“Everything from one turns into one� A public art project
“Everything from one turns into one�, painting mixed media, 2019
The Sea of Existence has no boundaries, The world is full of worry and suering Flowing and turning, rising and falling, Is there no place of refuge and support? Ghosts and spirits delight in violent murder, The desirous divine beings are addicted to various cravings The Brahma dwells on arrogance; None of them are a place of refuge. All conditioned things are impermanent; so, says the Buddha, all sensations lead to suering Because of this, one may grow weary, renounce the world And go toward the way of liberation. Suering comes from confusion and karma, Which come from discrimination. Discrimination evolves from meaningless elaboration: Meaningless elaboration can be eliminated by the contemplation of emptiness. All things arise from causes and conditions. What arises conditionally is empty, without an inherent nature. Being empty, all things are neither born nor extinct, But are always in perfect stillness. A thing cannot arise by itself or through another; It cannot arise from the two together or without cause. Contemplating the empty nature of things One can know that no thing has ever arisen. The Buddha, having attained the motionless body And having compassionately vowed to save the beings of the three realms, Appears in pure or defiled lands To enable all to enter Nirvana.
The inspiration for the work of "All from one enters into one" comes from a gāthā about Madhyamaka philosophy : "Once neither a thing nor a no‐thing (its emptiness) remains before the mind, then as there is no other alternative, such as something being both a thing and a nothing, or being neither a thing nor a no‐thing, finally the mind that apprehends (truly existent) objects will cease and be totally pacified.” This verse seems to be profound and mysterious, but it has told the truth of the world and out of the world. Therefore, I started from a Chinese word “万象森罗”（literally means “Ten thousand elephants display in the forest”), which is used to describe the majestic and myriad phenomena, I outlined the thaumaturgic, serene and auspicious landscape about groups of elephants dancing and devas playing in the air. At the same time, the Buddha before the enlightenment was sitting quietly under the tree, looking at the myriads of things appear and disappear, his body and heart remain unshakable. The contrasts between movements and quietude, between the panorama and the small center of gravity… etc, cast beautiful reflections.
Design Sketch of “Everything from one turns into one� public art project
Materials: Laser engraved steel plates, screen printing (printed on steel plate), sound device system plays music in loop Intention of installation plan:
The installation scheme is divided into three layers. The first layer is the elephants group, which refers to the majestic and myriad phenomena. The audience passes through the central door, then reach the second layer. The patterns of the second layer is various kinds of gorgeous decorations and clouds, singing Gandharvas‌ suggesting that the changing phenomena of the world are like mirage.
Going through the second layer, we reach the last layer which is also the center of the work: the Buddha under the tree is sitting quietly and admiring everything in this world.
The installation is also equipped with a looping background sound: a sound-mixing work of artist: a mix of recordings of the groups of howling and trumpeting elephants from tropical rustling forests, with a quiet piano sound flowing. The audience may physically pass through the work meanwhile listening to the natural whispers, in a sense of time and space.
Superposition of three layers of steel plates
Structure of the first layer
Structure of the second layer steel plate
Structure of the third layer steel plate
Thank you
