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Dancing brush: an exploration of Taoist aesthetics

Dancing Brush video installation is dedicated to legendary Taiwanese dancer Tsai Jui-Yue (1921-2005) in the memory of her suffering, creativity and faith in life. This work reveals the true meaning of Chinese scroll paintings as an infinity of time and space. It draws on the notion of mobility as expounded in the I Ching or Book of Changes. Dancing Brush creates a modern cityscape where the principal of Taoism, ancient Chinese landscape painting, and calligraphy meet new media aesthetics. The focus of this thesis is to reassess media arts practice and aesthetics via the traditions of Chinese Taoist aesthetics. The research was conducted in three dimensions: ??non-linear aesthetics?? in Chinese arts as the new media art form, ??unity of emptiness and fullness?? as the animation principle, and ??subtraction aesthetics?? as the principle of creativity. I propose Dancing Brush video installation as a presentation of ??aesthetics of wandering contemplation??. The work suggests a feature of Chinese moving image aesthetics as a ??spatial montage?? form of media arts. I applied the Taoist ??decreative-creative process?? as the creative method in which the ??decreative?? process leads to the ??creative??. The ??decreative-creative process?? is based on the Taoist teachings of zi-ran (spontaneity) and wu-wei (non-action). I interpret it as ??subtraction aesthetics: less is more??. The process is to eliminate interferences with restricted narrative format and visual effects, then to receive the immediate presentation of things as pure materials. Through the subtracting process, it gains not less but more. Kong Bai (emptiness or formless) in Chinese art is the result of subtraction aesthetics. It reveals the creative principle derived from the Taoist idea of ??usefulness of useless??. The ??subtracting process?? in creating animation is to bring ??unknown?? to life. The ??image beyond image?? is the product of ??unity of emptiness and full?? where Chinese artistic realm yi-jing is created.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/279723
Date January 2008
CreatorsYeh, Yi-Lan, Art, College of Fine Arts, UNSW
PublisherPublisher:University of New South Wales. Art
Source SetsAustraliasian Digital Theses Program
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Rightshttp://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright, http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/copyright

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