Robert Rauschenberg, Erased de Kooning, 1953

The Tripartite Reflection on the Self-Subject Experiment

I. Interaction between Emptiness and the Materiality of Substance

In my practice of "personal subjectivity," asphalt powder is the material most frequently employed in my works. The inherent material properties of asphalt powder themselves suggest a strong sense of void and impermanence, as the marks it leaves during printing can never be fully predicted. Asphalt powder is not merely a physical substance; its dispersibility and unpredictability evoke the notion of "emptiness" found in East Asian philosophy. Similar to the use of white space in traditional Chinese ink painting, where the blank areas are not mere "voids," but rather contain infinite potential, symbolizing the invisible connection between heaven, earth, and humanity. In the subjectivity experiment, the random dispersion and erasure of the asphalt powder can be seen as a physical manifestation of this state of emptiness—the randomness and instability of the material underscore the transient and impermanent nature of existence.

This concept resonates with Robert Rauschenberg’s "Erased" concept. He was fascinated by the work of the Abstract Expressionist Willem de Kooning, and in 1953 asked the artist if he could erase one of his drawings as an act of art . Allegedly, it took Rauschenberg a whole month to achieve a sheet of paper relatively clear of marks.  The result has become a cherished and resonant work from that period.  It was a significant gesture be-cause, as Rauschenberg states: 'I kept making drawings of my self and erasing them, and they just look like that erased Rauschenberg.  It was nothing...it was a gesture or a protest against abstract expressionism (Rauschenberg,1997) Erased de Kooning serves a good example of how the removal of one subject can allow for the appearance of anouther ‘wonder’.  Similar to the famous opening line of the Heart Sutra— ‘Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form’—this "erasure" is closer to a practice of emptiness, creating meaning through disappearance. Thus, in the printmaking experiment, the emptiness brought about by asphalt powder is not an atmosphere, but rather a material vessel for emptiness. It directly embodies the interaction between "material" and "nothingness" in artistic creation.

II. The Interweaving of the Body and Meditation

The rule of "ten breaths" is not only a self-imposed bodily limitation; it also reveals the meditative quality inherent in the body's inner perception as a medium for creation. At the same time, the restriction on breathing serves as a form of "removal." This physiological constraint, in practice, transforms into a process of relinquishing detail and gradually dissolving the self-subject, shifting focus to the present moment of existence. This is reflected in Marina Abramović’s work Breathing Breathing in/Breathing out with Ulay, a piece that embodies her long-term exploration of the limits of the body and consciousness. Its profound meditative nature and unique treatment of time and space captivate the audience. Through an extremely focused breathing technique, Marina explores the boundaries between the human body and mind, attempting to enter a state beyond ordinary consciousness.

In my experiment, the suffocating sensation caused by breathing restriction made each breath an act of "erasure" of the traces left by the previous breath. This created a state that resonates with meditation on both physiological and psychological dimensions: while temporarily blocking external perception, it becomes a process of inner consciousness reconstruction, thereby creating a "trace-less existence." This parallels the Tao Te Ching, which brings us back to a time before thought differentiated into ontology. It is metaphorical and succinct because it originates from a path that leads to the undifferentiated, the "indifferentiable." In this experiment, "Qi" is the inner spiritual resonance of breath energy, serving as a conduit for the human body to connect with those "trace-less existences." This process also led me to redefine the meaning of "creation," shifting away from the view that a creation must be "seen" to be significant.

Jullien, having compared the Greek logic of perception to the Chinese logic of respiration, suggests that the unobjectifiable quality present in Chinese art comes from its manner of form unfolding from the foundation of what he translates as ‘the fount of immanence’ in a play of alternation between emptiness and fullness. The taking and giving back of form to and from the undifferentiated fount is the very act of respiration. The aim is not so much to represent reality as to produce it in the energetic exchange that encompasses both emptiness and form.(Watson, 2014) Each of my breaths is a touch and adjustment of the inner "source," a meditative act that alternates between emptiness and fullness. This act is not meant to create a specific image but to allow the invisible energy to flow naturally within the work, ultimately finding a delicate balance between the uncertain "emptiness" and "fullness."

III. The Sublime, Numinous, and Cross-Cultural Dialogue

In my artistic practice, the experience of the Sublime serves as a central concept for exploring the profound relationship between self, materiality, and existence. Rooted in Immanuel Kant's philosophical reflection, the Sublime is understood as "a principle of disorder of purposelessness," where we encounter phenomena beyond our comprehension—things we cannot fully understand, organize, or contain—evoking a sense of awe and profound disturbance. Whether through the random distribution of asphalt powder or the natural erosion of metal in spit-bite etching experiments, these works embody the Sublime. They touch upon the deep, mysterious forces of nature, evoking a reverence for the fragility, temporality, and impermanence of existence. In this context, the Sublime not only reflects the power of nature but also reveals the limitations of human understanding, highlighting the powerlessness and awe we feel when confronting the unknowable and immeasurable.

In many instances, this experience of the Sublime coexists with the numinous, together forming an ineffable, profound encounter. As Anselm Kiefer has noted, ‘All painting, but also literature and all that goes with it, is always about walking around something that cannot be said, something you can never get to the center of” (Kiefer and Auping, 2005). This transcendent, unspoken experience has fueled my curiosity about the underlying logic of the world and a quest for mysterious phenomena that resist full understanding. The Sublime and numinous together create a depth of experience in art that surpasses language and conventional perception, moving beyond form and structure into the intangible and the silent.

Traditionally, Western artists’ approach to spirituality is usually limited to the expression of a formal belief system. Eastern painters identified and explored the non-rational mystery behind religion and the religious experience. The concepts of ‘void’ or ‘nothingness’, and ‘moving focus’ or ‘multi-viewpoint’ devices in the traditional form and Shanshui painting relate directly to the concept of the numinous...The voids created within the image through fog and mist, are not, of themselves considered important, but play a significant role in facilitating the appearance of the mysterious. (Yoon, 2015) I have integrated these elements into my spit-bite etching experiments, exploring how acidic corrosion on metal surfaces can evoke a mist-like, translucent effect. As the subject material gradually emerges from the fog, the space extends in all directions, challenging our conventional understanding of time and space, and providing a medium for spiritual realization that invites viewers to search for deeper meanings hidden beneath the surface.

The unique spatial concepts in Eastern art, particularly the “time movement” and “multiperspective” principles in Chinese landscape painting, significantly influenced my approach to lithographic presentation in my MA show. I chose to combine twelve prints into a seven-meter-long scroll on rice paper, allowing the piece to float in space, unbound by the constraints of the wall, and oriented in all directions. This approach not only transcended the fixed perspective framework but also simulated the horizontal movement and multiperspective viewing inherent in Chinese ink landscape painting. Similar to reading a literary work, to understand its subtleties, one must experience it step by step. When we see Shashui scroll painting, our attention is carried along laterally from right to left, being restricted at any one moment to a short passage, which can be conveniently perused. The right timing of these qualities depends on lateral movement rather than on movement in depth, Arguably, this kind of early principle of multi-point of view or moving focus used in Shanshui painting has expanded the Western apprehension of measurable single fixed perspective.(Yoon, 2015)  This concept is embedded in the arrangement of my BEING series, where the works function as an interconnected whole while offering multiple perspectives, creating a dynamic, time- and space-shifting visual experience.

Kiefer's Palace of Heaven installation further underscores this principle of "mobile focus." His use of fragmentary images reflects a belief that heaven cannot be summarised in a single image or place, but is better symbolized by a series of glimpses, each both convincing and unconvincing from different viewpoints. His work explores the philosophical dimensions of history, religion, and existence, and transcends the limits of traditional religious symbolism to present the complexity and diversity of the concept of heaven in multidimensional ways.

In conclusion, the concepts of the Sublime and the numinous have served as pivotal catalysts in my investigation of the intricate interrelations between the self, materiality, and spirituality.  These notions not only expose the inherent limitations of human comprehension but also elicit a profound sense of reverence for the unknown and the unknowable.  The numinous, transcending both rational and sensory realms, has emerged as a vital conduit for bridging Eastern and Western traditions, thereby fostering new avenues for cross-cultural dialogue and generating a dynamic, transcendent sensory experience that defies geographical and cultural confines.  Through a distinctive engagement with materials, temporality, spatiality, and self-conscious awareness, my work seeks to deepen the exploration of the complex emotional and intellectual responses elicited by those elusive, mysterious phenomena that resist full comprehension.  This inquiry serves not only as a dialogue with the accumulated wisdom of human thought but also as a profound ontological investigation into the nature of existence itself.