In the darkness right before dawn, certain is not anything. Everything is unknown, uncertain, even unknowable. We do not know what to do and what to choose. We cannot judge where to go. Therefore, we should think in the darkness of silence before we act. Material: Boryung Nampo Stone with Milky Way Patterns, Process: dig two ponds; one, large, and the other small create the primitive feel of exploration in the darkness with light black and obscure lines on the surface

The Osok Exhibition – ‘the Sound of Silence; the Tales of Stones’

Park Heekwan (poet)

There are ancient ponds. A couple of carps are swimming among water lilies. Children say, “Mamma, Daddy, Come and see. There lies the sky sunken into the pond.” Wind blows. Rain falls. There are also the sun, the moon, stars, and clouds being reflected on the water surface. The dragon has already flown up into the sky. There is some ancient moss growing around the pond. Seeds have flown to flower here from somewhere. However, there is nothing in the pond. All these images come from my own impressions on osok-stone artworks. Actually everything is empty. This is the sound of silence. In short, it is the esthetic world of empty fullness. Osok-stone artworks shall remind us of such a static but dynamic landscape of mind.

The osok stones, scattered and found in Mt. Sungju area of Boryeong County, Chungcheong Province, Korea, were chosen and minimally processed. Osok stones were roughly made into vertical or horizontal forms. 1-3 ponds were dug out of the top surface of each stone. Parts of metal oxide on the surface were not completely obliterated so as to arouse the weight of ancient times from its rustic feel. This is the artist’s new experiment and new attempt to reinterpret the traditional inkstone necessary to the intellectuals of the East Asian countries for a long time, and to modernize them into new ones.

The artist focused on exploring the new possibilities of inkstone as an object to add sophistication, prestige, elegance, and meaning to a certain space, not as a traditional one necessary to classical calligraphy. The artist strived to combine the stone skills of Silla Kingdom with the spirit of Baekje Kingdom of the ancient Korea. Osok stone artworks, displayed separately or in 2-4 pairs, shall remind us traditional Asian inkstone paintings, sand-and-stone gardens of Japanese temples, and Zen in Buddhism.