WATER MARK

Water Mark is composed of 16 square cement panels upon which different styles of waves have been engraved. At first glance, it reminds us of Japanese rock gardens called garesans-i or “dry landscape gardens.” Whereas garesans-i represents the high spirit of Zen Buddhism, the artist, in this work, replaces that depiction with a rupture to the flow or a heavy weight by speedily pouring water before the cement hardened. Throughout the exhibition, the museum invites a number of researchers to gather around Water Mark to converse on the subjects of traditional and contemporary art, modern art institutions, disasters and representations. The audiences can listen to the recorded discussions while sitting on the maru, as well.

 

Water Mark, a Buddhist concept, is written in the Chinese characters ‘hae’ (海, sea) and ‘in’ (印, seal). The word “hae-in” (海印) indicates that everything in this world is clearly reflected upon anything and naturally reveals itself as if it was “sealed.” “Hae-in” (海印) combines two different concepts that are essentially contradictory. On the one hand, sea, both in practical and in symbolic senses, is the source of constant change; on the other hand, a seal is made of hard, unbreakable wood or stone. How can we inscribe or represent the essence of the sea in the form of a seal that is solid, hardened and unchangeable?

 

Nowadays, the Internet, which constantly releases a stream of images and big data, “reflects the whole world in the form of consistent flow.” Instead of an enormous amount of “big data,” the artist represents the “small data” that contains almost no information; instead of the light and fast stream of the vitual world, he presents an overtly heavy and hard mass of cement that describes the sea, responding with humor to the world of data. In the process of making art, the cement hardens as the water evaporates—in this sense, it is a negative of water, or an expression of drought. The vain attempt, disconnected cascade and fragmented module are elements that are related to the idea of “gathering” that the artist conceives of as an alternative form of community.