For an assignment I went
to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and looked at the works of an artist
named Yoong Bae (1928–1992). Bae was a
Korean artist who was known for blending Korean artistic traditions with modern
Western art while reflecting the calmness and harmony of someone at peace. The
two artworks I was most interested by him were a painting called “Perseverance”
and a silk screen print named “Meditation.” I thought that both of these works
were rather unique and a bit dark. In “Perseverance” you can see that he used a
lot of dark colors, mainly black and grey. There is a horse and people in this
house. In the top part of the house, you can see a black figure that is
supposed to represent a person and he is meditating inside of a box. There are
also a variety of colors, kind of like a rainbow, coming out of the right side
of the roof of the house. In the lower
part of the house, there are two people sitting on top of a horse. The person
sitting in the front is holding a spear while the person behind is holding a
huge leaf. Underneath the horse is someone meditating and there is a purple
ghost-like figure that is hanging from the stomach of the horse upside down. Its
head is facing the meditator who is sitting underneath the horse, looking as if
it was going to kiss the meditator or suck their soul out. Finally, on the left
side of the house is the word “perseverance” shown vertically. The other work
of art, “Meditation,” (1991) is a silk screen print and it is a little more
colorful than “Perseverance.” The background is orange with bits of red. In the
bottom left corner is a black figure, most likely a person, meditating.
Hovering over the person is a massive black bird with its head down and its beak
almost touching the top of the person’s head. Interestingly, the bird takes up
most of the space while the person is rather small and is put in this corner.
Both of these works were part of a series Yoong Bae created called Meditation.
While looking at “Perseverance”, the first thing I
noticed was the color. Dark colors, mostly black and grey, were used throughout
the painting except in the top right
corner where there is a rainbow of colors coming out of the top right side of
the home. I would say that the painting is more ugly than beautiful. The horse does
not look like a regular horse. The body of the horse is very small compared to
the front and its legs are really long. The figures representing people are all-black,
some having shades of purple in them, and they have blue slits for eyes. To me,
they looked like monsters or some kind of demon that was meant to scare or
inflict harm. Upon first glance, I had felt a little terrified yet intrigued.
As for “Meditation,” I thought this painting was beautiful. Again, the first
thing I noticed was the color. It was a bit brighter than “Perseverance” seeing
that the background was an orangish-goldish red color. Both the person and the
bird are painted black but it does not seem as dark as the last painting. Being
that the figures are black and the background is orangish-goldish red, they
seem to complement one another.
While looking at “Perseverance,” I thought that the
person meditating in the top half of the home was the same person who was
meditating in the lower part of the house, and the rainbow colors that were
coming out represented him reaching some sort of enlightenment. I also thought
that the purple ghost-like figure represented some sort of temptation or desire
that wanted to prevent him from reaching enlightenment. In the description of
the painting, it says that “The meditators and the horse riders are about to
embark on their own spiritual journey. The iridescent lights and upside-down
ghostly figure permeate the geometric house-like frame. On the left, the word
“Perseverance” implies enduring hardships and the strenuous path to
enlightenment.” This painting suggests that through self-accomplishment and the
formation of artistic identity, you can achieve a path to enlightenment. It was
a little hard to understand what was going on from the first glance but after
looking at it for a couple more minutes; I began to understand what the
painting was about or could have been about. As a work of art, I thought it was
really good. I thought it was better than any similar works of art that I had experienced
because this work was unique and I
actually enjoyed it. For an aesthetic experience, it wasn’t great but the
painting had a really good meaning behind it. Emotions also had a somewhat big
role in my experience of looking at this work because when I first looked at
it, I had felt myself feeling a bit terrified yet awed at this painting that
was quite different from what I usually saw such as portraits, landscapes, or
things that were kitsch. After that initial feeling, I began to have feelings
of curiosity, wanting to know as much as I can of the painting by analyzing it
and reading the description. The work of
art taught me that in order to achieve in life, you must persevere through hardships
and do what you can to reach your goal.
As
I started to look at “Meditation” next, it was a whole lot easier to interpret
what the painting was about. I thought that the person in the corner represents
us humans and that, with our busy lives, sometimes we just have to relax. The
person in the corner is meditating while the big, black bird that takes up most
of the space in the painting represents all of the burdens or things in life
that we see as important but are actually distractions. The big, black bird
could also be something or someone that watches over us to make sure that we
are safe. In the description of the work, it is said that “this strikingly
powerful image evokes various interpretations and interesting questions such as
is it a bird, a guardian figure, a divine being, or a symbolic creature that
controls or world? Below the black figure, a man meditates, perhaps balancing
resistance and submission.” I thought it was an excellent work of art. It gave
me a good aesthetic experience, it was better than similar works I have
experienced, and it was a valuable experience. Emotions also played a role for
me while looking at this painting with feelings of curiosity, because I wanted
to know why there was a big, black bird taking up most of the painting, and being
able to relate to the meditator. How I interpreted the work of art was that while
the man was meditating, you can see this big, black bird above him. I felt the
bird represented our burdens and distractions in life. Since it was hovering
over him and not actually touching him, it could not get to him because he was
at peace while meditating. This painting taught me that sometimes in life, we
have to take things easy and relax. An easy way to accomplish that would be to
meditate.
Most
of what I had just talked about with these works of art can relate to Edmund
Burke’s ideas of the sublime. As I had explained in the beginning, the painting
“Perseverance” left me feeling terrified yet awed. For Burke, there are two
components of the sublime: delight and terror. I had felt terror from seeing
mainly dark colors throughout the painting and the black figures that were
represented as humans and yet looked nothing like humans and, to me, looked
more like evil creatures. They even had blue slits for eyes. However, the awe I
felt as well, which would be the delight aspect, was also from seeing these
black figures as representation of humans. I’ve never really seen anyone
portray humans in this way so I was fascinated. I found it to be interesting
and weird to look at. According to Burke, there are also three aspects to his
concept of the sublime. First, he suggests that sublimity evokes the infinite
through obscurity, vagueness, and suggestion as opposed to clarity and
precision[1]. This is true for both of
the paintings because when you look at them, it’s up to you how you want to
interpret them. There is not a clear cut answer. Second, he asserts that the
sublimity lies not in its imagery but rather the emotions it evokes in the
reader.. When looking at these two paintings, I felt myself feeling a variety of
emotions and they felt real. Lastly, there is, according to Burke, always an
element of pain, difficulty, and fear in the sublime aesthetic reaction..
This is true in this case as I had reacted with fear and difficulty upon seeing
“Perseverance” for the first time.
[1] Lokke,
Kari Elise. 1982.” The Role of Sublimity in the Development of Modernist
Aesthetics.” The Journal of Aesthetics
and Art Criticism 40 (4) (Summer): 421-9.
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