Water Leaves Traces

Piece Description:

Text: Dai Guangyu

Several water purification bottles are installed high above in the exhibition hall. They are transported through infusion tubes. The water drips down into a huge blue and white bowl filled with ink (the blue and white bowl is placed on a platform framed with rice paper). The ink overflows and spreads, permeating the rice paper with black ink. The traces of dense flow are like dynamic abstract ink paintings.

Text: Zhong Ting

The artist was inspired by man’s search for traces of life on Mars. He believes that “when water flows, it always leaves traces. Humans are searching for the remains of life on Mars. And if we find traces of water, we may be sure that Mars has the possibility of harboring life. Water Leaves Traces and Water Moves with Sound are performative in nature”

Dai Guangyu inherits the spirit of “gewu 格物 (observing principles to acquire knowledge)” cultivated by traditional literati scholars. Through humanistic connotations of ink-wash, the artist reveals traces of colorless and tasteless water, forming a vein of the continuation and development of life and civilization, completing the mutual transformation and circulation between “being” and “nothing.” According to the artist, this “ink” is not ink in a general sense. Rather, he wants to replace the polluted body of water with ink which carries thousands of years of civilizational implications. The purification process of water drops has both physical and spiritual connotations. Here, “gewu” is not only to “explore the nature of all things,” but also the “gexin 格心” of Wang Yangming (cultivating conscience to achieve the unity of knowledge and action) .