Artworks

触手　1990年

東アジアの表現の根柢に横たわる「書」とは「筆蝕（筆触＋刻蝕）」の表現である。すなわち「書」＝「書家」は、世界を触覚＋蝕覚で成り立っていると見做す。

「触手」――すなわち〈触れる〉こととその〈手〉こそは人間の証明あかし。触れるか触れぬかの境界をさぐるために、筆尖が紙に触れる筆触を可能な限り減じた作。ひとつの言葉はつねに内に反語を含む。「手」の第一画は左右を反転した。

Tentacle, 1990

Calligraphy, which lies at the root of East Asian aesthetics, is considered an act of taction (a term meaning “brush engraving,” derived from “brush touch” + “engraving.” The world of calligraphy, or the calligrapher, is premised on the sense of touch and sensing physical erosion. Manual touch—a related word derived from the act of touch and the hand (like the act of a “tentacle,” which is the most common meaning of this kanji combination)—is proof of humanity. In order to explore the boundary between touch and non-touch, in this work the brush strokes, where the tip of the brush touches the paper, have been minimized as much as possible. A single word always contains an irony within it. The order of the first stroke of the character for “hand” (手) is reversed left to right.