Cycles of Eternal Recurrence
2013
FRP, metal, Styrofoam
70 (h) x 130 (l) x 72 (b) in. l 178 x 330 x 183 cm.
The sculpture was part of the Haein Art Project in Korea at the Haeinsa temple notable for being the home of Tripitaka Koreana, the whole of the Buddhist Scriptures carved onto 81,350 wooden printing blocks that have been preserved over a thousand years. The sculptural stamp, like an oversized monument carries a quotation from Marcel Proust. While human societies tend to be governed and structured by apparatuses, yet are at the mercy of uncontrollable and overpowering forces.
Although the sculpture was shown at the Seongbo Museum, the print on the ground made using salt was at various sites between the Museum and the temple premises. Salt is an essential mineral for human existence but equally used as a preservative that extends life and cited in several religious traditions as a symbol of permanence, value and purification, perhaps here serves as a reminder of our fragile relationship with the natural environment.
