■ beauty of The Water : reading as poem ■
■ The contemplative iconic image ■
■ The contemplative iconic image ■
Water in Motion : Past, Present and Future
(Installation Artwork by Yoo Dongio)
The contemplative iconic image, beauty of the Water
:reading as poem
Dr. Haianja Yu
At the ‘horizon of Daejeon Art’ (Daejeon Museum of art : 28th. February - 31st. March 2014), Yoo presented his latest installation work 'Past, Present, and Future of the Water which is transferring'. Having been absorbed in ‘Water Work’, he introduced this, as well as his late day’s work with lakes of world, including the Lake Baikal. His early work using blue jeans and ‘Sky and Sea’ painted on control humidity paper were also exhibited.
His works have been the same from beginning to the end, focusing on water shows what the emotion and belief of his approaching as a whole human way for water is like one. It proves that his intention is centered to express intactly the real feeling of the truth obtained by approaching as a ‘whole human way’. What factor of water among all things in the world can be converted to the creative energy is in the domain of secret that neither he nor a viewer can lucidly define. This will be understood only by phenomenalistic way which is according to the facticity of the water, and so he expresses unlimited and various meanings and aesthetics of it. The real figure or facticity also has such attribute, so his attitude to water of ‘constantly being along with water’ is rather natural or realistic in the meaning of sensitivity.
Water flows and goes forward without stopping. The meaning of going forward might be described as a passion of personality or historic progressivism or linear progress. Furthermore, it symbolizes most characteristic phenomena of unceasingly flowing life system. In the meaning of motion and fluidic circulation, the solemnity of life or not discardable absolute value in it, would be granted. The water is a being that composes the center of the natural world with virtues of dissolving to interjoin or absolute combination in which including others to be good and indiscriminatively encompasses all things to keep to its initial will.
In this sense, ‘Water in Motion’ by Yoo can be regarded to have described and represented the historicity of water. Water runs from top to bottom and from the past through the present to the future. As the Chinese letter ‘宙(ship)’and‘宇宙(The Universe)’ has such meaning, the historicity of water can be substituted with the historicity of space. That is, space can have the same properties as water when the zeitlichkeit is applied to it. ‘宇’ and ‘宙’ represent ‘house’ and ‘ship’ respectively. It is the ship of eternity that runs along time. Zeitlichkeit has been already found as the cosmism in the Middle Ages of East Asia.
Water.gg.2014.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
Water.gg.2014.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
.gg.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
Water.gg2014.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
gg.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
‘Motion’ clearly means the flow through ‘past, present and future’, Yoo did not simply want to observe the flow, but intended to express what has happened more and what will be along it. The future is changeable, yet historical future is predictable. Moreover, if we trust in humanity and believe the idea that we can always be pioneer of the future, it will finally be well along the possibility.
Water.gg2014.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
water.gg.2014.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
Water.gg.2014.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
Pointing out the struggle of life and desperate persistence of survival competitions, he shows worries about the rapid development of technology in modern days and suggests a slow tempo to the next generation virtue of life or in three types of water with which ‘the water carried on ship’ and the historical water of ‘Water in Motion’. He assured that life flowing along the water connotes all the troubles but it would be harmonized with human welfare in the end. And he wanted to show that it would head for the ideal which is never hasty with the contemplative power, and it would be implicative the inner side of water. The work situation of ‘Motion’ intends to show that every moment of life is spotted with light and darkness through the active aspect of water and that in the darkness last the reflection of light. And so he predict that the history of life will continue without stopping at the center of it and assure its appropriateness. This large belief and prospect are assumed to be a kind of active result from his constant contact to the bright sensitivity of the water. It is not merely an opinion that sits around the philosophic ideal. Hence, the texture of his voice draws my attention. The questions, the like of water can show images and communicate with letters, the like of ‘motion’ or ‘ it is a language of water’, are stale.
Many wise men in history have told us the meaning of water in prose sang in music and expressed in painting. The quote of Confucius that nature does not state but shows itself, perhaps means that those who want to be witness for what nature ‘shows’, should interpret, thinking and succeeding it. These are the noble role of humankind. Zhu Xi said that we state in poet and tones what we cannot express in letter. Images, which symbolizes ideas even more directly, contains more persisting senses, and so three images of the ‘motion’ should be interpreted like ‘poem’. This is a problem what artistic realism is.
Water.gg.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
Considering that ‘Water in Motion’ is the voice of water deduced in images, we can have great relief and belief to the effort to head toward the real figure of being and the logic of truth of life, in the water. For instance the flowing image of float, lights, and the connection of the past and the future, expressed in the Fractal Turtleship(by Nam June Baek), the author intended to show the variable creativity of the future beyond the right and wrong, virtue and vice. In terms of the belief, this ‘Water in Motion’ is pretty much the same to it. But the ‘Turtle ship’ belongs to idealism and the ‘transferring water’ is more likely to be realism.
The idea of ‘Motion’ or ‘transferring’ has long history to him. He has done many things such as washing denim on washboard, standing in the wind blowing on water surface of night fishing sites and filling water or books in ships. The images of ‘frozen letters’ exhibited along ‘Water in Motion’ were unusual in the sense that they were frozen and melted by human, but they formed another message for the fundamental property of water. The performance of throwing ‘water’ into a lake surely was a summary containing the meaning of awakening the divine nature of water and human prayer. His performances particularly symbolize something beyond the images, so he is true to the ‘voice, not be exhausted’ and expresses the ultimate language in a way.
3.Boats.gg2002.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
Water.gg.2002.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
Water.gg.2002.jpg "DONGJO,YOO")
All these locutions show that he or his work fulfills his duties as a messenger of water and fully expresses cultural and historical understandings reconstructed in him. He never hesitates or is reluctant even in real life. It is probably because he is better motivated by his emotions and passion rather than minute and tiny consideration or plans, and he has strongly maintained emotional confidence consciously or unconsciously. This is why his daring ideas beyond imagination are possible. I expect to see more surprising ideas from him in the future. In ‘Water in Motion’ he shows that his emotion has gradually started to be summarized and has deep voice.
■ W~PIP by DONGJO YOO