifty thousand years. They created artworks, such as cave paintings, contemplated the meaning of existence, or made ceramic figures to relate themselves to the unknown cosmos. For the last thirty years, I have been making figures with the ancient, traditional medium of ceramic clay to denote the age-old, inherent connection between humans and the earth, the strong and fragile sides of humanity, and to explore and remind one to continually resume the process of spiritual evolution.
“About the Egos of – The Battle of Mind”: While the 2014 series Children Meditating with Closed Eyes is a record of an individual seeking internal peace, the 2016 works are an inquiry into the collective evolution of human life and the limitation of established experiences.
Our minds have been relentlessly conditioned by the human experiences accumulated over generations. Before Hitler became a dictator, he might have been an ordinary person like you and me. When our id is allowed to expand immeasurably to devour our ego, and incessantly prompt us to fulfill its insatiable desires, it may result in individual unease and discontent, and even sufferings of us and others.
In “About the Egos of – The Battle of Mind,” crowned boys in uniform stood in V formation on the red pedestals, as an implication of the desire for power, the blood-red battle of the mind. They, who follow the endless command by their ego longing, chase blindly and anxiously for insatiable desires with stream flow confusion.
In “Life Unmanifested – I am Here. Here I am,” the boys meditating with closed eyes on white pedestals symbolize the eternity of zero and infinity. Each of them is at peace with themselves in the moments they slowly tilt their heads. Their introspection and meditation reunite them with their inner self, and reestablish their ties with human peace that have been lost for generations.
Through constant reflection and awareness, “About the Egos of – The Battle of Mind,” together with "I am Here. Here I am," act as a double reminder to our conscience by revealing the collective anxiety of this generation with constrained egos, and contemplating the stillness in every present moment.
As a symbol of the innocent origin of humanity, the fine texture of clay is as immaculate as children. Plaster molds and casts signify the bright side of humanity, and the conditions circumscribing all egos.
「We are not moving toward some kind of goal, we are at the goal, and it is changing with us. If art has any purpose, it is to open our eyes to the fact.」-John Cage. |
