"Travelling to the Wonderland" at the V & A

Travelling to the Wonderland at the V&A from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

For those of you who might like to take a walk around the Chinese rock garden I featured in my last post. This garden was artificially constructed from scratch. All the rocks you see, were built up by layering thinly sliced pieces and sticking them together. Do see it after dark if you can. Even though it's 100% manmade, it's still gives you an experience of space. Artificial space.

Chinese Rock Fantasia

I went to see a traditional Chinese rock garden installation at the Victoria & Albert Museum recently. That was an eye opening experience. Created by Beijing artist Xu Bing, the installation was inspired by a classic Chinese fable "Tao Hua Yuan" (Peach Blossom Spring), written in 421AD

Chinese rock gardens are quite different from the Japanese ones I am used to. In China, rocks are highly regarded for their texture, colour and forms. The oddly shaped stones which resemble mountains, animals, mythical creatures and even celebrities (!) are highly prized and collected by rock aficionados..

In my research I also found this interesting bit of info: To Chinese scholars, these rocks represented a focus for meditation of religious or philosophic principles and served for contemplation prior to writing poems or painting. Well, that may be so, but with this garden, it was purely a case of storytelling rather than contemplation. 

It was only after dark that the installation came into it's own and started to make sense. The dark of night helped pull everything seamlessly together. With the help of spot lights, grand architecture and water reflections, the installation had transformed into a visually arresting in-your-face kind of Chinese rock theater.

I went to the exhibition hoping to learn something about space. And I did! I learned that when everything is intentionally geared towards making an impact or wow-effect, the whole space itself becomes like a giant mirrored disco ball. Great for a perfect photo op to send home to the folks.

But it's not a space that will hold your interest for too long. After all, there's only so much one can take of being bombarded with blue klieg-lit paper flowers and 10,000 reflections

I went to the exhibition looking for inspiration and found a Stone Fantasia instead. Interesting, but not quite my cup of tea.  Funny thing is, I did eventually find what I was looking for. But in a completely unexpected place! (Think I'll save that for my next post).

Until next time, be safe & happy in your space.

White Holes & Invisible Art

Untitled    Ink, & graphite  2014

It's been ten months since I started making work based on the Three Wheels Zen Garden. How time flies! I have learned and gained a lot in this period, but the artistic, philosophical and aesthetic revelations continue to unfold and reveal themselves.....

I've learned that there are different types of space and each one has it's own unique existence, or feel. Rather similar to an invisible spatial warp and weft, which weaves through our lives, holding together everything we perceive. And everything we are.

I'm also learning that space - at every level of meaning - is best expressed when clutter is kept to the barest minimum. Although that may sound like simple common sense, deciding what exactly constitutes "clutter" is not so easy to figure out.

Maybe one day my artwork will become a series of blank sheets, supported by empty blog posts. Art Invisible in a Cyber White Hole.

I like that!

Happy New Year, everyone. Here's wishing you a most peaceful and rewarding 2014.  

Webding Holiday Greetings

The original words were meant to say: "Have A Very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year." But then, my computer decided different....

And it was right.

Happy holidays everybody.
See you next year!

Quiet Thoughts in Tandem

Clarity    Ink, wash & pen  2013

I am a great admirer of the painter Agnes Martin . Her quiet paintings and spare words speak volumes. The following is an excerpt from "Writings"- a  rare series of essays written in the sixties.

"The ocean is deathless
The islands rise and die
Quietly come, quietly go
A silent swaying breath 

I wish the idea of time would drain out of my cells 

and leave me quiet even on this shore".  A Martin

The further I look into Space, the farther away I move from the madding crowd.....

Silence # 2

Untitled    Ink, wash & pen  2013

It's not necessary to continually fill our air, ear or eye-space with noise. Real space is found in the pauses between words. Or, in the quietness between thoughts......

just look for it.  

4-Squared Space

Four-squared Space   charcoal  2013

Abstract painter Sean Scully once said: "A representational painter wants to show the things in the picture. With an abstract painting, what in a sense you're trying to do, is make everything happen at once."

Those words make perfect sense to me. Especially in terms of what's been going on with my work with the Three Wheels Zen garden space.

Like Scully, I'm trying to show 'everything at once', as well as what it means to me.

A whole universe contained within a 4-squared space.