How Do Digital Technologies Affect The A

!
How do digital technologies affect the aesthetics of

Japanese calligraphy art and culture?
Master Thesis
Handed in to
Department for Image Science
Danube University Krems
Head of Department
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Oliver Grau
and the
Media Arts Cultures Consortium
Course
Media Arts Cultures
1st Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Oliver Grau
2nd Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Naoko Tosa
Academic Center for Computing and Media Studies, Kyoto University
By:
Hua-Chun Fan
Inscription number : 1564266
Date of Delivery : 24 July, 2017

Declaration of Authorship
I, Hua-Chun Fan
born the 6 January, 1987 in Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)
hereby declare,
1. that I have written my Master Thesis myself, have not used other sources than the
ones stated and moreover have not used any illegal tools or unfair means,
2. that I have not publicized my Master Thesis in my domestic or any foreign country in
any form to this date and/or have not used it as an exam paper.
3. that, in case my Master Thesis concerns my employer or any other external

cooperation partner, I have fully informed them about title, form and content of the
Master Thesis and have his/her permission to include the data and information in my
written work.
Krems an der Donau, 24.7.2017

!
Abstract
Topic/:
How do digital technologies affect the aesthetics of Japanese calligraphy art
and culture?
Name Author / Name Author: Hua-Chun Fan

Course/Year: Media Arts Cultures, 2015-2017
4th Semester Placement: Danube University Krems, Austria
Pages: 117
Content: In the recent decades, artists and researchers have shown an increased interest in
applying new technologies to traditional arts in Japan, especially in the field of calligraphy
art, painting, and the Zen culture. In one hand, modern calligraphers begin to use different
media to create ‘digital calligraphy’ and collaborate with programmers to produce new
experiences. In the other hand, media artists have been utilising audio-visual media to
reinterpret the traditional aesthetics through emerging technologies, such as employing virtual
reality technology to write the ‘spatial calligraphy’.
Besides, concerning the menace of losing traditional skills, researchers have developed the
motion-copying system which can record the calligrapher’s movement precisely and
reproduce faithfully as the original piece. They intend to use this technology to educate the
young generation. However, following the rapid advance of technology and the permeation of
digital media, there are several issues arose, such as : How can we evaluate ‘digital
calligraphy’ and in which aesthetic standard? Without the mediacy of real brush and ink, can
we express ourselves more directly by using fingers to write calligraphy on screens? How will
the motion-copying system influence the relationships between masters, teachers, and
students?
By delving into threes dimensions—aesthetics, technology, and social institution, this thesis
points out the lurking jeopardy of substituting new technology for traditional pedagogy.
Meanwhile, it also analyses the irreplaceable core of traditional aesthetics and the dilemma of
interactive media artworks to show how the emerging technologies transform the traditional
culture value from the analog to the digital, and suggest the new interpretation of ‘aura’ to
retain in the postmodern age of ubiquitous media.
Keywords: Shodō, calligraphy art, Ikebana, Rimpa, Walter Benjamin, Fredric Jameson, Zen,
Enso, interactive art, extended mind, handwriting, motion-copying technology, virtual reality.
Supervisor/s: Prof. Dr. Oliver Grau & Prof. Dr. Naoko Tosa
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to pay special thankfulness, warmth and appreciation to the persons below who
made my research successful and assisted me at every point to cherish my goal :
My Supervisor, Prof. Dr. Oliver Grau, for his vital support and guidance. His encouragement
broadened this thesis’s scale, successfully opening the conversation between Europe and Asia.
My External Supervisor, Prof. Dr. Naoko Tosa, whose keen insight and sympathetic attitude not
only motivated me at every point during my research, but also helped me to work in time.
Japanese Calligraphy Master, Norio Nagayama, the President of Bokushin association in Italy,
whose profound thinking and open-minded vision made it possible to see the promising future of
Shodō. Also, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Ms. Daniela Myoei Di Perna, the
founder of Centro Zen Ten Shin—Curoe di Cielo Puro. Without her continuous assistance, it would
be impossible to achieve my filed studies. I appreciated all the seminar participants from Rome,
Naples, and Salerno, whose kindness and wise advise made it a good beginning to start my Shodō
learning.
I would like to show my warm thanks to Prof. Dr. Ryszard W. Kluszczyński and Asst. Prof. Dr.
Morten Søndergaard for their professional feedback during the thesis workshop in Łódź. Also, I
wish to present my special thanks to Ms. Wendy Coones and Ms. Janina Hoth whose flexibility and
generous consultation turned my research a success.
My Mom, Ms. Tsui-Lien Wu, and my Dad, Mr. Yang-Sung, Fan, family members and friends, for
providing me with unfailing support. All the genius classmates of the 1st cohort of Media Arts
Cultures, it was a privilege to collaborate with creative talents and be inspired by each unique soul
during my learning journey in Europe. This accomplishment would not have been possible without
those great experiences we had in Austria, Germany, Denmark and Poland. Thank you.
Author
Hua-Chun Fan / Fion

Content
Introduction 1
1. Research question 3
2. Subject and Method 3
3. Literature review 4
3.1 Film technology : the liquidation of tradition value 5
3.2 Video arts : multi-surfaces and the end of style 7
3.3 New media arts in postmodern epoch 9
4. Traditional Aesthetics : Shodō, Ikebana, Zen 11

4.1 Aesthetics of Shodō : tradition, avant-garde, the work of total art 11
4.2 Ikebana and Zen culture 19
5. Aesthetics analysis of contemporary practices 23
5.1 Contemporary practices : introduction
(1) Metal Sculpture, by Sisyu ( ) 23
(2) Sound of IKEBANA, by Naoko Tosa ( ) 25
(3) ZENetic Computer, directed by Naoko Tosa ( ) 27
(4) What a Loving, and Beautiful World, by Sisyu ( ) and teamLab ( ボ) 28
(5) Enso/Mugenso and Circle, Infinity Circle-VR, by teamLab ( ボ) 31
5.1.1 New experiences of perception and Cross-cultural understandings 33
5.1.2 Emancipation from the materiality and the language form 50
5.1.3 City as an art form: interactive, events 55

5.2 Employing ’interactive aesthetics’ as an artistic means in Shodō 60
5.2.1 Cyber-culture : Who are we interacting with ? 64
5.2.2 Hypertext art : artistic value & its dilemma 69
5.3 The foundation of Art 74
6. Discussion on Technology : the materiality 75

6.1 Shodō is the Art of Mind : communicative, reflective 78
6.2 The Extended Mind : Brush 80
6.3 The Origin of Dō : Paper 84
6.4 The relationship between Handwriting and Brain 86
7. Discussion on Social institution : the immateriality 90

7.1 The Distance : technology and art preservation 93
7.2 The Feeling, the Space and the Memory 95
7.3 The Relationships : the collaborative process between learning and teaching 97
7.4 The Time : cultivation comes from habit 101
7.5 How can we sustain the ‘aura’ of Shodō in the age of digital media? 104
8. Result 107
9. Conclusion 110
10.Bibliography 113
Introduction
Recently, artists and researchers have shown an increased interest in applying new technologies
to traditional arts in Japan, especially in the field of calligraphy art, painting, and the Zen culture.
On the one hand, modern calligraphers begin to use different media to create Sho ( )—Japanese
calligraphy—and collaborate with programmers to produce new experiences of perceiving Sho,

such as modern calligrapher Sisyu ( )’s Metal Sculpture, which won the Most Prestigious Jury’
s Gold Award at Salon SNBA at Carrousel du Louvre1, and her interactive digital installation, What
a Loving, and Beautiful World ( ) , cooperated with
teamLab, the interdisciplinary art collective, in 2011. On the other hand, media artists have been
taking advantage of audio-visual media to introduce the traditional aesthetics of Japanese culture,
for example, media artist Dr. Naoko Tosa who was selected as the Japan Cultural Envoy of 2016
uses computing technology and high-speed camera to re-interpret Zen philosophy and Ikebana (
)—the beauty of Japanese flower arrangement in digital realm.2 Furthermore, teamLab’s 2016
digital work Enso/Mugenso ( / ) demonstrated their ten-year-research result of ‘Spatial
Calligraphy’ ( ) which employs the real-time programming to reconstruct Japanese calligraphy
in three-dimension space.
Besides, researchers believe that a state-of-the-art technology can preserve the skilful techniques
of calligraphers in order to educate the next generation. In 2014, the research group of Keio
University, led by Seiichio Katsura, has developed the Motion-Copying System which can record
the movement of calligraphy and faithfully reproduce the detailed brush strokes as the original one
written by veteran calligraphers.3 Notwithstanding, it is reported that “the numbers could be
millions, especially in the younger generation—are forgetting the pictographs and ideographs that
1It is translated from ‘Prix du Jury Invite Medaille d’Or Medaille d’Or Installation’ in French, which is granted by Société
nationale des beaux-arts (SNBA).SNBA awards international artists of diverse field annually, including: painters,
photographers, designers, graphic novel artists and so on. Retried from http://www.salondesbeauxarts.com
2 The ‘Japan Cultural Envoys’ are selected by the Agency for Cultural Affairs since 2003, whose aim is to deepen the
international community’s understanding of Japanese culture and strengthen the cross-cultural networks. Tosa was
selected with other artists, including classical dancer, architect, and comic storyteller. Retried from http://culturalenvoy.jp/
en/culturalenvoy/h28
3Katsura, Seiichi (2014, August 18). “Motion-Copying System.” [YouTube] Katsura Laboratory, Retrieved from https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIgIMqB6s3Q
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have used in Japan and greater China for centuries.”4 Following the rapid advance of technology
and population of digital devices (e.g., smartphone, tablet), more and more different ways to access
this classical art notion. For instance, high school students will perform Shodō ( )—Japanese
calligraphy art—with pop music, or use note-taker application to practice calligraphy by fingers—
there is no need to use a real brush or ink anymore.
That is to say, the relationships between materials and art practitioners, masters and students
have been altering, while the way we perceive art, create art, and define art have dramatically
changed as well. Compared to the expeditious development of media technology, however, there
has been little discussion about how Japanese aesthetics and the traditional culture are affected by
these emerging technologies in the field of fine arts. When film technology was firstly introduced in
early twentieth century, Walter Benjamin’s «The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical
Reproduction» (1935) elaborated how the technique of reproduction shattered aesthetics of tradition
domain through the new medium—cinema.5 After a half of century, cinema itself kept evolving
from analogue diegetic system to digital simulations, and changed its shape thoroughly under
different context, such as : the television program, the videotape, the laser disc, etc.(Kluszczynski,
2007, p.210-211)6 Fredric Jameson published his best-known book «Postmodernism, or, The
Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism» in 1991 to indicate that neither literature nor film can describe
the postmodern culture of high heterogeneity. He proposed ‘video art’ as the most adequate
candidate for the cultural hegemony today. (Jameson, 1991, p.69)7
What is more, Jameson (1991) identifies that most traditional and modern aesthetic concepts “do
not require this simultaneous attention to the multiple dimensions of the material, the social, and the
aesthetic.”(p.66) We witnessed the aesthetics paradigm had shifted from the analogue to the digital.
And we have been undergoing the other shift from the physical to the virtual. It is worthwhile to
follow the predecessors’ thoughts to examine how these emerging technologies will transform the
value of traditional arts nowadays. Therefore, this thesis would adopt Benjamin and Jameson’s
4Hofilena, John (2013), Japan’s Kanji writing begins to suffer form the advent of the digital age. Japan Daily Press,
Retrieved from http://japandailypress.com/japans-kanji-writing-begins-to-suffer-from-the-advent-of-the-digital-
age-2531158/
5Benjamin, Walter (1935), The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Media and Cultural Studies:
KeyWorks,Second edition, In M.G.Durham and D.M.Kellner (Ed.).New York : John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. (2012),P.37-53
6 Kluszczynski, Ryszard W. (2007), From film to interactive art: Transformations in media arts, Media Art Histories
(Leonardo Book Series), In Oliver Grau (Ed.).Cambridge : MIT Press,P. 207-228
7Jameson, Fredric (1991), POSTMODERNISM, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, Durham, NC: Duke University
Press
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approaches to analyse the contemporary artistic practices of Sho in three dimensions—aesthetics,
technology, and its social institution— in order to obtain the panoramic view of Sho’s art values ,
the alteration of the materiality and the technological impact on Sho’s pedagogical strategies in the
twenty-first century.
1. Research question
The thesis investigates the contemporary practices of Japanese calligraphy art which combines
new media technology not only in the artistic creation but also in the educational aspect. Thus, the
research questions are as follows:
Aesthetics—Can we evaluate “digital Sho” as Japanese calligraphy art? If so, does “digital Sho”
change the traditional aesthetics of Japanese calligraphy art? If not, what is the feasible attitude to
judge it? What kind of aesthetics assessment can help us to analyse it ?
Technology—Without the mediacy of a real brush and ink, can we express ourselves more
directly by using fingers to write calligraphy on screens ? Are we losing something the traditional
medium taught us, when we embrace the digital age coming?
Social institution—How will the new technology of motion-copying system influence the
relationships between masters, teachers and students? Does media technology help Japanese
calligraphy art become more prosperous nowadays? Or has it shrunk the aesthetic and cultural value
already?
2. Subject and Method
This thesis will examine three Japanese artists and artistic group’s works, including media artist
Naoko Tosa ( )’s ZENetic Computer (2004-2010), Sound of IKEBANA ( ,
2013) ; calligrapher artist Sisyu ( )’s Metal Sculpture (2014), What a Loving, and Beautiful
World ( , 2011-2016) which was collaborated with
teamLab; and the art collective, teamLab ( )’s Enso/Mugenso ( / , 2016) and
Circle, Infinity Circle-VR (2016) .

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The study is conducted through mixed methodology which includes historical research and
ethnographic research:
(1)Historical research—It is important to see the route of traditional aesthetics of Japan in order
to analyse how it has changed in contemporary society. Thus, to trace the original art theories in
Japan and China is the first step. After gathering the empirical data through ethnographic research,
the historical materials can be validated wether it is still practiced at present or has changed.
(2)Ethnographic research—I participated in the Shodō seminar which held by Centro Zen Ten
Shin—Curoe di Cielo Puro, the Naples branch of Bokushin association ( ) in February 25–
26th, 2017. There are 9 people joined this workshop which contains 3 beginners (including me) and
6 Italian students who have been learned Shodō with Sho master Norio Nagayama ( ) at
least 2 years. Most of them have studied Shodō in the guidance of master Nagayama for 20 years.
During the 2-day workshop, I took the approach of participant observation to gather empirical
data which included individual and collective learning experiences, field note of observations,
pictures and documentary videos. After the Shodō seminar, I conducted the interview with master
Nagayama, the president of Bokushin association in Italy, and his student Daniela Myoei Di Perna,
the founder of Naples branch in the next day. The interview was conducted around 2 hours in
English and Japanese.
Besides the original papers from artists and researchers, I also use multimedia resources to
investigate their initial ideas and the recipient’s feedback of artworks, such as: documentaries of
artist’s talk, broadcasting of news reports, interview videos and open lectures.
3. Literature review
We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting
artistic invention itself and perhaps even bring about an amazing change in our very notion of art.
—Paul Valéry, «La Conquete de l’ubiquite»8—
8Paul Valéry (1871-1945), was one of the representative poet of French symbolism. Valéry was nominated for the Nobel
Prize in Literature in 12 different years.«La Conquete de l’ubiquite» was written in 1928.
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3.1 Film technology : the liquidation of tradition value
When film was introduced to the public in 18959, the symbolist poet Valéry was 24 years old.
He witnessed the development of film industry over 30 years, and wrote down this words which
was later quoted by Walter Benjamin in the introduction of his trenchant essay «The Work of Art in
the Age of Mechanical Reproduction» (1935). He elucidated how this first distinct art form—film—
demolish the ‘aura’ of a work of art. Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art still lack
“its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be.”10 That is
to say, Benjamin described the exclusive characteristic of a work of art—as the aesthetic vehicle of
history which occupies a certain time and space. Whereas, the technique of reproduction allows a
plurality of copies to substitutes for the original work of art, namely, the unique existence is not
unique anymore. Instead, by “permitting the reproduction to meet the beholder or listener in his
own particular situation, it reactivates the object reproduced.”11 This is supported by Galloway’s
media analysis of digital culture which reveals that“ one of the key consequences of the control
society is that we have moved from a condition in which singular machines produce proliferations
of images, into a condition in which multitudes of machines produce singular images.” (Galloway,
2012)12 The cultural phenomena that Galloway pointed out well-illustrates the evaporation of ‘aura’
in network society. Also, the permeative digital devices and the high accessibility of the Internet
have added fuel to the flame—the history is replaced by tremendous copies of simulation, and the
tradition is shattered by the technique of reproduction, introduced by the new medium—film of the
twentieth century and new art forms with emerging technologies of twenty-first century, such as:
virtual reality, augment reality, and so on.
For Benjamin, the vanishing of the authenticity of the work of art is “the obverse of the
contemporary crisis and renewal of mankind”13 Because the film technology, the powerful cultural
agent, whose “social significance, particularly in its most positive form, is inconceivable without
destructive, cathartic aspect, that is, the liquidation of the traditional value of the cultural
9 The Lumière brothers, Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas held their first private screening of projected motion pictures
Society for the Development of the National Industry among an audience of 200 people in Paris in 1895. But Burns Paul
(1999) argued that the American Woodville Latham had screened works of film seven months earlier than the Lumière
brothers. Retrieved from http://precinemahistory.net/1895.htm
10 Benjamin, op. cit., p.38
11 loc. cit.
12Galloway, Alexander R. (2012). Are Some Things Unpresentable?,The Interface Effect. Cambridge: Polity Press. p.
78-100

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heritage.”14 This is consistent with the consideration of Kluszczynski (2007), which shows that
“The so-called digital revolution is transforming nearly all areas of human activity. Therefore, it is
also responsible for transforming the domain of art and for creating new fields of artistic practice, in
addition to transforming its traditional variants, some of which boast a history dating back
thousands of years.”(p.209)15 Namely, the innovation of technologies has smashed the traditional
domains into fragments of history on the one hand, it also brings about new forms of artistic
practice on the other hand.
In addition, the above finding is consistent with the in-depth analysis of the work of Tosa (2009)
when she mentioned the relationship between language and media. She described that the newborn
technologies, such as: the invention of telephone and the film, is the key to loosen the restraints of
logicism and individualism of the western world where mainly use the phonogram (e.g., the Latin
alphabet), and gradually turn their focus into affective expressions as the ancient societies which
mainly use the ideogram, like Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sumerian cuneiform and Chinese characters.16
Tosa discovered that
The trigger might be technology. Technology brings about our innate nostalgia.[…]
Westerners listened to moral voices, watched the impressive images of movies, and unconsciously
started to think back. […] we can deduce that telephones and movies have something to do with
the relation between phonographic and ideographic characters.17
Furthermore, the physicist and Haiku poet Torahiko Terada(1963) identified that“ the changes in
movie scenes and connections of parts of Renku [ Japanese linked verse] are alike because they
are unconsciously connected.”18 Since Sho is the art form of Japanese which consists of the
14 loc. cit.
15Kluszczynski, Ryszard W. (2007), From film to interactive art: Transformations in media arts, Media Art Histories
(Leonardo Book Series), In Oliver Grau (Ed.).Cambridge : MIT Press,P. 207-228
16Tosa, Naoko (2009), Cultural Computing: software that grasp culture and unconsciousness.Tokyo: NTT Publishing. (ࢿ
֙੢ৼ(2009). θϸώϲ϶ϸ牨πЀϡϲЄ꙱ꙠЀν—෈玕牨篷఺蘷独ϊϢϕγδί΄獺蝨‫ێ‬, 䩚Ղ: NTT‫ڊ‬粚) The quoted
text is translated by the thesis author.
17Tosa, Naoko (2016), Visual Analogies of Kanji Connect the World, Cross-Cultural Computing: An Artist's Journey, UK :
Springer. p.132
18 loc. cit.
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ideogram and the phonogram— the former is kanji ( ) which was evolved from Chinese
characters, and the latter is kana ( ) which was added in the language system during Heian
period (794–1192).19 We can benefit from the perspective of film criticism on the impact of
technology when we analyse the contemporary practice of Sho and its culture influence.
3.2 Video arts : multi-surfaces and the end of style
It is clear that culture itself is one of those things
whose fundamental materiality is now for us not merely evident but quite inescapable.
—Fredric Jameson,<Surrealism Without the Unconscious> 20—
Through Benjamin’s insight, we see how the emergence of film unfolded the new age of
mechanical reproduction in the cost of losing aura of the work of art and the elimination of cultural
heritage. According to Jameson, this has been a historical lesson that culture itself “alway was
material, or materialistic, in its structures and functions.”21 From his point of view, people realised
this fact is exactly through media “which now conjoins three relatively distinct signals: that of an
artistic mode or specific form of aesthetic production, that of a specific technology, generally
organised around a central apparatus or machine; and that, finally, of a social institution.”22 As the
media technology has been evolving and never stops, these three dimensions—aesthetic production,
specific technology, and its social institution—can help us grasp the transformative progresses of
arts and cultures in order to comprehend which values should be protected and what kind of latent
jeopardy we can foresee then to avoid.
In fact, the homogenisation trend of media, pointed out by Galloway (2012), can be seen as the
efficient testimony of the most obvious feature of postmodern society—Pastiche, the unavailability
of personal style, proposed by Jameson(1991).
19Nagoya, Akira (2008), The Way of Appreciate Sho—reading the beauty and the spirits of Japan.Tokyo:
Kadokawagakugei Publishing. (‫ݷ‬㱽肍 ก(2008). 䨗΄憎ො—෭๜΄聅;ஞΨ抎Ζ. 䩚Ղ: 薫૝਍舀‫ڊ‬粚), p.85
20 Jameson, op. cit., p.67
21 loc. cit.
22 loc. cit.
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Pastiche is, like parody, the imitation of a peculiar or unique, idiosyncratic style, the wearing of
a linguistic mask, speech in a dead language. But it is a neutral practice of such mimicry.23
For Jameson, postmodern society means ‘the collapse of the high-modernist ideology of style—
what is as unique and unmistakable as your own fingerprints’.24 Since the original can be replaced
easily by countless copies produced by mechanical reproduction or proliferations of images
dispersed ubiquitously via digital media. The only way to create something to arouse people’s
attention is re-collage what have already existed—the imitation of dead styles, in Jameson’s term.25
The end of personal style also signifies the disappearance of the individual subject in the
postmodern society which results in ’the waning of affect’. Jameson indicated that “As for
expression and feelings or emotions, the liberation, in contemporary society, from the older anomie
of the centred subject may also mean not merely a liberation from anxiety but a liberation from
every other kind of feeling as well, since there is no longer a self present to do the feeling.”26
Furthermore, Jameson concluded that the depth of history has already been “replaced by surface,
or by multiple surfaces” in postmodern society.27 Because there are four fundamental depth models
have been abandoned in contemporary theory: (1) the dialectical one of essence and appearance (2)
the Freudian model of latent and manifest, or of repression (3) the existential model of authenticity
and inauthenticity, and (4) most recently, the great semiotic opposition between signifier and
signified.28 Briefly speaking, Jameson considered the subject in postmodern society is
‘schizophrenic’—he uses Lacan’s account of schizophrenia as an aesthetic model to well-describe
the multiple repudiation of values in various dimensions that people believed before. He identified
the difficulty of such a subject to deal with the cultural products, who can create “anything but
‘heaps of fragments’ and in a practice of the randomly heterogeneous and fragmentary and the
aleatory.”29 Because the history has been demolished by newborn technologies which result in the
23 ibid., p.17
24 loc. cit.
25 ibid., p.18
26 ibid., p.15
27 ibid., p.12
28 loc. cit.
29 ibid., p.25
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incapability of the subject, who is unable “actively to extend its pro-tensions and re-tensions across
the temporal manifold and to organise its past and future into coherent experience.”30
Although Jameson acknowledged film as the dominant art form of the twentieth century, which
substituted for the privileged status of the written text, painting, theatre and symphony, he still
appealed to “the richest allegorical and hermeneutic vehicles for some new description of the
system itself.” 31 This argument is supported by Kluszczynski (2007)’s analysis which reveals that
“Traditional cinema is losing its former, dominant position in the landscape of contemporary
audiovisuality.”32 When modernist styles become postmodernist codes, not literature nor film can
clarify the amalgamation of the new social and economic conjuncture. For Jameson, the most
adequate candidate, that can well-illustrate the schizophrenic characteristics of postmodern cultures
is ‘video art’.33
3.3 New media arts in postmodern epoch
We witnessed the art paradigm shifted from literature to film, then from film to video art—
precisely speaking, multiple surfaces of the diverse multimedia art which includes television
program, computer games, online streaming and so forth. Kluszczynski (2007) reminded us that
“The film-specific codes of image construction, editing, narration, dramaturgy, character
development and plot structuring constitute the basic articulation system of (multi)media
audiovisuality. ”34 Since all (multi)media can be seen as the result of the development in electronic
technologies after cinema, “which are currently becoming the main factor behind the
transformations in audiovisual culture and art, and which are consequently […] the primary source
of transformations in culture as a whole.”35 Given that our comprehending of the world is shaped by
perceiving miscellaneous experiences via different media channels, it is significant to know how the
art scene has been developing in our time. According to Cubitt and Thomas (2013),
30 loc. cit.
31 ibid., p.69
32 Kluszczynski, op. cit., p.213
35 ibid., p.209
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Virilio argued that “at the end of the millennium, what abstraction once tried to pull off is in fact
being accomplished before our very eyes: the end of REPRESENTATIVE art and the substitution of
a counter-culture, of a PRESENTATIVE art. A situation that reinforces the dreadful decline of
representative democracy in favour of…a presentative multimedia democracy based on
automatic polling. ” 36
Moreover, John Armitage (2002) elucidated Virilio’s perception of the nihilism of current
technology, in terms of a ‘virtual’ or ‘multimedia democracy’ : “Virilio considers that contemporary
artists have abandoned the creative practices and sensibilities, imagination and cultural meaning of
the advanced societies.”37 Nonetheless, presentation is not presentation without representation.
From Ga’s point of view, “Presentation is representation encapsulated, subsumed. It contains
representation as its past tense, in which, similar to movement image, perception is achieved,
affection is evinced, ideology free, or devoid of action” (Ga, 2013, p.33)38
The movement, which is one of the aesthetic features of Japanese calligraphy art, is a translation
in space for Deleuze and the visible form of time to represent itself from Ga’s standpoint.39 He
utilised Deleuze’s insight of movement in Cinema 1, that is, ”Movement that unfolds in space
produces narrative and invokes the movement image that is further inscribed through three images:
the perception image, the affection image, and the action image.”40 As Sho is the artistic expression
which consists of a variety of brush movements and compositions of dots and strokes, we must
trace back its cultural origin of this movement aesthetics—which contains both temporal and spatial
dimensions—in order to see how the tradition of Sho has been transforming from ancient period to
nowadays and what kind of challenges are brought by the emerging technologies.
36Cubitt, Sean and Thomas, Paul (2013), Introduction: The New Materialism in Media Art History, In S, Cubitt and P,
Thomas (Ed.), Relive: Media Art Histories (p.1-22) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
37 Virilio, Paul (2003). Art and Fear. (J. Rose, Trans.). London: Continuum. p.4
38Ga, Zhang (2013), From Time-Lapse to Time Collapse or From Representation to Presentation, In S, Cubitt and P,
Thomas (Ed.), Relive: Media Art Histories, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, p.25-37
39 ibid., p.26
40 loc. cit.
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4. Traditional Aesthetics : Shodō, Ikebana, Zen
Considering the thesis investigates not only the development of Sho’s artistic practice, but the
related Japanese culture as well. I would like to trace back Sho’s history at the first part which
contains its original root of China and the emergence of avant-garde calligraphers in 1950s. The
second part is a brief introduction of Ikebana ( , Japanese flower arrangement) and its Zen
spirits whose philosophical thinking can be generally applied to Sinosphere, namely, the East Asian
culture sphere where people still use Chinese characters nowadays.41
4.1 Aesthetics of Shodō : tradition, avant-garde, the work of total art
As mentioned before, Japanese consists of the ideogram (Kanji) and the phonogram (Kana)
systems. The former is hieroglyphic which are the characters imported from the China continent,
while the latter is phonetic letters which were created in Japan. Unlike the imagery characteristic of
Kanji ( ) whose meanings can be grasped at the first glance without pronunciation, Kana( )
requires a few letters to form a word which is inevitably written down continuously by nature.
According to Nagoya (2008), Kana is originated from the letter art of Heian period which was
mainly written by the aristocratic women.42 Kuwahara (1991) also provided that Kana is not the
tool of phonetic signs but a medium of artistic expression whose keynote is “to convey one's heart
in an aesthetic manner to another just like the case of Kanji.”43 Further, Kuwahara presented that
Kanji is not a ‘character to read’, which refers to scientific intercommunication, but a ‘character to
look at and understand’ which means one makes oneself understood by others by heart. Therefore,
he concluded that the scientific function of communication and the artistic expression co-exist in
Japanese and be practiced in the daily life.44 However, in light of the heterogeneous traits between
Kanji and Kana, it would be challenging to mix them for a harmonious calligraphic expression.
41The term ‘Sinosphere’ refers to the countries and region which were historically influenced by Chinese culture,
including China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc.It is used interchangeably with ‘Chinese character culture sphere’.
42 Nagoya, op. cit., p.84
43Kuwahara, Kounan (1991),The Japanese Character-life and Calligraphy, second edition. Japan Education Calligraphy
Federation (Ed.),Tokyo: Education Calligraphy Publishing Association. (礱ܻ ࿯‫(ܖ‬1991). ෭๜Ո΄෈ਁኞၚ;䨗螇. 䩚Ղ:
硽胍䨗螇‫ڊ‬粚㶧տ), p.13 The quoted text is written in bilingual—Japanese and English.
44 ibid., p.9
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Therefore, “it is preferred to entirely separate calligraphy Kanji and Kana because of the uniformity
effects.”45
According to Wong (2012), “Championed by the Tang and Song courts, including many elites of
the Southern Dynasties, the Copybook School had been the pillar of Chinese calligraphy for over a
thousand years. It also had had widespread influence on Japanese Kanji calligraphy since the
seventh and eighth centuries, shaping the foundation of the so-called Chinese manner (karayō [
]).”46 Hence, when it comes to Kanji calligraphy, Japanese calligraphers follow the aesthetic rules
of China, which includes five styles: Kai-Sho ( ), Gyo-Sho ( ), Ten-Sho ( ), Rei-Sho (
), Sou-Sho ( ). Children of China and Japan only learn Kai-Sho in school, the rest four styles
are only practiced by calligrapher scholars and professional calligraphers (artists).
In common writing is applied "KAI-SHO" style in which every "TENKAKU" (the lines of different length
and angles that form a character) is faithfully reproduced without any omission and "GYOU-SHO" style
in which “TENKAKU"are not necessarily faithfully followed and written quickly. When particular civility
and beauty are desired, we employ the ancient "TEN-SHO" and "REI-SHO" styles. To write quickly is
employed "SOU-SHO" style which is extremely cursive with “TENKAKU”.47
The above description from Kuwahara well-demonstrates the difference between these five
styles. As the artistic nature of Kana is the combination of phonetic letters, whose “free and fluent
motion is worked on the sheet which rhythmically develops into well balanced variation of figures.”
Thus, compared to Kanji calligraphy whose fundamental aesthetics stems from China, Kanna
calligraphy focuses on the beauty of the motion of brush, namely, ‘the beauty of flow’.48
Generally speaking, there are five main aspects to appreciate the beauty of Sho—both the Kanji
calligraphy and the Kana calligraphy—(1) Composition ( ): direction, thickness, and strength
45 ibid., p.11
46Wong, Aida Yuen (2012), Reforming Calligraphy in Modern Japan: The Six Dynasties School and Nakamura Fusetsu’s
Chinese “Stele”, In Joshua A. Fogel (Ed.), The Role of Japan in Modern Chinese Art (p.131-153) London : University of
California Press, p.132-133
47 Kuwahara, op. cit., p.9-10
48 ibid., p.11
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of TENKAKU, allocation of characters, margin left, etc. (2) TENKAKU ( ): the nature of line
(i.e., heavy, light, deep, shallow), the form of line (i.e., straight, curved), position. (3) Motion of
brush ( ): speed, pressure, rhythm (brushwork effect, length of one stoke) (4) Chinese Ink
Colour ( ): ample or scarce, gather or disperse. (5) Blank Space ( ): balance in the sheet,
how to place margin (Shouhou), expression in compliance with the shape and size of the paper,
etc.49 In addition, Kuwahara suggested that “the significance of the words and the figures of the
characters should not be too discrepant from each other” since Kanji and Kana naturally involve the
meanings of what are written. But he is clear that not the information decides calligraphy as an art
form but ‘the action of calligraphing and the temporal motion’. To put it differently, there are two
essential standard to evaluate a calligraphy artwork—the pictorial composition and the musical
liquidity.50
So far, we know what is Sho ( ) and some tips for connoisseurship.Then, the next question is
wha is Shodō ( )? According to Nagayama (2013), the calligraphy master who have practiced
since 1950s: “Sho ( ) means ‘the art of writing’; dō means ‘the Tao, the quest for the meaning of
life’. In other words, Shodō is the quest for the meaning of life through the practice of calligraphy.
There is no retouching or correction …”51 It is consistent with the empirical experiences when we
learned calligraphy as the mandatary course in school52 , children are taught that calligraphy and
beautiful handwriting are considered as the reflection of their character and personality. The fluid
strokes of brush, the flow of motion and emotion are supposed to come straight from the heart.
Rhythm, emotion, structure, spirituality, philosophy, just to name a few, there are several angles to
judge a calligraphy work good or not. But there is one perspective always be emphasised, that is,
the character of the calligrapher.
Shodō is an art that involves a long apprenticeship and constant practice. It requires commitment
to the mastery of the brushstrokes, since only a sound technique can enable students to acquire
49 ibid., p.12-13
50 ibid., p.12
51 Nagayama, Norio (2013), What is Shodō? BOKUSHIN Scuola di Calligrafia Orientale official website. Retrieved from
http://www.bokushin.org/en/shodo/
52As math, science, calligraphy had been one of the mandatory subjects which was considered as part of Mandarin
course in elementary school in Taiwan. After 2001, calligraphy became a selective subject because of new educational
policy. But calligraphy is still an elementary school subject in the Japanese mandatary education system at present.
Retrieved from http://www.taiwan368.com.tw/msg_detail.php?id=836
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spontaneity of movement, heightened awareness of the materials, and sustained rigour in their
method. With all this comes an enrichment of the inner life.53
This explanation from Nagayama (2013) well-illustrates how Shodō can help student cultivate
their characters, i.e., through repeatedly practices on materials and self-discipline in a long time.
Furthermore, he also indicates that the different attitude of writing calligraphy from the western
world, “In the East, by contrast, calligraphy is closely linked to painting. It is an art to all intents
and purposes and, as such, is also a way of life.”54 In fact, this is supported by Wong(2012)’s study
which reveals that Japanese calligraphers are considerably influenced by Chinese aesthetics theories
— Shu Hua Tong Yuan ( ) which means calligraphy and painting stem from the same
roots.55 Wong (2012) indicated the significant effort of Nakamura Fusetsu ( ,1866-1943),
the painter and calligrapher who foreshadowed a paradigm shift after World War II that erased the
line between painting and calligraphy.
Nakamura Fusetsu vitalised links between Japanese Rikuchōha56 and its Chinese counterpart,
and brought sho [calligraphy] closer to fashionable notions of bijutsu [art] predicated on formal
innovation and display. …In theory, this blurring of the boundaries had existed long ago in the
Chinese expression shuhua tongyuan enunciated by Zhang Yanyuan (ninth century), who saw
brush expressions as tied to supernatural forces.57
Although Fusetsu invoked Chinese aesthetic theory to ground his argument, Wong (2012)
identified that his attitude toward calligraphy and painting is distinguished from Zhang :
Fusetsu’s invocation of “calligraphy and painting stem from the same roots” had more to do
54 loc. cit.
55 Wong, op. cit., p.151
56Rikuchōha is a school of Japanese calligraphy, which means ‘the style of the Six Dynasties’. And the Six Dynasties
(220–589) was regarded as the golden age of stelae production in China; see Wong, op. cit., p.133
57 ibid., p.151
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with the literal creation of pictorialism with written characters than any metaphysical principles.
Although calligraphy and painting are technically nonidentical, Fusetsu thought the two occupied
the same level of creative consciousness.58
Fusetsu’s insight extended the artistic possibility of Japanese calligraphy which became a rich
foundation for avant-garde artists to develop new expression of Sho. However, Sho’s artistic status
and aesthetic value had been controversial since 1880s, starting from the debate between Koyama
Shōtarō (1857–1916) and Okakura Kakuzō (1862–1913). According to Wong (2012), “Opinions
varied as to whether calligraphy was just a form of verbal communication or a compelling visual art
on par with painting.Moreover, Western collectors’ disinterest in calligraphy at that time called into
question its usefulness in Japan’s quest for international prestige.”59 This is consistent with the
interview of Nagayama, when I asked about the origin of ‘big calligraphy’ that doesn’t exist in
traditional Chinese calligraphy but exclusively born in Japan. (N. Nagayama, personal
communication, February 27, 2017)
It is just performance and it is easy for people who don’t have the calligraphy training to understand.
It is easy to understand what’s he doing, what’s he moving, and how his energy goes forward. Because
the movement is bigger. So it is for promotion. Around 1950s, calligraphy in Japan went down and
the American who came to Japan questioned wether Shodō is art or not. So the calligrapher wanted
to prove it is the art , then they showed calligraphy in a big way. Bundō Shunkai was the promoter and
the coordinator of all Japanese calligraphers, after his promotion, Shodō became the art—to be
considered as art at the first time. Before him, people just thought it as ‘Shuji’ (聜ਁ), not very noble.
There are a few points in his description we need to pay attention: the public attitude toward
Shodō, the birth of big Sho and the first promoter Bundō Shunkai. Firstly, people considered Sho as
Shuji not Shodō before 1950s. As mentioned above, dō means ‘the Tao, the quest for the meaning of
58 ibid., p.152
59 ibid., p.131
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life’. Without dō, even Sho wasn’t seen as ‘the art of writing’ at that time. People regarded it as
Shuji ( ) which means ‘the practice of writing’, a functional skill for language learning in
school.(Adal, 2009, p.244)60 This is consistent with the research finding by Wong (2012), she
pointed out that only paining, sculpture, and handcrafts were showcased in the Ministry of
Education Art Exhibitions [Monbushō bijutsu tenrankai, ‘Bunten( ),’1907–1918] and the
Imperial Art Exhibitions [Teikoku bijutsu tenrankai, ‘Teiten( ),’ 1919–1934] ; whereas Sho, the
calligraphy, was displayed with a miscellany of ‘industries’ at the Tokyo Taishō Exposition (
) in 1914, including a gas bathtub, the first escalator, and several live geishas. Because
“This age-old emblem of literati refinement was cast off its moorings as the country modernised.” is
analysed by Wong.61 Furthermore, Kajiya (2014) observed that Sho was not the only form of
traditional culture that was the target of criticism by the modernists after world wars. Haiku ( ),
for instance, the unique form of Japanese poem, confronted the vitriolic attack by the prestigious
scholar Takeo Kuwabara ( , 1904-1988) who judged contemporary Haiku as a ‘second-
class art’.”The resulting controversy involved not only haiku poets but also practitioners of other
forms of traditional culture including calligraphers.”62
Secondly, Bundō Shunkai and the postwar education of Sho. In fact, calligraphy functions not
merely as a tool of learning and practicing characters, but as an effective mean to indoctrinate
ideology to schoolchildren during the wartime. Thus, the GHQ (the General Headquarters of the
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers) suspended the teaching of Japanese history, geography,
and ethics in December 1945, and eliminated calligraphy from the elementary school curriculum in
April 1947.(Kajiya, 2014)63 At that time, the leading calligraphers Bundō Shunkai ( ,
1878-1970) and Onoe Saishū ( , 1876-1957), both members of the Japan Art Academy (
), formed the Association for the Promotion of Calligraphy Education (Shodō kyōiku
shinkō kyōgikai, ). They kept negotiating with GHQ and the Ministry of
60Adal, Raja (2009), Japan's Bifurcated Modernity: Writing and Calligraphy in Japanese Public Schools
1872-1943.Theory Culture Society. 26:233-248
62Kajiya, Kenji (2014), Modernized Differently: Avant-Garde Calligraphy and Art in Postwar Japan. M+ Matters | Postwar
Abstraction in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan (official website) Retrieved from http://www.mplusmatters.hk/postwar/
paper_topic2.php?l=en
63 loc. cit.
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Education. After four-year effort, the government revived calligraphy course as part of language
subject in elementary education in 1951.
Thirdly, the debate within calligraphers and the birth of Shodō. During the abolition of
calligraphy education, Bundō Shunkai proactively took the initiative to write huge calligraphy in the
public64, aiming to distinguish the artistic value of Sho ; meanwhile, many avant-garde
calligraphers, such as : Ueda Sōkyū ( , 1899-1968), Morita Shiryū ( ,
1912-1998), Inoue Yūichi ( , 1916-1985) started to create Sho in an alternate way which
not only unfolded the divergence within calligrapher groups but the new era of Sho as well. Wong’s
study shows that“The idea of calligraphy as bijutsu [fine art] gained currency only after World War
II.”65 Also, Kajiya provided that “ In 1948, Ueda participated for the first time in the Japan Arts
Exhibition (Nihon Bijutsu Tenrankai, ). […] Known by its abbreviation Nitten (
), this exhibition began to accept calligraphic works for the first time in its more-than-forty-year
history.”66 Nonetheless, one calligraphy work of Ueda—Love (Ai ) evoked the disputation
between Bundō and Ueda which demonstrated the discrepancy between the classical Sho and the
avant-garde Sho. The former claimed that tradition should be preserved without change, while the
latter thought that “we should not persist in duplicating the forms of traditional works but rather
express something new in the spirit of the tradition.”67
Wong acknowledged the contribution of postwar Japanese avant-garde calligraphers who

“experimented with abstract and figural compositions in ink that drew upon the brushwork of
calligraphy without necessarily conceiving them as linguistic signs….such image-texts in the 1950s
and 1960s coincided with the rise of abstract expressionism and gesture painting, and precipitated
the absorption of the Japanese avant-garde into the Western mainstream.”68 Even though it is
obvious to see the contribution of the avant-garde calligraphers whose works put Sho into the
international stage of art world, we cannot ignore the effort of classical calligraphers, like Bundō,
64Achievements of master Bundo Shunkai. Zuiun shodou-kai (official website). Retrieved from http://www.zuiun-
shodoukai.com/text/achieve.html
67 loc. cit.

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who also created a new character of calligraphy—big Sho, the performance-based art form—that
distinguished Sho from its root of China. Without each of them, Shodō—the special term to indicate
Japanese calligraphy art and its philosophic thought—would not be possible to flourish after war.
Moreover, Kajiya reminded us that the interdisciplinary interests of avant-garde calligraphers

also contributed to the dissemination of modernism in postwar Japan. Because in the 1940s and
1950s, critic Hanada Kiyoteru ( ) advocated an art notion called ‘Sōgō geijutsu’ (
), meaning ‘the work of total art’ which was derived from Richard Wagner’s idea of the
Gesamtkunstwerk.69 Hanada aimed to create a new type of art that can present the society in a
critical way, therefore he proposed Sōgō geijutsu which “pursued the possibility of trans-media
works and of collaboration among different artistic modes including literature, fine art, music,
theatre, the movies, and others.”70 This idea was quite widespread among artists and the
intellectuals of postwar Japan. Hence, people can easily find many articles addressing on design,
sculpture, and architecture on Sho-no-Bi ( , 1948-1952) and Bokubi ( , 1951-1981), the
two pioneer magazine of calligraphy which were founded by avant-garde calligrapher Morita
Shiryu ( ).71 Ueda’s foremost disciple, calligrapher Uno Sesson ( , 1912-1995)’s
article in 1948 well-demonstrated how avant-garde calligraphers thought about Sōgō geijutsu (the
work of total art) on their practices:
Calligraphy is simply established for the pure appreciation of line art but [...] it is also established
as the work of total art [sōgō geijutsu] with literature, as the movie is established as the integration
of theatre, music, painting and others, and dance is established as the synthesis of music and
forms.72
69Yoshida, Ken (2012), The Undulating Contours of sōgō geijutsu (Total Work of Art), or Hanada Kiyoteru’s Thoughts on
Transmedia in Postwar Japan, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 13, no. 1, p.36–54
Life chronology of Morita Shiryu. Toyota City Virtual Museum (official website). Retrieved from http://
71
www3.city.toyooka.hyogo.jp/virtual/2moritashiryu/moritanenpu.html
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Although scholars tend to focus on the relationship between the avant-garde calligraphy and
contemporary abstract paintings (e.g. the works of Franz Kline, Alcopley, Pierre Soulages), but we
should notice that the diverse interests of Japanese calligraphers urged them to“ look to
collaboration and intermedia, which was quite opposite to the reduction and the medium-specificity
advocated by Clement Greenberg.”73 Furthermore, Kanjiya concluded that “The modernism
conceived by Japanese calligraphers included the process of negotiating different genres and media.
Probably it affected not only calligraphers but also other sorts of practitioners—including artists,
designers, and architects.”74 So far, we can see the origin of Sho and the transformative process of
Shodō from late nineteen century to postwar Japan, from Chinese aesthetic theory ‘Shu Hua Tong
cuan’ to ‘Sōgō geijutsu’ concept as ’the work of total art’. The image-text nature of Shodō makes
itself as the all-embracing base for artists, painters, poets and writers who can co-contribute to its
diverse artistic form and enrich its contemporary value.
4.2 Ikebana and Zen culture
Ikebana ( ) refers to Japanese flower arrangement, sometimes is called Kadō ( / ).
Ka ( / ) means flower, and dō ( ) is the same word as the dō of Shodō which has rich meanings,
including ‘the route’, ‘the way’, or as what Nagayama (2013) interpreted— ‘the Tao, the quest for
the meaning of life’.75 Compared to Shodō using brush, ink and paper to find the meaning of life,
Ikebana (Kadō) uses the real lives—flowers—to seek the meaning of living and the principle of the
universe. According to Inoue (2015),
Ikebana (ኞͧ臺) is not just an art, but a shugyo (狕ᤈ), or spiritual practice. […] Confucius (৿ৼ),
the most influential ancient philosopher in China and Japan, said “ if I can understand the way
in a morning, I would have no regrets, even should I die in the evening." The way of flowers is
the process of seeking this way. In a Buddhist context, it may be thought as equivalent to satori
73 loc. cit.
74 loc. cit.
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(ఉΠ), or spiritual enlightenment.76
To put it differently, to obtained the seed of Satori [spiritual enlightenment] from wilted flowers
or falling leaves, we can learn how transient a life could be. Therefore, ‘the way of flower’ namely,
to arrange the flowers in an appropriate way is “to seek the way of life through flowers. And this
process is called Shugyo [spiritual practice].” (Inoue, 2015)77 In addition, Shimbo (2007) provided
that “ Ikebana is a lifelong lesson, a way to achieve a little inner stillness in which to work towards
a richer spiritual understanding of the world.”78 Although Ikebana is not a religion, both of them
clearly presented the religious aspect of Ikebana—In any way, no one can reach the goal without
Shugyo.—as stated in Senno Kuden (« »), the sixteenth-century canonical Ikebana book.79
So, how to gain the spiritual enlightenment with the help of Ikebana ? Shimbo listed ten virtues
of practicing Ikebana based on Rikka-Imayo-Sugata (« »,1688) which was written by
Fushunken Senkei ( ), the founder of the Senkei school ( ).80 There are a few
points worth our attention: (1) Learn plants: Through the simple beauty of a flower, which is so
content with the nature of its own short life, we can come to appreciate the transience of life rather
than being depressed by it, and accept our place in the universe. (2) Graceful mind: By developing
an understanding of the elegance of the nature world, we can nurture our gentleness and come
closer to feeling at one with the universe—the experience of Satori (enlightenment) in Zen. (3)
Close to the Divine: The divine experiences of feeling close to Buddha, Gods or the Spirits depend
on your own personal philosophy. […] Ikebana is one way to help us make contact with the
elements of nature and the laws of the universe.81 Since Ikebana has strong inclination for spiritual
practice, whose idea of gaining enlightenment through concentration and practice is central to the
76 Inoue, Osamu (2015), Shugyo theory in Ikebana, International Journal of Ikebana Studies Vol.3. Ibaraki (JP):
International Society of Ikebana Studies (ISIS), p.1
77 loc. cit.
78Shimbo, Shoso (2007),The Ten Virtues of Ikebana—Zen and the Way of the flower, Shoso Shimbo official website
‘publication section’. Retrieved from http://www.shoso.com.au
79 Inoue, op. cit., p.1
80 Senkei school (䌑睃窕) diverged form Ikenobo school (穰࣑)—the oldest and largest school of Ikebana, founded in the
fifteenth-century by the Buddhist monk Senno (䌑䖕).
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Zen Buddhist philosophy.82 Inoue concluded that “Ikebana is always a shadow of the self.”83 And it
is supported by Shimbo’s study which reveals that
Like many of the traditional Japanese arts, Kado [Ikebana] is a system of aesthetics, philosophy
and practice with a focus on personal development as well as artistic achievement.[…]
The journey is as important as the result.84
Interestingly, the idea of ‘the journey in Ikebana’ proposed by Shimbo is similar to ‘the process’
in Shodō which was emphasised during the interview with master Nagayama (N. Nagayama,
personal communication, February 27,2017):
Fan : ‘Tao’ (螇) in Chinese means ‘philosophy’,namely,‘a way of thinking’. How do you interpret it ?
What is the philosophy of Shodō’?
Nagayama : Yes, it is. But Chinese calligraphy emphasises ‘result’ more than the ‘process’. Japanese
more focus on the ‘mean’, the ‘way’. The Dō (螇) means ‘route’, from one point to another
—the way to arrive, not the result.
Fan : Beyond the meaning of ‘process’, is there any spirits of Shodō want to talk about ?
Nagayama : Dō (螇) also means ‘how you lived in the past’. Because it talks about your personality,
which means your background and your personal history. I have personality because I
have my own past. But Shodō doesn’t present the personality (the personal history) only,
it presents the training. Not just technically how you write, but also shows the training on
your personality, your point of view.
Fan : So Shodō not only talks about the past, the background, but also talk about this person
right now and how he goes forward.
Nagayama : Yes.
82 loc. cit.
83 Inoue, op. cit., p.9
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As shown above, Shodō shares the same value as Ikebana who both esteem the personal
development as an essential part of practicing Shodō and Ikebana. Shimbo’s finding well-describes
this common view in Japanese culture : “The therapeutic and spiritual aspects that Japanese people
have valued for centuries.[…] The practice of which can lead you to make connections with your
spiritual self in the same way the Zen monks seek enlightenment through their meditation.”
Therefore, we can conclude that both Shodō and Ikebana have the unique characteristics of Zen
spirits which helps individual develop his/her inner peace to seek the meaning of life, and the
artworks also reflect their personality, including his/her spirit self and their own history. In addition,
given the aesthetics as mentioned before, the character of calligrapher is the decisive element to
evaluate Sho which shows his/her path of life. It is similar to Ga (2013) ’s interpretation on
Deleuze’s concept of movement, which presented that“ Movement is active memory that
encompasses narratives explicated (the past) and scenarios implied (the present and future).”85
When the movement presents on the arrangement of flowers, it demonstrates how one understands
life; while the movement presents on the paper, it shows one’s story and his/her spirits :
An order in the composition is at once apparent; relationships emerge, harmonious and discordant,
between the filled and empty spaces; a rhythm can be glimpsed, a fluency of movement, whose
intensity varies. Yet something else is also apparent: what the Chinese refer to with the word
Shenyun [ᐟ殱]. Translated literally, it means “enchantment of the spirit”.86
The personal story is told during the process of writing Sho. Ga’s study also unveiled that“The
story, rendered through disparate visual components as the model train covers its trajectory,
resonates with movement image with its isolated points for the unfolding of narrative as a threshold
for the emergence of meaning and as junctures for revealing significance.”87 In summary, the
significance is emerging during the process, in order to show the creator’s spirits. In Ikebana, it is
related to the spiritual enlightenment; while in Shodō, it appeals to Shenyun, that is, one’s
personality and the ’enchantment of his/her spirit.’
85 Ga, op. cit., p.33
87 Ga, op. cit., p.28

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5. Aesthetics analysis of contemporary practices
In this chapter, firstly, I would like to give brief introductions of each examined artwork which
would be discussed in detail later according to the order : Sisyu ( )’s Metal Sculpture
(2007-2014) ; Naoko Tosa ( )’s Sound of IKEBANA (2013) and ZENetic Computer
(2004-2010); the collaboration work by Sisyu and teamLab, What a Loving, and Beautiful World
(2011-2016); and teamLab ( )’s Enso/Mugenso (2016) and Circle, Infinity Circle-VR
(2016). Secondly, I would adopt Benjamin’s approach to see how digital media change the artistic
expressions of traditional arts. Meanwhile, I would apply Jameson’s postmodernism theory to
analyse the tendency of new media art in the case of Shodō and Zen culture. Thirdly, regarding the
cutting-edge technology has been applied in Shodō to create artworks, I would delve into the issue
of ‘VR calligraphy’ arose in both aesthetics and ontology perspectives. Thus, the discussion in 5.2
will mainly focus on teamLab’s two works—the digital installation Enso/Mugenso and the virtual
reality version of Circle, Infinity Circle-VR. Finally, in 5.3, I would discuss the foundation of art
through the comparison between traditional works and new media art.
5.1 Contemporary practices : introduction
(1) Metal Sculpture, by Sisyu ( )
Metal Sculpture consists of five sculptures which are made of etched iron calligraphy, including:
(H2,050 × W350 × D250mm), (H1,350 × W350 × D250mm),
(H1,500 × W350 × D250mm), (H1,550 × W350 × D250mm),
(H2,000 × W350 × D250mm)88 . Metal Sculpture is the first calligraphic piece to be selected as
an artwork and win the Most Prestigious Jury’s Gold Award at Salon SNBA at Carrousel du Louvre
in Paris (2014).89 The last time to select Japanese artist in the annual exhibition of Société Nationale
des Beaux-Arts (SNBA) was Kuroda Seiki ( )’s painting in 1893.90 Some critic praised
Metal Sculpture because it is “shaking off the shackles of convention from Rodin and Giacometti,
88Translated in order: The dancing sunshine, the shadow searching for light, the accumulation of anger and grief, the
fashion of the day keeps changing, and the darkness rains incessantly. (It is translated by the thesis author.)
89 The video of Metal Sculpture can be retried from http://www.e-sisyu.com/en/works/metalsculpture
90Holiuchi, Sisyu Atelier. (2014, December). As the first calligrapher, Sisyu won the Golden Prize of SNBA. SlideShow
JP. Retrieved from http://slideshowjp.com/doc/1199722/羻ᛪ͢䨗螇疑‫ڡ‬牏Ϣ϶Ѐφ΄㬃翄妢ኮΨͫ͠͞䨗ͽᰂ搕‫ݑ‬搕
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her work revives the expression of sculpture”. And some even gave credit to this piece, saying
“Hokusai transforms the cubic into the flat91 , while Sisyu transforms the flat into the cubic.”92
As the professor of Osaka University of Arts and a Japanese calligraphic artist who is officially
recognised by the Japanese government, Sisyu dedicated herself to inherit the traditional Sho and
express the transition from the past to a new age of Sho. The etched iron calligraphy is one example
of her efforts which expands the expression of Sho by incorporating calligraphy into other art forms
such as sculptures, media arts, and paintings. Metal Sculpture combines not only the sculptures of
characters, but also the lights and the shadows. Her latest artwork evolves into a grander scale that
adds Sho etched in glasses. Through these works, “Sisyu symbolises the Japanese soul of ‘Zen’ and
is consistently projecting this art form to the world.”93
Fig.1. Metal Sculpture (Paris, 2014)
91Katsushika Hokusai (茓觽玖踣,1760-1849) was a Ukiyo-e painter of the Edo period (1603-1868). He was influenced by
Sesshū Tōyō and Chinese paintings, best-known for his woodblock print series of Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.
92Ōmagari, Tomoko (2017), “Hokusai transforms the cubic into the flat, while Sisyu transforms the flat into the cubic.”—
Converting the normal expression of Sho, what is the idea behind?, Mugendai official website. ( य़ใฬৼ,̿玖踣΅缏֛
Ψଘᶎ΁牏羻ᛪ΅ଘᶎΨ缏֛΁̀―蔭匍΄ଉ蘷Ψ薟ͯ̿䨗̀΁闋Η͵మ͚;΅, 篷褖य़ςαϕ) Retrieved from http://
www.mugendai-web.jp/archives/6726 The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.
93 Profile. (2017). 羻ᛪSisyu official website. Retrieved from http://www.e-sisyu.com/en/profile/profile

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(2) Sound of IKEBANA, by Naoko Tosa ( )
Aiming to make the audience feel the connection of traditional cultures in Asia, the
internationally renowned media artist Naoko Tosa created the new type of Ikebana by giving sound
vibration to liquid (e.g., pastel colour, oil) in order to generate Ikebana-like shaping phenomenon
which is shot with a high-speed camera of 2000 frames/second. Sound of Ikebana references
Japan’s natural weather alongside strong visual influence of the traditional painting of Rimpa ( )
school.94 Through various colour coordination, the artworks are intended to express Japanese
seasons such as palm and cherry in spring, cool water and morning glory in summer, red leaves in
autumn, snow and camellia in winter. There are four videos in this artwork and the artist also selects
some adequate Haiku, the short poems of Japan, to accompany with the captured motion pictures in
each video. (Fig.2)95
Fig. 2. Sound of IKEBANA (2013)
from left to right: (up) Spring, Summer, (down) Autumn, Winter
94Rimpa (ቧ窔) or Rinpa, originated from 17th century Kyoto, is one of the major historical schools of Japanese painting.
The representative painters includes: Ogata Kōrin, Sakai Hōitsu, the founders Hon'ami Kōetsu and Tawaraya Sōtatsu.
95Sound of IKEBANA: Four Seasons, Spring. Naoko Tosa official website.Retrieved from http://www.naokotosa.com/
2013/11/998/ Fig.2. is the screenshot of four videos form Naoko Tosa youtube channel. Retrieved from https://
www.youtube.com/channel/UChjz_ZhBlzAY99GFDT4o9gg
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The video series of Sound of Ikebana was created in 2013, whereas the other version of
projection mapping on the ArtScience Museum façade in 2014 was displayed without Haiku,
probably aiming to evoke the expansive Asian impression of China, Malaysia and India.96 This
Projection Mapping [Sound of Ikebana] won the Good Design Award in 2014.(Fig.3)97 Dr. Tosa’s
artworks reflect her strong interest in Japanese traditional arts and cultures through integrating with
cutting-edge technologies at high-level, such as : Four Gods ( ) in EXPO 2012 Korea, the
projection mapping of 21st Century Legend of Wind God & Thunder God (21
) for Rimpa School 400th Anniversary in 2015.98
Dr. Tosa currently teaches at Kyoto University. She was a fellow at the Centre for Advanced
Visual Studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2002 to 2004. Her artwork An
Expression (1985) is the public collection at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. This thesis
mainly focuses on the original version of Sound of Ikebana in 2013.
Fig. 3. Project Mapping in ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands. (Singapore, 2014)
96Tosa didn’t explicitly explain why there is no Haiku accompanied in the projection version. But she mentioned that “
Colours representative of China, Malaysia and India have been included to acknowledge the exhibition’s staging in Asia”
on her website.(http://www.naokotosa.com/2014/10/1287/ )Thus, it is sufficient to assume that is the reason to display
without any specific language.
972014 Outline of GDA winners 2014.GOOD DESIGN AWARD official website. Retrieved from https://www.g-mark.org/
award/describe/41746?locale=en
98 The video can be retrieved from Naoko Tosa official website http://www.naokotosa.com/rimpa400/
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(3) ZENetic Computer, directed by Naoko Tosa ( )
Since we have been involving various media technology in our daily life, Tosa, Matsuoka, Ellis,
Ueda, and Nakatsu (2005) observed that there is a danger as the communication network expands—
the level of personal communication has become shallow (p.13).99 Therefore, they proposed
“Cultural Computing as a method for cultural translation that uses scientific methods to represent
the essential aspects of culture.” The project result is ZENetic Computer, in which Dr. Matsuoka
provided the image of Sansui ink paintings based on the oriental perspective of San-en ( ), and
Dr. Tosa took responsibility to design the interactive programming of the computer.100 Since the
research team focused on the cultural root of Japan, ZENetic Computer includes Buddhist culture,
the Kanji culture, Haiku and other Japanese poetry and song, and Kimono ( , traditional
Japanese dress).101
Firstly, the user builds the Sansui ink painting via an intuitive and user-friendly interface to
construct his/her own virtual space. Secondly, the system will classify the user’s state of
consciousness based on the composition of Sansui landscape which they just completed. Thirdly,
they would confront several stages and scenes which consists of different missions requesting the
user to achieve, for instance, some profound dialogues of Zen Koan ( ) to interact with touch
screen, or using a virtual brush to interact with the rock garden interface.(Fig.4)102 After all, the user
come to the final stage—to interact with a bull, which is considered as a metaphor of presenting
one’s true self in Zen. “Through this dialogue, the user can experience the process in which the
everyday self and the subconscious self fuse together to bring about a unified self-
consciousness.” (N. Tosa et al., 2005, p.15)
It is mentioned that the surrounding plays a very important role in the whole experience, thus the
research team have made an effort to conjure up an Eastern atmosphere (e.g., curtain written with
99Tosa, Naoko & Matsuoka, Seigow & Ellis, Brad & Ueda, Hirotada & Nakatsu, Ryohei (2005), Cultural Computing with
Context-Aware Application: ZENetic Computer, In F. Kishino et al. (Eds.), ICEC 2005, LNCS 3711 (2005), p.13-23
Matsuoka, Seigow, ZENetic Compter—Is it possible to realise Zazen by computer? Naoko Tosa official website. (礁䍫
100
ྋ㴄, ଷᐮΨͯΡπЀϡϲЄό΅䋚匍ͽͣΡ͡?-ᐮጱ΀ಋྦྷ΁ΞΡπЀϡϲЄό΄਍聜-) Retrieved from http://

www.tosa.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp/index.j.html
101Tosa & Matsuoka & Ellis & Ueda & Nakatsu, op. cit., p.14
102 Matsuoka, op. cit., Retrieved from http://www.tosa.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp/zen/docs/kodaiji_booklet.pdf

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big calligraphy, Japanese folding screen) for the ZENetic Computer installation in the SIGGRAPH
2004 exhibition.(Fig. 5)103 The last display of ZENetic Computer was in ICEC2010 in Seul, Korea.
Fig. 4.(left) User interacts between the physical interface and the virtual interface of Sansui painting.
Fig. 5.(right) ZENetic Computer at SIGGRAPH 2004 Emerging Technologies in Los Angles. (US, 2004)
(4) What a Loving, and Beautiful World, by Sisyu ( ) and teamLab ( )
It is the interactive digital installation collaborated by Sisyu (calligraphy), Hideaki Takahashi

(sound) and teamLab (technology design) in 2011.When a visitor’s shadow touches a Chinese
character, or Kanji, written by Sisyu, the world that the character embodies will appear and a new
world will be created.(Fig.6)104 They trace back the origin of Chinese characters which were firstly
carved in turtle shells, ox and deer bones, then were engraved in bronze ware. Therefore, they
believe that each character contained its own world which was conjured up by its meaning.
According to teamLab, there is a 360-degree computer-generated space behind the projected world.
The objects (triggered images) which are born from the characters are placed at different positions
within the panoramic space. Their physical influences and connections among each other are
considered and calculated in real time to produce a complex world near to nature. For instance,
butterflies are frightened by fire, but attracted to flowers; or if the wind blows, the objects would be
103 Tosa & Matsuoka & Ellis & Ueda & Nakatsu, op. cit., p.15
104Lépine, Matthieu (2012, February 22), “What a Loving, and Beautiful World (TEAMLAB Inc.).” [YouTube] Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6vDk27jgwU
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subjected to its physical impact. “Just as in nature, no two moments are repeated.”105 The passing
moments of the world are never the same. If the visitors keep coming into the space, the objects
which are released from the characters will keep influencing one and another—the new visual world
are constantly created.
The original version was created in 2011 and won the Laval Virtual ReVolution 2012
Architecture/Art/Culture Award in France106 and exhibited in FILE SÃO PAULO 2012—Electronic
Language International Festival in Brazil. It is worth to notice that the latest version in 2016 which
was an exterior projection on the ArtScience Museum façade in Singapore, the visitors don’t walk
by the projected screen to make their shadow match the characters. Instead, they download the
smartphone application of ‘What a Loving, and Beautiful World’, in which they can select
characters from the list, swipe it up, and the character will show up onto the building’s exterior, then
the correlating images with the meaning of the characters emerge on the façade as well.“The result
is a colourful multi-sensory space that continuously evolves as the images that are released from the
characters influence each other, creating an immersive computer-generated world.”(Fig.7)107 This
thesis will compare these two version (2011 and 2016) in the later discussion.
Fig. 6. (left)The visitor touches the Chinese character (Kanji)—ᡭ, which means rainbow. (1:59 in video)
(right) Then, the character turns into the image of rainbow. (2:00 in video)
105 What a Loving, and Beautiful World, teamLab official website, Retrieved from https://www.teamlab.art/w/whatloving/
106Asfa, Sasfa (2012, August 22), “Jounetsu Tairiku - Toshiyuki Inoko (teamLab) / Eng ver.” [YouTube] Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgAotwgSS9M
107TEAMLABNET. (2016, March 6), “What a Loving, and Beautiful World - ArtScience Museum.” [YouTube] Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_nTJEWh9QY&list=LLltopcJndJsDl2oZ7AMjTSg&index=9
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Fig. 7. 2016 version in ArtScience
Museum in Singapore.
1.The viewer selects one

character from the application.
2.Then the viewer swipes up the

selected character. In this case,
she selects 臺, which means
‘flower’.
3.The character shows up onto the

museum’s exterior immediately.
4.Then the correlating image of

the character (i.e.flower) appears
afterwards.
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(5) Enso/Mugenso and Circle, Infinity Circle-VR, by teamLab ( )
Enso ( ) is an essential concept of Zen and Sho, referring to a circle that has been written
with canes or sticks in midair since ancient time, which represents enlightenment, truth, the entirety
of the universe, and the equality. Enso/Mugenso adopts the motif of Zen calligraphy, presenting the
circles (Enso ) and the infinity symbols (Mugenso ) which are eternally written over
and over again in ‘Spatial Calligraphy’.(Fig.8)108 Spatial Calligraphy is a new term created by
teamLab who has been working on reconstructing Japanese calligraphy since the collective founded
in 2000. They give the new interpretation of Sho, the traditional Japanese calligraphy, by
representing it in three-dimension space to express its depth, writing speed, and the power of the
brush stroke. In addition, they also combine other symbol of infinity, such as the Mobius strip,
which originated from the archaic ouroboros—a symbol consists of a single snake or dragon curled
in a ring consuming itself, or of two creatures consuming each other. “For this work, circles and
infinity symbols are drawn and twisted 180 degrees like a Mobius strip, with no distinction between
the front and back faces.”(Fig.9)109 It is believed that this symbol means : cycles, eternity,
perfection, permanence, genesis, etc. According to teamLab’s artistic statement, in each single
moment, a new piece of calligraphy is written then vanish. Therefore, “New calligraphy is
continuously being created, without duplicating previous works.”
Fig. 8. Enso/Mugenso displayed in Tokyo National Museum. (Japan, 2016)
108 Enso / Mugenso, teamLab official website. Retrieved from https://www.teamlab.art/w/mugenso/
109 loc. cit.

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After a short time, teamLab announced Circle, Infinity Circle-VR ( , -VR) in early
2017, which is derived from the concept of Enso, the Zen traditional practicing of writing the
calligraphic circle in a single brushstroke. This interactive VR installation Circle, Infinity Circle-VR
expands the infinity symbol ∞ as the artistic idea by using the virtual reality technology as an
artistic mean. The visitors are invited to wear the VR headsets and use the controller to draw their
own spatial calligraphy in the computer space.(Fig.9)110 The calligraphy is continuously drawn in
real time via a computer program. Then, all the created calligraphy “slowly rotates and floats
upwards and becomes a part of the infinity and circle to form a floating sculpture.”(Fig.10)111 As
emphasised in the description of Enso/Mugenso, Circle, Infinity Circle-VR is also not a playback of
prerecorded images, but the continuously created calligraphy emerging in the space.
Fig. 9. (left)The visitors wear VR headsets and use controller to collaborate the spatial calligraphy.
(right) What the visitor will see when he/she draws spatial calligraphy by virtual reality tools.
(screenshots of the video)
Enso/Mugenso was shown in ‘The Art of Zen : From Mind to Form’ exhibition in Tokyo
National Museum in October 2016.112 And Circle, Infinity Circle-VR was firstly demonstrated in
‘Futue World AIZU’ exhibition in Aizuwakamatsu Lifelong Learning Centre Hall Public Gallery
110Circle, Infinity Circle - VR, teamLab official website. Retrieved from https://www.teamlab.art/w/
spatial_calligraphy_circle_infinity/
111 loc. cit.
112Enso / Mugenso by teamLab will premiere in the Zen exhibition of Tokyo National Museum, (2016 November 8)
teamLab official website. (ώЄϭ϶ϩ͢೴Ζ̽㲖ፘ̾牏䩚玡̿ᐮ疻̀ͽӮኴ‫ض‬ᤈ獍樄) Retrieved from https://
www.teamlab.art/w/mugenso/
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Aizu ( ), in March 2017.113 Given that different technologies are employed, this thesis
will treat them as two different artworks to deliberate its impact on Zen culture and Shodō.
Fig. 10. Circle, Infinity Circle-VR displayed in Fukushima. (Japan, 2017)
5.1.1 New experiences of perception and Cross-cultural understandings
Through reviewing these artworks, there are three significant features of the contemporary
practices of Japanese traditional arts, i.e., Shodō, Ikebana, and Zen culture. Firstly, new media
technologies create new experiences of perceiving traditional arts and expand the possibility of
cross-cultural understandings.
When Jameson raised several concerns about the waning of affect which is resulted from
Pastiche, the unavailability of personal style, calligraphers and media artists attempt to use new
forms to interpret classical arts in this postmodern age. Sisyu expressed her attitude of creating
calligraphic artwork nowadays : “Characters are no more than a way of communicating
information. Through calligraphy, I try to create something more by incorporating expression,
emotions and will. I use different depths of ink (paleness and darkness) and brush strokes to create
113Thank you for coming ‘Future World AIZU’, (2017 March 31) Aizuwakamatsu City official website. (̿Future World
AIZÙ΁ͪ๶䁰͚͵Ͷͣ͘Π͢;͚ͪͬ͜Δͭ͵) Retrieved from http://www.city.aizuwakamatsu.fukushima.jp/docs/
2016010500049/ (Promotion movie can be retired from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tE1bhp1_ybw )
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those expressions.”114 That is to say, what makes Sho as an art form that is distinguished from
language, a communicative tool for exchanging information, is the writer’s emotions and will
through the expression of ink. This is supported by Nagayama’s elaboration of Shodō : “What
matters is conveying to the blank page the spirit, intention, and emotion of what one wishes to say.
And in such a way that the words strike the viewer’s gaze, arresting their attention.”115 Furthermore,
Sisyu proposed that“ The characters is plane, while the lively emotions is stereo. When the
characters combines with the emotions as a whole, the expression of Sho has its own will. And that
Sho could cast a shadow on light.”116 To put it differently, by changing the medium from two-
dimensional paper to three-dimensional sculpture, Sisyu embodied the intangible emotions of Sho
with the visible light and shadow, as the awarded piece Metal Sculpture demonstrated.
To make Sho stereo, it needs to combine with light, in which the shadow of sculptures can express
the meanings of Sho. For people who don’t understand Japanese, or the tradition and the culture of
Japan, the ambiguous shadow can express something more emotional than the character form itself,
which makes them feel and reminiscent more easily. 117
Although the beginning of creating Metal Sculpture has no difference from the traditional way of
writing Sho (i.e,, writing on paper), the final aesthetics vehicle has changed: from two-dimensional
paper to three-dimensional materials that could be etched iron or transparent glass. Through a
variety of light and shadow, Sisyu broadens the expression of Sho to convey the creator’s intention
and spirits.
Compared to Sisyu’s effort of bring Sho from the flat surface to the cubic form, Tosa’s Sound of
IKEBANA goes the opposite way—bring the traditional Ikebana from the stereo to the flat surface.
Precisely speaking, Tosa uses the film technologies to convey the Zen spirits of Ikebana. Tosa
sho (2014, March 12), “觓‫ط‬Ρ-犋‫װ‬- Creating ‘Radiant Divine Wind’,” [YouTube] Retrieved from https://
114
www.youtube.com/watch?v=irSeLug6GtQ
115Nagayama, Norio (2013). What is Shodō? BOKUSHIN Scuola di Calligrafia Orientale official website. Retrieved from
SISYU 羻ᛪ sisyu8 (2017, May 11), “羻ᛪ ‫୽;ط‬,” [YouTube] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
116
v=qWQPGFYosjs The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.
117Milky, Douga (2013, October 30), “䨗螇疑羻ᛪͫΩ͢承Ρ牏褖ኴΨ㪥Π᩼͞Ρ̿䨗̀΄蔭匍‫ێ‬,” [YouTube] Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynebMATWn6U The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.
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proposed the concept of ‘Cultural Computing’ in 2009, which aims to understand the depths of
feeling and culture from communication though utilising the powerful technology of computers.118
In other words, using technology as “a mean for understanding the hidden nature of human emotion
and feelings.” Inspired by the beauty of Rimpa’s painting and its concept of Furyu ( ), which
stands for exercising one’s ingenuity on the achievement of the predecessors in order to create new
things, Tosa merged the painting tradition with the state-of-the-art technologies to create new
artistic experiences.119 In Sound of IKEBANA, Tosa intends to find the ‘hidden beauty in the nature’.
Therefore, she reinterpreted Rimpa’s painting through using viscous pigments, colourful liquid and
oil which are vibrated by sound and shot in high-speed camera, aiming to reveal something that
hasn’t seen before and can’t be seen by the naked eye.
With the close-up, space expands; with slow motion, movement is extended. The enlargement of
a snapshot does not simply render more precise what in any case was visible, though unclear:
it reveals entirely new structural formations of the subject. Evidently a different nature opens itself
to the camera than opens to the naked eye—if only because an unconsciously penetrated space
is substitute for a space consciously explored by man.120
What Benjamin pointed out, the impact of applying new technologies to traditional realm, is
exactly the art-making process of Sound of IKEBANA, as Tosa addressed in the TED speech in
2015. When she shot the colourful pigment with sound vibration, she can’t see how the pigments
changed in the process because it happened too fast. Only when she finished the shooting, she can
see the progressive alteration of pigments afterwards through slowing down the videos filmed by
the high-end camera of 2000 frames/second. And the film technology indeed unfolded a ‘entirely
new structural formation of the subject’ which transformed the colour pigments into the Ikebana-
like shapes in the motion picture to express the typical characteristics of Rimpa’s painting : the
118Tosa, op. cit., The English version was published in 2010. The general idea of ‘Cultural Computing’ can be retrieved
from https://www.astem.or.jp/virtual-lab/culture_en/research/r_kenkyu4/
119Kyoto-U OCW (2015, April 28), “ᒫ1ࢧՂय़͠ΘΣϕЄμ 2015ଙ4์24෭ 02 ࢿ֙੢ৼ硽ദ,” [YouTube] Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-PlUsi84BY&t=18s The concept of Furyu is proposed by historian scholar Tatsuro
Hayashiya (຋੻蜤ӣᮤ) ,and the quoted text is translated by the thesis author.
120 Benjamin, op. cit., P.46 The text in bold is emphasised by the thesis author.
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usage of gold, silver and other traditional Japanese colours, heroic picture compositions, repetitions
of patterns and Tarashikomi technique ( ).121
Besides, Tosa also added some Haiku that represent spring, summer, autumn, and winter to
accompany the motion pictures for each theme video. The narrative of language form helps the
audience (who understand Japanese) to engage their imagination when they appreciate the pieces.
We must notice that Sound of IKEBANA is more like the video art than the cinema, since the poetic
trait of Haiku is more symbolic than the descriptive narrative of cinema that makes it as a coherent
story-telling form. As Kluszczynski expounded the fundamental changes in cinema/film through
decades, he observed that not only cinema itself is assuming an entirely new shape, but also the
context where cinema functions is undergoing change. He identified that“ Film (and indirectly its
assigned apparatus) enters the domain of the television program, the videotape, the laser disc, or–in
response to our requirements–it reaches the television screen (display), integrated with a multimedia
computer, via a fiberoptic telephone line.”122 Tosa uses information-communication technology to
convert the three-dimensional activity of IKEBANA into the two-dimensional perceiving
experience, which becomes more accessible, not limited in space and time whenever you can
connect to the Internet. And the most important change is as Kluszczynski noted that“ They
[cinema/film] certainly do not remain confined to the limits of film poetics, but instead reach
towards film structure as a medium, transforming the methods of reception in addition to offering
new forms of experience and comprehension.”123 That is to say, by using media technologies, Tosa’s
Sound of IKEBANA unfolds a brand-new way to perceive classical arts—Rimpa’s painting and the
spiritual practice of IKEBANA—which provides more possibilities to reinterpret traditions and more
available to the general public.
“If you sit in front of the images, you will naturally fall into a meditative state. No drama, just sit
there and watch yourself move deep inside yourself” was described by Javelosa, the curator of
Yuchengco Museum in Makati City, when they hosted Tosa’s artworks Genesis series in 2017.124
According to Yuchengco Museum, “Inspired by Rimpa, one of the major historical schools of
121Tarashikomi technique (͵Οͭ闋Ε) is the painting technique which achieves shading through pooling successive
layers or partially dried pigment.
122 Kluszczynski, op. cit., p.210-211
123 ibid., p.211
Javelosa, Jeannie E.(2017), When technology brings in spirituality. The Philippine Star Global.Retrieved from http://
124
www.philstar.com/allure/2017/03/12/1680086/when-technology-brings-spirituality
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Japanese painting with its 400-year legacy, Tosa plays with Zen concepts of chance through her use
of Japanese colour inks to generate solemn forms in water, the origin of all life.” 125 That is to say,
we can consider the latest artwork Genesis as the extension of Sound of IKEBANA, which is also
derived from Rimpa school and uses the same way to create the artwork, as Javelosa summarised
that“ It brings together art and technology—not in some digitally-simulated process by a computer
—but in a chaotic art-making process that captures the minute-by-minute fluidity of movement and
sound vibrations, via film and photographs made of real-time movement with a high-speed
camera.”126 Therefore, the perceiving experience of Genesis is highly relevant when we discuss
Sound of IKEBANA. Besides, when Times Square Arts featured Tosa’s Sound of IKEBANA (Spring)
in the Midnight Moment project on April in 2017, Yukie Kamiya, the director of Japan Society
Gallery, gave credit to Tosa for ‘transforming the elegance of Japanese flower arrangement into a
mind-blowing digital experience’.127 Presented by the Times Square Advertising Coalition and
curated by Times Square Arts since 2012, Midnight Moment is the world’s largest, longest-running
digital art exhibition, synchronised on electronic billboards throughout Times Square nightly from
11:57pm to midnight. It has an estimated annual viewership of 2.5 million.128
As Fred Rosenberg, the president of the Times Square Advertising Coalition, pointed out :
“Times Square has always been a place where cultures collide from historical traditions to art from
around the world.” Therefore, Sound of IKEBANA (Spring) fits the vibrant context of Times Square
very well. That is, subverting the traditional way of perceiving Japanese arts by utilising
technologies to form an innovative but meditative and organic whole. Through expanding the scale
of tiny pigments by the fast-forward film technology, Sound of IKEBANA (Spring) brought the
peaceful moment of ‘inner stillness’ from Asia to change the entire atmosphere of the space and
enrich the ‘cultural tapestry‘ characteristics of New York City. As the director of Public Art in Time
125YUCHENGCO MUSEUM. (2017 February) Japanese Video Art at Yuchengco Museum: Digital Dimensions by Nook
Tosa, Yuchengco Museum official website.Retrieved from https://yuchengcomuseum.org/japanese-video-art-yuchengco-
museum/
Javelosa, Jeannie E.(2017), When technology brings in spirituality. The Philippine Star Global.Retrieved from http://
126
127TIMES SQUARE ARTS. (2017 March).Sound of Ikebana (Spring) splashes color across the screens of Times Square.
Times Square Arts official website.Retrieved from http://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/media/press-
releases/naoko-tosa-sound-of-ikebana-spring/index.aspx
TIMES SQUARE ARTS. (2017).Midnight Moment.Times Square Arts official website. Retrieved fromhttp://
128
www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-arts/projects/midnight-moment/index.aspx?dm_t=0,0,0,0,0
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Square Alliance, Debra Simon, complimented that“ This work is so extraordinary—beautiful
colours and slow motion action—a perfect complement to the hustle bustle of Time Square.”129
Interestingly, there is no real flower shows up in the previous three videos: spring, summer, and
autumn. Even in the last video of winter, the real flower only appears in the last 14 seconds of the 8
minute-long video.130 And obviously, there is only the splashing pigments but no real painting as
well. Needless to say, there is no God or any religious icon in Genesis.131 Thus, the next question is
how can Tosa achieve these spiritual experiences of Zen not by following the tradition but by using
media technologies?
According to Inoue, the process of Shugyo, i.e.the spiritual practice of Ikebana, can separate into
two terms : Keiko ( ), and Kufu ( ). Keiko is training, to learn from the past or to intimate
the fixed form as a guide, which is called Kata ( ) in Japanese. He noted that“Kata functions as a
guide that facilitates to the student’s arrival at this state. The way of arts thus can be thought as a
dynamic form of Zen. It seeks the way through focusing on a sequence of actions, not in sitting
meditation, Zazen ( ).”132 That is to say, the Zen experience in Ikebana is achieved through
actions, the interactions with real lives—flowers and plants—in order to learn the ephemerality of
life and the law of the universe. This approach is consistent with Tosa’s artistic statement of Sound
of IKEBANA. Presenting in the TED speech (2015), she said that“ Our life is short and fragile.
Through flower, I want to express Utsuroi feeling of life.” 133 Utsuroi ( ) means everything
is changing. And she believes that cutting-edge technology is not the data-processing tool only, but
a powerful means to express our inner mind. The result of applying film technology to pigments
and sound vibration made her very surprised, she found that the movement of pigments, liquid and
oil are changing, fluctuating, sometimes unpredictable. The movement mainly depends on two
elements : the viscosity of the pigments and the sound features, without the assistance of high-speed
129Times Square NYC (2017, April 17), “April 2017 Midnight Moment: "Sound of Ikebana (Spring)" by Naoko
Tosa,” [YouTube] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnMjT-EKs9I
Sound of IKEBANA: Four seasons,Winter. Naoko Tosa official website.Retrieved from http://www.naokotosa.com/
130
2013/10/1154/
131Tosa, Naoko (2017, April 22), “Ikkan Art Gallery Showed NAOKO TOSA's Genesis,” [YouTube] Retrieved from https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4482OXMvro or https://yuchengcomuseum.org/art-exhibits/digital-dimensions-video-art-
projections-naoko-tosa/ for more exhibition information of ‘Digital Dimensions’ in Yuchengco Museum website.
132 Inoue, Osamu (2015), Shugyo theory in Ikebana, International Journal of Ikebana Studies Vol.3, Ibaraki (JP):
International Society of Ikebana Studies (ISIS), p.3
133 Kyoto-U OCW (2015, April 28), “ᒫ1ࢧՂय़͠ΘΣϕЄμ 2015ଙ4์24෭ 02 ࢿ֙੢ৼ硽ദ,” [YouTube] Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-PlUsi84BY&t=18s ̴
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camera to capture these instant alterations, the hidden beauty of the nature —the transient birth and
death—can’t be perceived by our naked eye. To put it differently, by using traditional colour and
sound vibration to create the unforeseeable movement which can only happen by chance, Tosa
successfully reinterpreted the traditional art in new media realm and transformed its Zen concept
into the spiritual viewing experience.
To unveil the hidden world is one strength of applying media technologies to reconstruct the
artistic expression of traditional arts. Sound of IKEBANA also benefits from its video form—the
immersive characteristics of film.
No sooner has his eye grasped a scene than it is already changed. It cannot be arrested.
Duhamel, who detests the film and know nothing of its significance, though something of its
structure, notes this circumstance as follows : “I can no longer think what I want to think.
My thoughts have been replaced by moving images.”134
As Benjamin has demonstrated above, the moving images keep attracting the audience’s
attention on the screen which would induce them to be concentrated on the piece—“because an
unconsciously penetrated space is substitute for a space consciously explored by man”.135 Besides,
the Yuchengco Museum also described that Tosa’s video artworks were “transforming the museum
galleries into a scenic environment, Digital Dimensions: Video Art Projections by Naoko Tosa
envelops viewers in a sensual exploration of materials and ephemerality.”136 This is supported by
the analysis of Kluszczynski, which provided that video inherits the immersive feature of cinema :
“In the case of the video, the cinematic spectacle–the presentation of the film–has been replaced by
a process which might be described as ‘reading’ the film. The condition of the viewer in the cinema
has been compared to that of a person immersed in a dream.”137 No wonder Javelosa concluded
Tosa’s world as follows : “Through her art and her person, she carries the quiet Japanese Zen-like
134 Benjamin, op. cit., P.47
135 ibid., P.46
136YUCHENGCO MUSEUM. (2017 February) Japanese Video Art at Yuchengco Museum: Digital Dimensions by Nook
Tosa, Yuchengco Museum official website.Retrieved from https://yuchengcomuseum.org/japanese-video-art-yuchengco-
museum/

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cultural DNA made relevant and moving in a world fast-forwarding with digital technology and
new media.”138
In summary, Sound of IKEBANA takes advantage of media technologies to reveal the hidden
beauty in nature and the unpredictable law of life in universe, which favourably reinterprets
traditional arts and strongly transformed the Ikebana practices into spiritual viewing experience by
video art. As Kluszczynski reminded us:
The video […] retains the domination of the work’s structure over the process of reception that
is characteristic for film, whereas the art of interactive multimedia overturns this hierarchy,
offering entirely new methods of organising the process of artistic communication.139
That is to say, no matter the artists turn the traditional arts from two-dimension into three-
dimension or transform the stereo activities of Zen into spiritual viewing experience, the artists still
dominate the whole perceiving experiences. Metal Sculpture and Sound of IKEBANA indeed open
up new ways to experience classical arts, but the audience is the passive recipient and the distance
between the artwork and the viewer is still there. The following discussion of ZENetic Computer
and What a Loving, and Beautiful World (2011 version and 2016 version) will focus on the different
nature of interactive multimedia, which not only creates new experiences of perception, expanding
the cross-cultural understandings, but also turns over the relationship between artists and visitors, or
the active participants.
The first step of ZENetic Computer is to ask the visitor to build a 3D Sansui ink painting by
selecting elements among twelve icons which are Kanji, the hieroglyphic characters, including rock
( ), mountain ( ), moon ( ), traveler ( ), bridge ( ), bird ( ), tree ( ), flower ( ), wise
man ( ), cloud ( ) and water ( ). Each Kanji icon corresponds the oriental perspective of San-
en ( ) to compose the Sansui landscape automatically. As mentioned before, Nakamura Fusetsu
adopted Shu Hua Tong Yuan, the Chinese aesthetics theory proposed by Zhang Yanyuan, to ground
his invocation of “calligraphy and painting stem from the same roots”. In fact, San-en, the unique
method of perspective for Sansui painting is also derived from China, which was proposed by Kuo
Javelosa ,Jeannie E. (2017), When technology brings in spirituality. The Philippine Star Global.Retrieved from http://
138

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Hsi ( or Kaku ki in Japanese), the prestigious academy landscapist of Northern Sung Dynasty
(A.D.960-1127). According to Lin (2015), “Kuo Hsi indicated that ‘People who are good at
calligraphy are also good at painting’ ( ), undoubtedly, he wanted to support Zhang
Yanyuan’s finding of ‘People who do well in painting also do well in calligraphy’ ( )
in order to strengthen the connection between calligraphy and painting which refers to Zhang
Yanyuan’s theory of Shu Hua Tong Yuan.”(p.59)140 Although Tosa’s ZENetic Computer doesn't ask
visitors write calligraphy in presence, the concept she employed to build the Eastern world reproved
the inalienable correlation between calligraphy and ink paining. San-en ( ) perspective is based
on Kuo Hsi’s own observations of nature which was presented in his theory monograph The Lofty
Message of Forests and Streams ( or RINSEN KOUCHI in Japanese).141 As shown in Fig.
11, Tosa introduced this unique perspective of ink painting faithfully : Ko-en ( ) means lying far
away with a view below; Hei-en ( ) means a straight-on view; and Shin-en ( ) means close-
up and viewed from above.142
And she correlated the twelve icons with 3D space to make people who don’t understand the
technique of ink painting can still play the game to create their Sansui painting. “Depending on the
position of the user’s icons, graphics corresponding to the San-en area are displayed, increasing the
realism of the user-created Sansui painting” as demonstrated in Fig.12.
Fig. 11. The first step to play ZENetic

computer : to create a Sansui painting through
San-en perspective.
140Lin, Chin-Tao(2015), A comparative study of calligraphy and painting theories. Thesis of Department of Painting and
Calligraphy Eighteen (18) p.55–98 (The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.)
Japanese Architecture and Art Net Users System. (2001) San-en ӣ螐 JAANUS website Retrieved fromhttp://
141
www.aisf.or.jp/~jaanus/deta/s/sanen.htm
142 Tosa & Matsuoka & Ellis & Ueda & Nakatsu, op. cit., p.16-17
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Fig. 12. Icons are designed to correspond the
San-en perspective. Once it is selected by the
user, each icon will appear in related view of
the landscape.
Since Tosa and her research team also included the Buddhist communication methods between
Zen master and pupil, these icons are designed to connect the core Buddhist thought—“Go-un (
): Siki ( ), Jyu ( ), Sou ( ), Gyou ( ), Shiki ( )”—five different layers to perceive the world
from the physical level to the mental level. Therefore, “When the user generates a Sansui landscape
according to her preferences, the system classifies the user’s individuality through the combination
of Go-un categories assigned to the icons that make up the landscape”, as shown in Fig.13.143
Fig. 13. Relationships between

icons, San-en perspective and
Go-un
After the user finishes creating the Sansui painting, he/she can walk through the 3D Sansui
landscape by operating the ‘rock garden interface’ containing a touch panel.(Fig.14)144 ZENetic
Computer has a very deliberate design: On the one hand, the Sansui landscape shows in the oriental
perspective of San-en principle; on the other hand, the way of operating the Sansui world follows
Buddhism’s world model—“Go-dai ( ): sky ( ), water ( ), fire ( ), wind ( ), earth ( )”.
That is to say, depending on the walking direction of the user, the weather of the Sansui world will
change. For example, if one goes to the South, the thunderstorm comes; if one change to the East,
Tosa & Matsuoka & Ellis & Ueda & Nakatsu, op. cit., p.18-19 (Fig.13 is Tosa’s original table and the Kanji in blue are
143
added by the thesis author.)
144 ibid., p.17

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the fog shows, and so on.145 Then, when the user approaches certain objects in the Sansui world, the
Zen events occur, which request the user to think and react to the mission based on Zen Koan (
) within the virtual 3D world and the physical environments.
Fig. 14. The user interacts with the rock

garden interface
Here we see the user interacts with the artefact, ZENetic Computer, not only through the sequent
actions within the program but also through the physical activities (e.g., clipping hands, drawing
him/herself on the touchpad) to complete one task after another.146 And each Zen dialogue
designated from the programming task to the user is like various fragment of short stories to
provoke the user to think profoundly. According to the investigation by Kluszczynski147,
The mainspring of this differentiation is the invariance of the dispositive, conditioned by the
abundance of interfaces and the profusion of applicable techniques.This diversity means that interactive
cinema retains close intermedial relations with installation art, CD-ROM/DVD art and computer games.
Each Zen Koan becomes an interactive cinema which gives the narrative to engage users into the
context and ask them to respond the story scenes by fulfilling the game tasks. For instance, in the
Koan ’The Sound of One Hand Clapping’( ), the computer system will judge the calmness
of the user’s spirit by measuring the regularity of his/her hand-clipping sound. In the other Koan
’The Lotus Smiles’( ), the research team designed the interaction as a matching game on
the touch screen.148 The Zen concept links up the virtual world of programming and the mental state
145 ibid., p.18
Kyoto-U OCW (2010, April 27), “ZENetic Computer English,” [YouTube] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/
146
watch?v=5Q_tWw40pH4 or Nook Tosa’s website http://www.naokotosa.com/2010/01/434/
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of mind with physical engagement through playing the game of ZENetic Computer installation.
Furthermore, Kluszczynski’s research shows that
The development of interactive computer technologies calls into existence various forms
of interactive cinema/film, spiritually rooted in the theory and distancing practices of
Brechtian cinema, but divergent from it both on the level of actually created structures and
in the character of the demands imposed on the recipient.149
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) was well-known for his theory of ’dialectical theatre’, which uses
‘de-familiarisation effect’ or ‘estrangement effect’ to awake the audience from the illusion of
Aristotelian Theatre, aiming to provoke the passive audience to become the active participant of
society.(Li, 2004)150 This approach is very similar to the way Zen master teaches his pupils, for
example, the famous Koan ’The Sound of One Hand Clapping’ that we just mentioned is originated
from master Hakuin ( ), one of the most influential figures of Japanese Zen Buddhism. He
asked the Zen practitioners : “ Two hands can make clap, please show me the clapping sound of one
hand.”151 Because he believed that the psychological pressure and doubt which come from the
struggles with Koan is the effective way to achieve insight, awakening from normal life. To awake
people from the daily unconsciousness is exactly one important intention of ZENetic Computer.
Not only did Tosa create another structure of accessing this alternative experience of Zen, but she
also utilised the feature of computer game—demanding reactions to pass through tasks—to
strengthen the mental tension and the uncertainty of responding the inconclusive story-fragments.
Tosa pointed out that the interaction of Zen dialogue is controlled by “both cooperative and
oppositional chaos” which refers to the combination of different subject’s state, including (1)the
current state of the user (User), (2) the goal the user should reach (Target), and (3) the guidance of
the Zen master (Zen Master). To faithfully present the fluctuation of chaos and retain the
enjoyment of interacting with the system, they use “dual synchronisation of chaos” to realise the
Li, Chyi-Chang (2004), The Social Thought of Brecht’s Epic Theatre, Journal of Aesthetic Education (140) p.80–85
150
The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.
Ryuuunji Temple. (2016, May 7) ጮ鋔ᐮ䒍͢አ͚͵ᐮ΄̿獍礯̀ӗ獨㲘ॡ檚ΞΠӗ. [Web log post] Oosawayama

151
Ryuuunji Temple. Retrieved from http://ryuun-ji.or.jp/blog/?p=457 The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.
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goal. Namely, the chaotic states of the user and the Zen master (programming guide) will both be
measured as Go-un value to influence the result.
Fig. 15. The interaction and context generation process (ꋉ Seigow Matsuoka and Naoko Tosa)152
As shown in Fig.15, the interaction result will display as another Japanese cultural form—the
Kimono (traditional Japanese costume) patterns. Since different users will create different Sansui
paintings which give rise to different paths (his/her own narrative) to complete the whole journey of
ZENetic Computer, the last stop on ‘Ten Ox Story’ will bring about different outcomes among each
user each time. As Kluszczynski concluded that :
Interactivity–appearing in its very rudimentary form in the case of the video, […]may acquire its
full-fledged form in computer art. This means that interactivity is becoming the internal principle of
the work, and the recipient–if s/he is willing to concretise it–must undertake actions which will
result in forming the object of his or her perception.153
152Tosa, Naoko & Matsuoka, Seigow (2006), ZENetic Computer: Exploring Japanese Culture, Leonardo: Journal of the
International Society of Arts, Sciences and Technology, 39(3), 205–228

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Each step of this flow of ZENetic Computer—the context generating process—is built on the
essence of computing technology, the interactivity, which demands the user to respond the uneasy
tasks on the one hand; while on the other hand, the system inevitably depends on the user’s
reactions for carrying forward the next step. Undoubtedly, each mission assigned from the
programming system is the meditative practice for users. Moreover, Tosa highlights the
embodiment of Ma ( ) concept in ZENetic Computer that attempts to unify the self-consciousness
of users through Zen dialogues :
Ma interaction plays an important role in the process of fusing together these two selves.
[everyday self and the subconscious self] Ma is a very Japanese concept ; it is one that
places a high value on ephemeral events—the here-and-now—within every experience.154
But the most important thing is the hierarchical relationships between the artist and the audience,
the Zen master and the pupil have been reversed in the interactive computer system. Namely, in the
traditional way of reaching the state of Satori (the spiritual enlightenment), the pupil needs to wait
for the instructions from the Zen master who evaluates his/her talent and efforts during the process
of Shugyo(the spiritual practices, e.g. Zazen) ; whereas in ZENetic Computer, the pupil (the user)
takes part on an equal footing to the Zen master (the programming guide) which means the former
doesn’t need to be recognised by the latter, both of them affect and create the final result coequally
and collaboratively. Further, if the user doesn't want to continue the game, he/she can decide by his/
her will and quit immediately. On the contrary, the Zen master (the programming guide) doesn’t
have such power to reject any successful efforts by the pupil (the user) unless there is some
technical problem occurs (e.g.power cut in the venue).
So far, we see the interactive nature of computer art is like a double-edged sword. In one hand, it
affirmatively forces the user to confirm whereabout his/her self-consciousness is by responding the
command to continue the game. In the other hand, the dependency of interactivity, the empowered
recipient, might also be the lurking menace to turn over the real learning relationship between Zen
master and the young generation. Perhaps, this dialectical process of building Zen experiences
through computer is the most philosophical question of Zen in the contemporary context of our
times.
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Compared to the reflective way that technology marries´ü traditional culture in ZENetic
Computer, What a Loving, and Beautiful World demonstrates another way to conjoin these two—not
about contemplating the inner self, but about exploring the beauty of the outer world, or precisely
speaking, the possibility of language expressions in multi-cultural context.
In the decline middle-class society, contemplation became a school for asocial behaviour ;
it was countered by distraction as variant of social conduct. […] From the alluring appearance
or persuasive structure of sound the work of art of the Dadaists became an instrument of ballistics.
It hit the spectator like a bullet, it happened to him, thus acquiring a tactile quality.155
When we look back Benjamin’s analysis of his period, the first half of twentieth century, it is
interesting that he identified the disappearance of contemplation in Dadaist’s work of art and called
the replacement, the ballistic effect on the spectator, as ‘the new tactility’. This ‘tactile quality’ later
promoted a demand for the film, “ The distracting element of which is also primarily tactile, being
based on changes of place and focus which periodically assail the spectator.”156 According to
Kuenzli, “Dadaism in many of its manifestations was reactive, seeking ways of radically short-
circuiting the means by which art objects acquire financial, social and spiritual values.”(1996, p.
17)157 That is to say, for Benjamin, ’the new tactility’ of film is like the strong appeal of Dadaism—
ask the spectator to react the work of art instantly and constantly—in terms of interactive art, we
call it ‘interaction’.
In the 2011 version of What a Loving, and Beautiful World, the visitors enter the panoramic
space, surrounded by digital projection of Sho. When their shadow cover the characters of Sho, each
character transforms into the image to visualise the meaning of itself. Different visitors have
different choices to decide which character he/she wants to touch, or just passing by the wall to let
his/her own shadow match the coming Sho which will change to the images by the diverse height
and shape of the visitors. That is to say, rather to provide a ‘real art object’ of Sho, What a Loving,
and Beautiful World provides a space for visitors to participated in—a new way to experience and
appreciate Sho. This is the typical feature of interactive art, or ‘the context-artefact’ from
156ibid., P.47
157 Kuenzli, Rudolf E.(1996), Dada and Surrealist Film, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press
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Kluszczynski (1997)’s point of view : “ The context-artefact is the product of an artist, who–instead
of presenting the viewer with a traditional artwork, a meaningful object of interpretation and a
source of aesthetic experience–creates a space for interaction.”158
The space turns the passive viewers/visitors into the active participants (or the users, in the case
of ZENetic Computer). In addition, Kluszczynski (2007) noted that“ What is created in the first
place and as a result of the artist’s activity is the context of the work and not the work itself (in the
traditional sense). The artwork emerges afterwards, as the product of the recipient, created by him/
her within the context delineated by the artist.”159 Namely, what makes the context-artefact
completed is the reactions of the participants, which bring about a series of enchantingly beautiful
and vivid visual and sound effects in What a Loving, and Beautiful World, both the 2011 and 2016
version.
Here, we clearly see the change happened in the way of perceiving traditional art—from the real
object of Sho to the digital simulation of Sho. The former presents as ink composition on paper or as
sculptures, while the latter is merely the projection of characters which is generated by the binary
data, then converts to the related images by computational processing. Besides, if we focus on the
realm of interactive art, there is also dramatic changes happened in the interactive way with the
artefact. TeamLab described their latest version of What a Loving, and Beautiful World for
ArtScience Museum in 2016 as below:
To create new visual worlds, viewers select and swipe characters towards the facade of the
building using a smartphone application. Through this gesture, images correlating with the meaning
of the characters emerge on the facade. […] These complex interactions between the viewers
and characters mean that each interaction is unique, just as every event in the natural world is unique.
Through the characters, the world that you have called up, and the worlds that the people around you
call up, connect and influence each other to create a new world.160
159ibid., p.216
160TEAMLABNET. (2016, March 6). “What a Loving, and Beautiful World - ArtScience Museum.” [YouTube]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_nTJEWh9QY&list=LLltopcJndJsDl2oZ7AMjTSg&index=9
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Both the 2011 version and 2016 version display the digital simulation of Sho which call for the
participation of the recipients to transform characters into images. There are few essential changes
in the 2016 version: the interaction becomes individualised and virtualised. Firstly, the new
interface—the application in their smartphones—shows up between the artefact and the recipients
which allows them interact with the artefact through their own devices. Secondly, they don’t need
to participate in the limited space; instead, they can control the distances between themselves and
the artefact (the projection on the facade) outdoor by interacting remotely, namely, to be absent on
site but still contribute to the final outcome of the artwork. Thirdly, since the real interactions
happen on the recipients and their smartphones (i.e. to download the application and use it) that
enable the recipients to control remotely, the real action of touch becomes unavailable. In other
words, the action between the participants and the artefact is virtualised as a gesture.
recipient / participant artefact interaction
ZENetic computer presence computer, installation touch screen of the artefact

(2004)
What a Loving, presence indoor projection touch/pass by the projection

Beautiful world—2011
What a Loving, absence outdoor projection download application

Beautiful world—2016 (remote presence) swipe up screens of phones
Table. 1. The transformation of interactive art
As illustrated in Table 1.,we can find there is a tendency of virtualisation in the realm of
interactive art. In ZENetic Computer, there is still a computer as the ‘art object’ to interact, the
recipients touch the screen of the computer and do some physical activities to complete the whole
artistic process. While in What a Loving, and Beautiful World, there is no so-called ‘the art object’
but the ‘context-artefact’ which requires the participants to interact with the space. They can choose
to touch the digital projection or let the real-time programming system detect their presence to
transform the space. In other words, the real touch is not necessary in 2011 version, and the
‘virtualised interaction’ is realised in 2016 version : Instead of detecting the presence of real people,
the real-time programming system detects which command has been made from the application and
responds on the facade. Namely, even the command is made by a machine, the artwork will still
work. In brief, the artefact, the human participant, and the interaction between them are undergoing
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the digital revolution which leads to multi-surfaces (i.e.computer screen, projection wall, the
smartphone of each recipient) as Jameson admonished, and the virtual disposition of the subject.161
5.1.2 Emancipation from the materiality and the language form
For the viewers/recipients/participants, new media technologies not only create new experiences
of perceiving traditional arts, but also provide new possibilities of understanding other cultures
through interacting with artworks. What are the characteristics of these media artworks? In this
chapter, I would like to introduce the second feature of employing technologies on traditional arts,
especially on Shodō whose material base and communicative form have been renovated in the
contemporary context.
Firstly, Sho is emancipated from the traditional materiality. According to Kuwahara:

“Calligraphy art is something quite different from painting. Speed and pressure are the two
important factors that characterise calligraphy lines and the interlacing of these two brings forth
unlimited variation.”162 That is to say, the most distinguished feature of Sho is the techniques—how
the calligrapher expresses ‘speed’ and ‘pressure’—the medium, the paper (in the traditional sense),
is not the main focus of its aesthetic standard. In addition, compared to the flatness of painting,
Kuwahara elaborated the three-dimensional characteristics of Sho : “Sinking or lifting the brush
create richly varied lines which is an expression of different degrees of cubic pressure worked on
the brush. Since the calligraphing is a cross-section of this cubic motion marked on the sheet, it
163
cannot be called but in fact is cubic image.” This is supported by calligrapher Kawao Tomoko
( , 1977-)’s study and artistic practices of Sho (2013) :
There are two elements in Shodō: point and Lines. But the movement of the brush from one point
to another is something that happens in the air, which is not visible on the paper. I’m focusing on
somehow expressing this three-dimensional movement in my artwork to encourage viewers to use
161When Jameson compared the shoes of Van Gogh and the shoes of Andy Warhol to describe a new kind of flatness or
deathlessness in the postmodern society, he argued about Warhol’s pieces, saying “this is not, I think, a matter of content
any longer but of some more fundamental mutation both in the object world itself—now become a set of texts or
simulacra—and in the disposition of the subject. ” (Jameson, op. cit., p.9)
162 Kuwahara, op. cit., p.12 (The quoted text is written in bilingual—Japanese and English.)
163 loc. cit.

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their imaginations.164
Although most of Kawao’s works combine with human body, live performance and photography,
the essential part of Sho is presented as two-dimensional piece.165 But her point of view indeed
indicated the unique nature of Sho whose three-dimensional feature was later embodied by Sisyu’s
sculpture. When Sisyu mentioned her initial idea of Metal Sculpture, she said that“ In fact, before
Kanji was written on paper, Kanji was cubic by its nature which was written on ox’s bone or turtle’s
shell in the ancient time. I was inspired by its origin, so I tried to make it stereo.”166 Besides making
Sho as etched iron sculptures, Sisyu added the lighting design with Sho whose projecting angels,
level of strong or weak will make various shadow to express different emotions of the characters. In
other words, Sisyu not only uses new materials to embodied the ‘speed’ and ‘pressure’ of Sho which
allows people to appreciate from 360 degree—not depending on their imagination anymore, but
enhancing people’s feeling to make Sho more understandable in cross-cultural context. As she
described the experience of exhibiting Metal Sculpture at Carrousel du Louvre in Paris :
I want to make people of the world feel our passion on Sho as we do. When I considered how can
I achieve this goal, I decided to liberate Sho from the tradition, namely, from paper to sculpture.
[…] Even though Kanji and Kana are Japanese, when it combines with light and shadow, some
French audience can recognise the message from the sculptures and confirm with me
wether they are right or not. That experience made me truly realised that the border of
languages or cultures doesn’t exist.167
164 Kawao Tomato is the well-known Japanese calligrapher who undertakes the wide variety of calligraphy projects in
numerous filed and media, including the signage of train, name tablets of temples, composition for TV drama (NHK) and
radio programs, fashion and interior products. She is also the appointed professor of Shikoku University. The quoted text
is from the interview video, retried from IS JAPAN COOL? official website of ANA (All Nippon Airways) https://www.ana-
cooljapan.com/contents/traditions/movie/shodo/INT12010364
Work. Fashion Cantata from KYOTO 2014. Retrieved from Calligrapher TOMOKO KAWAO official website http://
165
kawaotomoko.com/works/artworks

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynebMATWn6U The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.
BS๖෭ Fresh Faces 뺶ίό϶ταϟϕ뺶, (2015, December 20). “̓Fresh Faces #08̈́羻ᛪҁ䨗疑),” [YouTube]
167
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a62dr2t3eYQ (The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.)
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She also drew an analogy between Sho and songs : “If we focus too much on the ‘meaning of the
words’, that will build the barrier to limit the expression of language. For example, we might not
understand the lyric of the song, but the song itself can still touch people’s heart worldwide. It is the
same case in Sho : if you have some idea that you want to share with people, the message will be
conveyed to them through your works.”168 That is to say, if the traditional techniques are retained in
the contemporary artwork, it doesn’t matter which medium you use to communicate your artistic
idea. Once you find other media to express your idea more effectively, such as: etched iron, glass,
light and shadow, you don’t need to confine yourself to the past, the established form; instead, your
new expression might open the door for the audience and for the traditional realm. Sisyu’s Metal
Sculpture well-proved that, the first emancipation of traditional materiality of Sho.
The second emancipation of Sho by technologies occurred in its language form. As mentioned
before, Jameson adopted Lacan’s concept of ‘schizophrenia’ to describe the characteristics of the
postmodern society, that is, a breakdown in the signifying chain169 —the interlocking syntagmatic
series of signifiers which constitutes an utterance or a meaning has failed to connect each others.
Furthermore, Jameson highlighted the contribution of Lacan’s interpretation on Saussure’s
semiology to ground his argument of the forth repudiation of the depth model—the great semiotic
opposition between the signifier and signified—in contemporary practices :
His conception of the signifying chain essentially presupposes one of the basic principles (and one
of the great discoveries) of Saussurean structuralism, namely, the proposition that meaning is not a
one-to-one relationship between signifier and signified, between the materiality of language,
between a word or a name, and its referent or concept. Meaning on the new view is generated
by the movement from signifier to signifier.170
Ōmagari, Tomoko (2017), “Hokusai transforms the cubic into the flat, while Sisyu transforms the flat into the cubic.”—
168
Converting the normal expression of Sho, what is the idea behind?, Mugendai official website. ( य़ใฬৼ,̿玖踣΅缏֛
Ψଘᶎ΁牏羻ᛪ΅ଘᶎΨ缏֛΁̀―蔭匍΄ଉ蘷Ψ薟ͯ̿䨗̀΁闋Η͵మ͚;΅, 篷褖य़ςαϕ) Retrieved from http://
www.mugendai-web.jp/archives/6726 The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.
170 loc. cit.

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When we follow Jameson’s insight to see What a Loving, and Beautiful World, we can find it
proved the collapse of which Jameson pointed out ; interestingly, it also well-demonstrated a
‘collapse of goodwill’ in order to connect the signifier and the signified tightly and extensively.
When Sisyu mentioned her attitude of creating Sho in the digital age, she said,“Since digital [Sho] is
constituted by 0 and 1, perhaps the simpleness of digital [Sho] is more acceptable in nowadays.”171
In addition, she also indicated that “ We are living in the society which is inextricable from
technologies, therefore I create Sho in a digital way. […] In my opinion, the boundaries between
cultures need the power of art to surmount. That is to say, the collaboration between culture and the
creative industries is necessary to introduce Japan to the world.”172
To put it differently, computer technology enhances the not one-to-one relationship between
signifier (Kanji character) and signified (the meaning of the character) by its nature of binary data,
the permutation and combination of 0 and 1. When the Kanji character (signifier) turns into 0 and 1,
it can transform into anything through the data processing, which might be relevant to its original
meaning (signified) or not— since the transformed outcome, the image and its related sound effects,
are the product of binary data as well. It is like you put a fashion catalogue in pawn and get some
money back, then you can use this money (0 and 1) to buy your brother a soccer match ticket or buy
some beautiful clothes for yourself. The former has nothing to do with the origin (signifier), is the
non-related signified; while the latter is the related-signified that strengthens the relation between
your actions and intention, to wit : through putting the fashion catalogue (the signifier) in pawn
(data processing), you transform yourself to a beautiful person (the signified).
Many contemporary artists choose the former way to deconstruct the meanings and ossified
thoughts, such as ZYX, the iPhone application designed by the famous net artist JODI in 2012.173 It
guides the participants a series of actions (e.g. turn around 10 times, blow their smartphones as hard
as they can, lift the smartphone up and down 20 times) but all the actions are deviated from its own
meanings which leads to the pointless result that is exactly the message JODI want to convey—
questioning the network and the computer logic. Whereas, What a Loving, and Beautiful World
chose the latter way to utilise computational technology : To transform the signifier into the
BS๖෭ Fresh Faces 뺶ίό϶ταϟϕ뺶, (2015, December 20). “̓Fresh Faces #08̈́羻ᛪ (䨗疑),” [YouTube]
171
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a62dr2t3eYQ The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynebMATWn6U (The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.)
173Communication Paths. (2014 March) JODI (NL/B) ZYX, Net. Specific official website. Retrieved from http://
netspecific.net/en/communication-paths/jodi or https://vimeo.com/38011227
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signified—Kanji transformed its language form, the vehicle of meaning, into the correlated image
which is exactly the meaning itself. For people don’t understand Japanese or Chinese or the
meaning of Kanji characters (e.g. children), this artistic means has big merit and strength to increase
the comprehension in cross-culture context.
Besides, it not only fastens the signifier (Kanji characters) on the signified (character meaning),
but also enriches the perceiving experiences by adding visual and sound effects based on their
functions and relationships in nature. Take the 2011 version as examples : when the participant’s
shadow covers the Kanji which means moon, the projection world will change from daytime to
nighttime; or in the case of Kanji which means sea, the participant will see the character turn to
waves and simultaneously hear the sound of tides. As the founder of teamLab, Toshiyuki Inoko (
) proposed : “Everything has its physical mass heretofore, which means everything is firm
and fixed. However, the changeless concept is out of fashion. Only through collaboration,
humankind can move forward from now on.[…] Digital technologies can free matter from its
physical substance, namely, to liberate matter from the material world.”174 Inoko’s idea of digital art
is well-illustrated in What a Loving, and Beautiful World, which not only creates meanings by ‘the
movement from signifier (Kanji characters) to signifier (image and sound)’, but also conjoins the
signifier (the concept) and the signified (the substance in material world) together as the ‘meaning-
effect’, which was expounded by Jameson :
What we generally call the signified—the meaning or conceptual content of an utterance—
is now rather to be seen as a meaning-effect, as that objective mirage of signification generated
and projected by the relationship of signifiers among themselves.175
In summary, by changing the medium and employing digital technologies, the contemporary art
practices emancipate Shodō from its traditional materiality and the language form, which enables
the recipients/participants to perceive art in new ways and expands new possibilities to
communicate with more people—from native speakers to foreigners, from adults to children—in
174Audi Japan /ίγϔΰ υϰϞЀ, (2016, August 2). “̽ᶐ碝΄αχϭ̾ ᒫ1ࢧ物ᶐ碝ጱϔυόϸμϷεαόЄ辍ৼ੖ԏ,”

[YouTube] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLZyK3sikzI (The quoted text is translated by the thesis
author.)

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the cross-cultural environments. The next chapter, I would like to delve into the particular traits of
interactive art and elaborate the third feature of the contemporary practices of Japanese traditional
arts : the tendency of being interactive as a public event.
5.1.3 City as an art form: interactive, events
For the first time in world history, mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its
parasitical dependencies on ritual. To an ever greater degree the work of art reproduced becomes the
work of art designed for reproducibility. From a photographic negative, for example, one can make any
number of prints; to ask for the ‘authentic’ print makes no sense.
—Walter Benjamin, «The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction»176 —
The renovation of media technologies not only refreshes the perceiving experiences of the
recipients but also emancipates the essence of the artwork itself—in terms of interactive art, no the
‘cult value’ nor the ’exhibition value’ is accented177, but the ‘participatory recipient’ is underscored.
If we say the photographic technology had changed art piece into ‘the work of art designed for
reproductivity’; then, we can assume that the digital technologies has turned art piece into ‘the work
of artistic participation’. Kluszczynski (1997) articulated the different meaning of ‘artefact’ with
regard to interactive art :
Artefact, in reference to interactive art, is here taken to mean the product of an artist’s
creative activity, a structural connection of selected elements (and aspects) of the dispositive and
the interface. Seen from another perspective, the artefact is the structure of the hypertext,
including the material constituting its basis: images, sounds, texts, i.e. the foundation of
a work’s textuality.178
177 According to Benjamin, these two polar plane is how the work of art is received and valued. Benjamin, op. cit., P.41
178 Kluszczynski, op. cit., p. 226

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As mentioned before, the ‘artwork’ emerges afterward in respect of interactive art. That is to say,
the ‘artwork’ is the collaborative product of the participant and the ’artefact’ which is not a real
object to be worshiped but ‘the structure of the hypertext’, inviting the recipients to interact with. To
elaborate the unique characteristics of digital interactive art, Inoko compared with the perceiving
experiences of looking at the Mona Lisa painting at Louvre Museum. In the speech of World
Economic forum 2016, He showed a photograph of crowded people in front of the Mona Lisa
painting which was displayed in glass cabinet with tight security. He pointed out: “The Mona Lisa
is not influenced by those who saw her five minutes earlier, or by how the person nearby [you] sees
her, or by the behaviour of someone nearby.”179 In other words, the audience for the Mona Lisa
painting is merely ‘the viewer’,and any further interaction is prohibited. The recipient is not the
participant in the case of classical paintings, and each recipient has nothing to do with each other
nor with the artwork. However, Inoko proposed that“ The work exists in relation to the
individual”180, that is to say, the relationships between interactive artworks and the recipients,
between one participant to another are connected. This idea corresponds the insight of avant-garde
Japanese film director Terayama Shūji ( ,1935-1983), he noted that“ The author creates the
half of the world. To complete the other half, it needs the creation of the recipient. Only through
their interaction can accomplish the expression of the world as a whole.”181
Besides the advancement of the spectatorship in the context of interactive art, Inoko also believes
the potential of digital artworks. That is to transform the city space without ‘changing physically’
but ‘maintaining the function of the city as it is’,based on its ‘non-materialistic’ feature of digital
technology. He extends the perceiving experience of Lourve Museum to the city—the bigger space
where we are living together :
The modern city has become too sophisticated, complex and large. You may feel that your own
and others’ existence do not make any impact on it at all. Just like how the people standing in front
of the Mona Lisa get in the way, we think that others get in our way in the city, too.
179 World Economic Forum, (2016, August 17). “Visionary Art Digital World | Toshiyuki Inoko,” [YouTube] Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_jtB1_j8ik&t=71s
180 loc. cit.
181The editorial department of “Film Quarterly” collection,(2009) The Prophecy of Art!!—the trajectory of Radical Culture
of 1960s,Tokyo: Film Art Inc. (̿疄‫ږ‬Ϣΰϸϭ̀πϹμτϴЀ独翥褸蟂(2009). !! デ・
. : 㵕ͥ‫ڊ‬粚ᐒ独ϢΰϸϭίЄϕᐒ), p222 (The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.)
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If the city is digitised as it is and become a space of art, there is the potential to influence
the relationship between the people living in the same city.182
Inoko not only intends to use digital art to influence the interpersonal relationship in the living
area, but also proposes ‘collaboration’ as the key for innovation in the digital age. It is consistent
with the studies of Cubitt and Thomas, which reveals that
In new media arts, that subjectivity is far more distributed among collaboration on already large,
sometimes vast networks. What is more, the subjectivity is by no means exclusively human:
the machines and networks, the code and protocols, the screens and projections, plotters and
amplifiers, and the track pads and sensors all form agency in the network and with it the subjectivity
that […] expands to include nonhuman, nontechnological agency in the wider environment :
fauna, flora, climate, wind speed, ocean currents, atmospheric pollution.183
Interestingly, this ‘collaborative subjectivity’ during the creating process is also emphasised in
Shodō, which is similar to the Ma concept we discussed in ZENetic Computer. Since ‘everything is
ephemeral’,not only your mood but also the environments surrounding you—the wind speed, the
flower smell, the light and the birdsongs change every second when you run your brush on the
paper, which have influenced your feelings/expressions until you finish the piece. To collaborate
with the non-technological agency is not the news in Shodō or in Zen, but taking the technological
agency(i.e. the machine and its network) into account is, which is the way we collaborate with the
wider environments—including non-technological and technological agency—to create new works
in nowadays society of ubiquitous digital media. In addition, Cubitt and Thomas also indicated the
lurking problem of the ‘subjectivity movement’ in new media art, which has moved from the artists
to the viewers: “Charged with the task of completing the work by participating in it, the audience is
drawn into becoming a subject for the work.[…]This is the stake of the “presentative” that so
182 World Economic Forum, (2016, August 17), “Visionary Art Digital World | Toshiyuki Inoko,” [YouTube] Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_jtB1_j8ik&t=71s
183 Cubitt and Thomas, op. cit., p.14-15

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exercises Virilio: not a theatre but an event”184 What a Loving, and Beautiful World well
demonstrated these two polar developments : The 2011 version is akin to the interactive cinema
which creates the ‘illusion effect’ to immerse the audience indoor. While the 2016 version is
affiliated with public event which engages people by the outdoor projection and their Internet
devices. Howbeit, there are some scholars argued that the role of the audience is merely a cog to
trigger the function of interaction artworks. As cited in Kluszczynski: “Mona Sarkis, who argues
that the user of interactive artistic forms is not transformed into a creator, but rather resembles a
puppet that executes a vision programmed by the artist/technician/software developer (Sarkis,
1993).”185 Is that accurate? Can this argument apply to all the interactive artworks?
I would like to argue that it is untenable in the case of What a Loving, and Beautiful World and
ZENetic Computer. With the breakdown of the signifying chain, Jameson identifies that “the
schizophrenic is reduced to an experience of pure material signifiers, or, in other words, a series of
pure and unrelated presents in time.”186 But as discussed before, What a Loving, and Beautiful
World uses different signifiers (i.e.Kanji characters, images and sound effects) but bearing the same
meaning to embody the signified, which can be cited as a good example to prove the ‘not-one-to-
one relationship’ between signifier and signified. Besides, Jameson also mentions this breakdown
takes place in the cross-cultural situation : “What happens in textuality or schizophrenic art is
strikingly illuminated by such clinical accounts, although in the cultural text, the isolated signifier is
no longer an enigmatic state of the world or an incomprehensible yet mesmerising fragment of
language but rather something closer to a sentence in free-standing isolation.”187 Through data
processing, What a Loving, and Beautiful World cleverly utilises the advantage of audio-visual
media to transform the free-standing isolation—the language form—into the interconnected
network of signifiers.
Furthermore, Jameson points out the solution, which is originated from our own capacity, to
confront the schizophrenic characteristics of the postmodern society :
Think, for example, of the experience of John Cage's music, in which a cluster of material sounds
184 loc. cit.
Kluszczynski, Ryszard W.(2007), From Film to Interactive Art:Transformations in Media Arts, Academia website,
185
Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/4484519/From_Film_to_Interactive_Art._Transformations_in_Media_Arts
187 ibid., p.28

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(on the prepared piano, for example) is followed by a silence so intolerable that you cannot imagine
another sonorous chord coming into existence and cannot imagine remembering the previous one
well enough to make any connection with it if it does.188
As Cage used the silence—the different form of sound—to evoke the audience to think, force
them to connect the ‘pure and unrelated presents in time’, Cage´s music didn’t provide the ‘illusion’
but create the new space for the audience to engage their thought, their doubt, their interpretation in
the piece. What a Loving, and Beautiful World enables the recipients to comprehend Kanji
characters in different cultures by supplying the ‘movement of signifier to signifier’; while ZENetic
Computer doesn’t give any yes-no answer but the philosophical Koan stories one after another, as
the fragment of the interactive cinema, to motivate the participants to find their own interpretation
during each task. Without employing their thought, the audience would be unable to appreciate the
beauty of the work, nor to complete the whole journey delineated by the artist/technician/software
developer.
As cited in Cubitt and Thomas : “Theodor Adorno argued that art is compelled ‘to undergo
subjective mediation in its objective constitution.’ ”189 That is to say, the ‘objective constitute’ can
refer to the composition of the classical paintings whose evaluation mostly depends on the
knowledge level of the recipient, and the work of art is the self-sufficient world which is distant and
independent from the audience. Meanwhile, the ‘objective constitute’ can also indicate the
hypertext-structure of the interactive artworks, which creates the room for the recipient to
participate, yet the intensity of participation depends on how much the recipient understands the
whole structure and how the hypertext-structure reacts to their response. The ‘subjective mediation’
happens in every interaction, in other words, it happens more frequently and directly in interactive
artworks than in traditional art realm. Therefore, I found it is an efficient strategy to disseminate
traditional arts in cross-cultural context by utilising the new media technologies, especially in the
form of interactive art, as What a Loving, and Beautiful World and ZENetic Computer have shown.
188 loc. cit.
189 Cubitt and Thomas, op. cit., p.13

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5.2 Employing ’interactive aesthetics’ as an artistic means in Shodō
Following on from the innovation of the earlier vision machines of photography, film or video, we are
already seeing the beginnings of a true 'mechanisation of perception', whereby the intrusion of
optoelectronic devices right inside the nervous system partly explains the abandonment of projection
rooms which have also become smaller and smaller (94-95).
—Douglas Kellner, <Virilio on Vision Machines> 190—
As cited in Kellner, Virilio has already predicted ‘the intrusion of optoelectronics devices’,
namely, the audiovisual helmet in virtual reality devices, would lead to the ‘mechanisation of
perception’ on human at the end of twentieth century. From movie theatre, exhibition hall, even
extending to the living city, the material space always has its limit; whereas the immaterial digital
world doesn’t. The two version of What a Loving, and Beautiful World in 2011 and 2016 have
leaked out some clue of the tendency—the abandonment of projection room—the indoor
installation is substituted by the outdoor projection ; while the digital command of the smartphone
application substitutes for the real presence of the human participants. This paradigm-shift from the
physical to the virtual has been reinforced in Enso/Mugenso and Circle, Infinity Circle-VR whose
proposal of ‘Spatial Calligraphy’ challenges the definition of Shodō that we have been taking for
granted over a thousand years. Therefore, following the finding of previous chapter—‘interactive
art’ is an efficient means to propagate traditional arts in different cultures—in this chapter, I would
like to discuss the possibility of employing such ’interactive aesthetics’ in Shodō. To what extent,
people can still consider it as an art piece of Sho ; and to what extent, it couldn’t ? Where is the
border between art and nonart, Sho and non-Sho?
To begin with, I would like to differentiated Enso/Mugenso from Circle, Infinity Circle-VR.
There are two perspectives to interpret Enso : from the viewer side and from the writer/drawer side.
The former is as teamLab described : “The circle also reflects the hearts and minds of those who
view it, with its interpretation left to the individual.”191 While the latter is representing the creator’s
state of Zen, as Seo (2007) noted that“ Regardless of how it is interpreted, the Enso is an expression
of the mind of the artist. It is said that the state of the practitioner can be particularly clearly read in
190 Kellner, Douglas (1998), Virilio on Vision Machines : On Paul Virilio, Open Sky, Film-Philosophy, 2(1)
191 Enso / Mugenso, teamLab official website. Retrieved from https://www.teamlab.art/w/mugenso/

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the manner of execution of an Enso.[…] Drawing Enso is a spiritual practice that one might
perform as often as once per day.”192 In ZENetic Computer, this spiritual practice is designed as one
task, called Koan ’Dharma Anjin’ : “the position of the Target chaos changes depending on the
curvature and density of the drawing the user sketches. The higher the density and curvature are, the
better Go-un state achieved. In other words, the Zen “enso” (circle) is the best.”193 However, there
is no room for the recipient to draw his/her own Enso, but viewing the alteration of Enso/Mugenso
from the screen. That is to say, it is not an interactive artwork as ZENetic Computer or Circle,
Infinity Circle-VR. Instead, it is akin to Tosa’s another piece, Sound o IKEBANA, which uses totally
different ‘tool’—not brush, ink, paper, but the animation of Enso and digital goldfishes—to
reinterpret traditional art via data processing and presenting as a video artwork. Although it lacks
the interaction, it still retains the room of interpretations for the viewer. Especially, it also adds new
elements into the piece : the ancient Egyptian ouroboros and the Möbius strip. The former depicts
the dragon/snake is eating its tail whose image of ‘constantly re-creating itself’ was later used in
Renaissance magic and modern symbolism,“often taken to symbolise introspection, the eternal
return or cyclicality”.194 Meanwhile, the Möbius strip was discovered independently by German
mathematicians August Ferdinand Möbius and Johann Benedict Listing in 1858. It has the
mathematical property of being unorientable by deleting the boundary as an endless loop.195
Through combining these two symbols, Enso/Mugenso takes good advantage of computing
technology to mingle these symbols—from philosophy, mythology to mathematics—as a whole
narrative which presents as a ceaselessly changeable ‘sign movement’ between Enso, snake and the
infinity (∞). Enso/Mugenso successfully interconnects the Eastern thoughts and the Western
context, not only through enriching the traditional meaning of Enso, but also demonstrating the
‘cubic characteristic’ of Sho via 3D animation in the video. Both ways of employing digital
technologies indeed, as Sisyu said, ‘liberates Sho from the tradition’—even it is still on the two-
dimensional realm of video. By utilising the strength of multimedia, the Zen dialogues between
infinity and limit, the eternal and the transient have been expanded by the good alliance of
technology, art and culture in Enso/Mugenso.
192 Seo, Audrey Yoshiko (2007), Enso: Zen Circles of Enlightenment, Boston & London: Weatherhill
194Soto-Andrade, Jorge & Jaramillo, Sebastia ́n & Gutie ́rrez, Claudio & Letelier, Juan-Carlos(2011), Ouroboros avatars:
A mathematical exploration of Self-reference and Metabolic Closure, Conference : Advances in Artificial Life, ECAL.
Paris, France. Retrieved from https://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/alife/0262297140chap115.pdf
195 Pickover, Clifford A. (2007), The Möbius Strip: Dr. August Möbius's Marvelous Band in Mathematics, Games,
Literature, Art, Technology, and Cosmology, New York : Thunder‘s Mouth Press
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However, as an interactive VR installation, Circle, Infinity Circle-VR has completely different
nature from Enso/Mugenso. As mentioned before, there are two essential aspects to evaluate a work
of Shodō : the personality of the calligrapher and the technique of mastering the brushstroke. Firstly,
the trait of virtual reality technology, in the case of Circle, Infinity Circle-VR, might contradict with
the first demand of Shodō : the personality of the writing subject. According to Kluszczynski :
The Internet–by introducing networks into VR technologies–creates new directions of development
for the potential net-based form of interactive, virtual cinema. The principal aim seems to be to
establish the possibility of a telematic, multi-user participation in the virtual world thus conjured,
which would turn all recipients into active, reciprocally interactive film characters.196
Compared to the recipient as merely ‘the viewer’ in Enso/Mugenso, Circle, Infinity Circle-VR
transforms the recipients into the ’interactive film characters’ whose actions are supposed to
influence each other and the final ‘artwork’ as well. As far as we know, the ‘multi-user
participation’ has not been considered in Shodō before. First of all, it would be difficult to define
‘the collective personality’, especially this unsteady collective is constituted by uncertain people
who come and go, namely ‘the personality’ is unpredictable and hard to judge.
The second doubt is : did they transform to the ‘film characters’ successfully? Could they show
their ‘characteristics’ in the work? Study by Kluszczynski revealed that : “Both objects, i.e.the
artefact and the work of art, connected by the interactor’s receptive-creative actions. […]Thus, the
product acquires a processual character, becoming a complex communicative situation rather than a
subject structure.[…]This final creation may be called–in keeping with tradition–a (broadly
understood) work of art. Alternatively, it may, more adequately to the character of interactive art, be
termed a field of interactive artistic communication.”197 That is to say, when the writing subject
changes from one person to multiple participants, in the context of interactive art, the ‘subject
structure’ is always fluctuating in the process. Thus, rather to identify the ‘subjectivity’ in the course
of interaction, it is more feasible to call it ‘the interactive artistic communication’. To put it
197 ibid., p. 217

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differently, there is no personality can be identified in Circle, Infinity Circle-VR, as Virilio had
foreseen (1993) :
Thus the mobile human who had become automobile will now become motile, wilfully limiting his or her
bodily sphere of influence to a few simple gestures, to the emission--or zapping--of several signs.198
When the subjectivity is reduced to gestures and transmitted as signs and signals, how about the
‘artwork’ they collaboratively created ? Could it call ‘a work of art’ or ‘a work of collective
efforts’ ? Thus, the third doubt is questioning wether it achieves the other touchstone of Shodō : the
technique of mastering the brushstroke. According to the interview with master Nagayama, he
pointed out there is no difference between European students and Asian students to perform their
personality in Shodō, since everyone is unique by nature. However, when I asked wether we can
apply the technique of Shodō to other languages, he admitted that it would be challenging for him to
recognise if there is any technique used or not, in the case of English. (N. Nagayama, personal
communication, February 27, 2017)
Fan : Even it is ‘translated’ to Kaisho or Gyosho, is it still difficult to see?
Nagayama : It’s difficult. Because I need at least 20 strokes to see which Shodō techniques they use.
If only 4 strokes, there would be no rhythm (author’s personality), no space(balance of ink
and emptiness), just some movement, it’s hard to see anything. Just the moment,
everyone can do that. I can only catch the impression of how much knowledge they have
on the materials.
‘At least 20 strokes’ is proposed here as a relatively objective standard to evaluate the ‘working
outcome’ of Circle, Infinity Circle-VR. Notwithstanding, based on the documentary videos199 , it is
scarcely to see any character, but more drawing-like strokes, written in the virtual world which is
198Virilio, Paul (1993) Questioning technologies—The third interval : a critical transition, Rethinking technologies, In
V.A.Conley, on behalf of the Miami Theory Collective (Ed.).Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press. (1993),P.3-12
199There are two videos, one is on teamLab website (see footnote197), documented in 2017. The other one is on
teamLab’s youtube channel, documented in 2016. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=R1AzcF8Rgmc&index=2&list=PL8yW-XZ9eW7www_BZTcO4R5FJPagQU3vD
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demonstrated on the monitor. What is more, according to its artistic statement : “the infinity and
circle motifs were constructed in computer space and are being continuously drawn for eternity.”
And after the participants wear the VR headset, they can “use the controller to draw their own
spatial calligraphy. The calligraphy then slowly rotates and floats upwards and becomes a part of
the infinity and circle to form a floating sculpture.”200 That is to say, no matter how many strokes
the participants create, all of these ‘signal’ would transform into the ‘circle motif’ by real-time
computer programming.
To conclude, the participants in Circle, Infinity Circle-VR is much more like ‘the puppet’ to
execute the programming than other artworks we have discussed before. In the world of virtual
reality, there is no ink, no paper, and the brush is replaced by the controller as well. In the so-called
‘Spatial Calligraphy’, the personality of each subject is so obscure that has no real impact on the
work, while the technique of Shodō has no choice but surrender the rigorous calculation of
computer processing. From my perspective, ‘Spatial Calligraphy’ is not Sho nor Shodō which
requests the meaning of life through ‘the art of writing’. But in the case of Circle, Infinity Circle-
VR, it may be considered as a ‘good’ interactive media work. As Kluszczynski noted the ‘processual
character’ of interactive art, Circle, Infinity Circle-VR indeed provides ‘a field of interactive artistic
communication.’ In my opinion, it undoubtedly creates the space of ‘interactive communication’,
but I am hesitated to say wether it is an ‘artistic communication’ or not. Therefore, I would like to
delve into the essence of interactive art, or more precisely, the core of ‘hypertext art’.
5.2.1 Cyber-culture : Who are we interacting with?
Kluszczynski presented a comprehensive view of cyber-culture, he observed that there are two
radically opposite tendencies : The first current considers interactive art in the context of earlier
concepts of art and with reference to the traditional, modernist aesthetic paradigm. The main
doctrine of this system is representation which primarily expresses the artist’s imagination,
sensitivity, knowledge and intentions. Thus, “As a result of such an attitude towards interactive art,
the experienced interaction […] is seen as an intermediary interaction with the human (or humans)
who made the work or its software.”201 If we adopt this thought to examine the mentioned artworks:

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the participants in ZENetic Computer interact with media artist Naoko Tosa and her research team;
in What a Loving, and Beautiful World, they interact with calligrapher Sisyu’s Kanji characters,
musician Hideaki Takahashi’s sound design, and teamLab’s real-time programming; as just
discussed, the participants in Circle, Infinity Circle-VR interact mostly with the computer
programmed by teamLab. Apparently, only Circle, Infinity Circle-VR has no artist involved in, but
is that the problem to tarnish the aesthetic value of a work?
In order to elucidate the phenomena of cyber-culture, Kluszczynski proposed that we can benefit
from Derrida’s logophonocentric attitude as a method of approaching text, language,
communication and interpretation. As cited in Kluszczynski,“a classical logophonocentric
interpretation reduces a given work, employing categories of representation and expression, in
search for the work’s ultimate truth or the intentions of the creator.” That is to say, all the text
(expression) in the artwork serves as simply ‘a neutral and transparent vehicle’ for the meaning
prior to itself—the intentions of the creator is less important than the interpretations of the
recipients, based on the perceiving experiences of the work. With regard to interactive art,
Theoreticians asserting their connection with the traditional aesthetic paradigm agree that the
meaning offered to the recipient by an interactive work is largely modified in the course of the
reception. […] In their theories applying to interactive art, the domination of meaning over the work’s
relational (i.e. communicative) structure is not as pronounced as in more traditional artistic forms. 202
To be exact, interactive art dwindles the supremacy of a priori meaning by allowing the
recipients provide their interpretation—the ‘open communication’ is wider than in traditional art
form. However, from Kluszczynski’s viewpoint, the dominant status of artists remains unchanged
regardless of the soft form of ‘open communication’ in interactive artworks:
The process of interactive artistic communication occurs predominantly in the shadow of
the Author and his primal, fundamental presence. Not only does the authorial presence transform
an object into art, but it also suffuses the work with meaning and value, defining–in a somewhat
202 ibid., p. 219

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softened form–all aspects of the interaction.203
In other words, the ‘interactive (artistic) communication’ is inextricably linked to the

representation, i.e.the intention of the creator, since the recipient is interacting with the context
delineated and defined by the creator. Take ZENetic Computer as example, by offering ‘Cultural
Computing’ as a method to represent the essential aspects of culture, the users can experience Zen
culture firsthand. Despite it is designed as a computer system which consists of several stages of
missions to complete, Tosa also addresses that“ Through encounters with Zen Koans and Haiku
poetry, the user is constantly and sharply forced to confirm the whereabouts of his or her self-
consciousness. However, there is no "right answer" to be found anywhere.”204 Hence, the intention
of the artist is to provide the recipient a firsthand environment of Zen to experience his/her ‘united
consciousness’ through the task-completing journey. Every single participant has his/her own
choice, therefore the route of journey is different and each final outcome is different as well. In
addition, the more important thing is not the result but the ‘interactive process’, namely, the
‘interactive communication’. As discussed before, they need to reflect upon themselves to interact
with the system, i.e.each interaction demands contemplative thinking, which exactly realises the
aim of ZENetic Computer—to experience the dialectic dialogues of Zen in mind, and give their own
interpretation/decision. In my opinion, ZENetic Computer provides a field of ‘interactive artistic
communication’ for the recipient, not because the creator is the artist , but because the artistic means
fulfils the aim of the artwork and the goal of the creator.
To the contrary, Circle, Infinity Circle-VR tells another story. According to the artistic statement
on teamLab’s website : “Spatial Calligraphy is a new interpretation of traditional calligraphy, it
reconstructs Japanese calligraphy in three-dimensional space and expresses the depth, speed and
power of the brush stroke.”205 The role of the recipient is more like a guest who is invited to enter
the virtual world by wearing the VR headset and using the controller to draw their own ‘circle’. If
the recipient is the guest, by analogy, the technician/programmer is the own of the house which
refers to the virtual world. Why I compare the recipient to the guest, not the other owner of the
house? Because there is some rules already established by the owner (programmer): Firstly, “the
infinity and circle motifs were constructed in computer space and are being continuously drawn for
203loc. cit.
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eternity”206. That is to say, no matter the guest (recipient) comes or leaves, the ‘circle motif’ is
always there, as a guest, you are not allowed (or able) to change it. Secondly, after the guest
(recipient) joins with the intangible owner (programmer), drawing some strokes in the house (the
virtual world), ”The calligraphy then slowly rotates and floats upwards and becomes a part of the
infinity and circle to form a floating sculpture”207. Namely, even the guest (recipient) wants to draw/
write any Kanji character as Sho, he/she couldn’t. Because all the ‘digital strokes’ will turn into the
‘circle motif’ through data processing to form the floating sculpture. The final rule is “The same
calligraphy that is viewable one moment can never be seen again.”208 As a guest, no matter how
great your participation is, it would ultimately be erased by the house’s rule (computer
programming) which has been determined by the owner (programmer).
In summary, it is unclear to what extent the recipient can perform their calligraphy techniques,
such as : the composition ( ), TENKAKU ( ), the motion of brush ( ), the variation
of the ink colour ( ), and the blank space ( )—that we mentioned in chapter four (traditional
aesthetics). Even though they can carry out some techniques to show their personality,
unfortunately, it can only exist one minute, including the time that those strokes change to ‘circle
motif’. To wit, there is limited room for the participants really practice calligraphy, most part of this
work is dominated by computer programming.
From my point of view, it is challenging to recognise the ‘Spatial Calligraphy’ as another branch
of calligraphy, in the case of Circle, Infinity Circle-VR. Besides, the aesthetics value is difficult to
be evaluated, not only because the human part is overwhelmed by the technology, but also because
the final result is thoroughly determined by the computer. I tend to see Circle, Infinity Circle-VR as
an interactive work of VR installation, therefore I would say it creates a field of ’interactive
communication’ between the recipient and the computer. But I am conservative to say it is a filed of
‘interactive artistic communication’. If it has any aesthetic value, it may locate in the realm of
virtual art, but definitely not in the realm of Shodō.
As Kluszczynski observed that” Very frequently the inventive, innovative character of these
categories is annulled in an attempt to adapt them to the requirements of the traditional aesthetic
206 loc. cit.
207 loc. cit.
208 loc. cit.

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paradigm.”209 In fact, it is not impossible for the traditional aesthetics paradigm to accept
technology to create the so-called ’digital Sho’. For example, Sumi Sumarai Artist Ryujin is a self-
proclaimed Japanese digital calligrapher who is active on using iPad and applications to do digital
Shodō performance. His work was also invited to Japan Art Tasting Expo in Milano in 2015. When
I demonstrated his work to master Nagayama (Fig.16), we had an interesting discussion on the
indispensable elements of Shodō. (N. Nagayama, personal communication, February 27, 2017)
Fig. 16. ’Digital Calligrapher’ created by Sumi Sumarai Artist Ryujin 210
Fan : How do you think about the ‘digital calligrapher’, like the work of Sumi Samurai Artist Ryuujin?
Nagayama : It’s good. Because he has his own personality in his work. Not the digital media do
calligraphy, but his personality do his calligraphy art. He creates it with his hands, not the
technology creates. He does his art, not the computer does his art.
Fan : So, no matter it’s on paper or iPad screen, if there is a personality inside, that is art.
Nagayama : Yes. But not just the personality I see his digital calligraphy as art, but also I see some
techniques of his training in his works. It might be difficult for normal people who don’t have the
calligraphy training to differentiate wether it is a calligraphy art. Cause I’m a calligrapher, he is too,
we can see if the techniques inhabits in the work or not. If I don’t see any technique—the classical rule
210 Kobayashi, Ryujin (ੜ຋谍Ո). (2014, May 7) iPadͽϔυόϸ䨗螇ϞϢζЄϫЀφ [Web log post]. Retrieved from
http://ameblo.jp/shodouka-kobayashi/entry-11844125607.html
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of writing calligraphy— in it, I wouldn’t consider him as a calligrapher. Whatever he does should come
from these techniques; otherwise, it’s not a calligraphy work. […] Writing beautiful words is easy, for
example, a monk can write beautiful works because of his beautiful personality, but we wouldn’t
consider his works as calligraphy if there is no special calligraphic techniques.
That is to say, the sound techniques of mastering the brushstroke is the foundation to be
considered as ‘a work of Shodō’ ; while the personality is the other crucial part to make the work
recognised as ‘an art piece of Shodō’. Although the technique and the personality are both essential
to Shodō, the latter must be established on the former. In addition, changing the tool from the
traditional medium (i.e.paper, brush, ink) to digital media is acceptable, as long as the techniques
and the personality are retain in the work.
Finally, Virilio also reminded us : “Every technological system contains its specific form of
accident: with the invention of the ship, you get the shipwreck; the plane brings on plane crashes;
the automobile, car accidents, and so on.”(as cited in Kellner)211 From Circle, Infinity Circle-VR, we
seem to learn the lesson of Virilio’s caution again : On the one hand, VR technology invents the
new possibility of ‘collective calligraphy’ which never existed before ; on the other hand, it also
invents ‘the disappearance of subject’ in the realm of traditional art, which gives rise to ‘Pastiche’—
the unavailability of personal style, or the collage of unsteady ‘schizophrenic self’, and the chief
concern of Jameson—‘the waning of affect’ in the postmodern world.
5.2.2 Hypertext art : artistic value & its dilemma
Even though it is hard to judge the artistic value on Circle, Infinity Circle-VR by traditional
aesthetics, the major problem might not come from outside, the external standard, but from inside—
the essence of hypertext art. As mentioned in the beginning of 5.2.1, there are two opposing
tendencies juxtapose in cyber-culture. The first current is to consider interactive art in the contexts
of traditional, modernist aesthetics paradigm. According to Kluszczynski, “The representatives of
the other trend are characterised by a proclivity to overemphasise those aspects of the new artistic
211 Kellner, op. cit., p.152

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phenomena which transcend traditional canons and which tend towards their cancellation.”212
ZENetic Computer can be seen as the example of the first trend, while Circle, Infinity Circle-VR
illustrates the ‘new artistic phenomena’—becoming an interactive event—and the ’cancellation’
quite well. This is consistent with the critique of Virilio, as Armitage pointed out :
Virilio writes of the emergence of public opinion and the appearance of a ‘virtual’ or
‘multimedia democracy’ that is not just obliterating democracy but also the senses of the human body,
with the growth of hyper-violence and an excessively and peculiarly sexless pornography.213
If the ‘erased human presence’ is the main reason that make the traditional paradigm hard to
recognize its value, perhaps we should put Circle, Infinity Circle-VR into another genre based on its
features. Kluszczynski indicated that“ Interactive communication may free itself from the
traditionally understood notions of representation and expression, from the idea of meaning
preceding communication. […] Interactive artistic communication could thus become a
multidimensional, multiform, unceasing process in which values and meanings, as well as new
realities, are created in cooperation.”214 Furthermore, compared to the dominant status of artists in
the first trend, the second trend highlights ‘the work’ itself in the view of Derrida :
Derrida’s deconstructionism is championed by the second tendency: the work occupies the primary
position. Attention is paid to its structure, the process of its formation—requires a different type of
reception–an “active interpretation,” resembling a game, promoting a transformative activity oriented
towards “non-finality”, “non-ultimacy”. 215
Participating in Circle, Infinity Circle-VR is more like to play within the Virtual Reality system—
the text, image, sound that they encounter in the virtual environment—rather than practice
calligraphy. Hence, it would be more adequate to consider its aesthetics value as a work of
213 Virilio, op. cit., p.7
215 ibid., p. 219

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hypertext art. Likewise, Kluszczynski added that“ Hypertext–a multilevel, multi-element structure–
does not determine or privilege any direction of analysis or interpretation (i.e.comprehension). The
journey through it is termed ‘navigation’ (cf. e.g. Barrett, 1989; Berk, Devlin, 1991; Bolter, 1991;
Aarseth, 1997).”216 Namely, through the interfaces—wearing the VR headset and using the
controller—the recipient can join the ‘navigation’ in the hypertext environment to experience and to
explore. Moreover, Kluszczynski differentiated that
Hypertext in its entirety, however, is never the object of the recipient’s perception or experience,
but rather–as mentioned above–the context of this experience. The technical—constructional
characteristics and the properties of the medium employed by the hypertext artist delineate the
standard circumstances of reception.217
Hence, when we try to analyse a piece of hypertext art, the first thing we should notice is to
move our attention from the recipient side toward the artwork side, i.e.’the context’ or ‘the
navigation’. From Ascott’s point of view, “The crucial feature of cyberart and cyberculture is the
abandonment of the idea of representation. […] artist, who–instead of creating, expressing and
communicating content or meaning–becomes a designer of contexts in which the recipient is to
construct his or her experiences, their references and meanings ”(as cited in Kluszczynski)218
Besides, Kluszczynski expounded Derrida’ deconstructionism to emphasise the strength of
interactive media art : “Derrida reduced the role of the author to one of the interpretative contexts;
similarly, interactive art has de-mythologized the role of artist-as-demiurge, ascribing to him the
function of context designer who prepares the ground for creative reception.“ From this point of
view, it becomes a meaningless problem to ask wether the creator of the interactive media art is
artist or not. Instead, we should examine wether the ‘context’ is well-designed or not, which refers
to ‘the field of interactive artistic communication’—“where the work, along with other elements
(the artist, the recipient/interactor, the artefact, the interface) becomes entangled in an intricate,
multidimensional complex of communication processes”.219
216 ibid., p. 222
217 loc. cit.
218 ibid., p. 218
219 ibid., p. 223

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In brief, to evaluate the ‘context’ is to evaluate the ‘complex communication processes’ between
the work and the recipients in terms of interactive media art. In other words, after examining the
work itself, the perceiving/interacting experiences from the recipients still play an ineludible role to
adjudicate its aesthetic value. However, it exposes the ontological issue of hypertext art, as
identified by Kluszczynski :
We must decide whether hypertext ought to be treated as an artwork (albeit one whose entirety
cannot be grasped in an aesthetic experience), or perhaps agree with the verdict that the work
does not exist, or, finally, assume that interactive art invokes a new type of artwork : one which
materialises exclusively during a receptive (creative—receptive) interaction and is not identical with
the result of the artist’s creational actions. Moreover, it is not intersubjectively identical, seeing as
each recipient experiences the unique outcome of his/her own interaction.
As discussed before, the receptive interaction will turn into the ‘circle motif’ which has been
already programmed by the creator. Even if there is any ‘intersubjective difference’, it can only last
less than 1 minute then turn to the same result, the infinite ‘circle motif’. The problem is not the
identical result which is still dominate by the computer/creator, but the lack of ‘the immutability’ for
connoisseurship. Kluszczynski provided the in-depth analysis on the dilemma of hypertext art220 :
It is difficult to speak of analysing a phenomenon that only exists during the process of reception,
since one of the premises of analysis is a certain durability of the work under inspection, the
repeatability of its experience, as well as the possibility of returning to the analysed object. The same
is true for interpretation. […] both analysis and interpretation assume the immutability–even a limited
one–of the examined object, the persistence of its meaning. None of these requirements can be met.
220 loc. cit.

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Since “the calligraphy is continuously drawn in real time using a computer program ” in Circle,
Infinity Circle-VR, it also highlights the outcome is not the ‘playback of prerecord images’ ,
“without duplicating the previous works, the same calligraphy […] can never be seen again.”221
Thus, the only way to evaluate it is during the process, before the brushstrokes you created
disappear in the system, as Kluszczynski proposed: “Both the analysis and interpretation of an
artwork thus understood must be parallel to the process of its reception, its (co-)creation; it must be
identical with it. Reception, creation, analysis and interpretation become one and the same complex
of processes, occurring in the field of artistic communication.”222 Howbeit, in the case of Circle,
Infinity Circle-VR, it is an arduous task to finish reception, creation, analysis and your own
interpretation in only one minute.
Moreover, it is impossible to retrace what you had done (the reception, creation, analysis and
interpretation) in the next minute. Because it would be erased automatically by the real-time
programming—neither you nor others can verify wether your evaluation is appropriate or not. That
is another serious issue—the lack of objective verdict from a third party—as Kluszczynski
described that“ If the knowledge produced by them is not intersubjectively verifiable, and its object
is not intersubjectively available, the same analytical-interpretative actions lose their status of
isolated, autonomous critical or scientific procedures.”223 Lastly, I would like to quote Virilio’s
insight to conclude this chapter :
As long as people censor the possible disappearance of art there will be no art.
To think about the here and now, the temporality and present of art, is to oppose its disappearance,
to refusing being a collaborator. 224
This is an interview excerpt conducted by Catherine David, the deputy director of Musée
National d'Art Moderne and Centre Pompidou, when she discussed the importance of ‘witnessing’
with Virilio. Interestingly, the idea of ‘here and now’ indicated by Virilio coincides with the Ma
223 ibid., p. 224
224David ,Catherine (2001) Interview 9 : The Dark Spot of Art, VIRILIO LIVE: Selected Interviews, In J. Armitage
(Ed.).Great Britain: SAGE Publications Ltd., P.128-143
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concept proposed in ZENetic Computer by Tosa—“to place a high value on ephemeral events—the
here-and-now—within every experience.”225 That is, to pay attention to what happened in our daily
history, i.e. to experience ‘the temporality and presence of art’, in Virilio’s term, which also
corresponds Benjamin’s appeal to a work of art—“its presence in time and space, its unique
existence at the place where it happens to be”226 ,namely, the ‘aura’ in the history.
5.3 The foundation of Art
Based on the discussion from Sisyu’ Metal Sculpture to teamLab’ Circle, Infinity Circle-VR, one
of the more significant finding to emerge from the study is that : no matter the expressive medium is
physical material or digital simulation, retaining the aesthetic concept of the tradition is the key to
be considered as a work of art. Apparently, the main artefact of Metal Sculpture is the traditional
work of Shodō ; Sound of IKEBANA utilises colourful pigments (especially gold and silver) with
Tarashikomi technique of Rimpa paining to transform the spiritual practice of Ikebana into the
meditative experience. Enso/Mugenso also enriches the Zen concept by mingling with other cultural
symbols, and expands our perception of Sho by demonstrating three-demential ‘spatial calligraphy’
in digital world.
With regard to interactive art, the ‘artefact’ become ‘the structure of the hypertext’,i.e. the
foundation of a work’s textuality, in Kluszczynski’s term. ZENetic Computer constructs its Sansui
world by employing the San-en perspective of Chinese ink painting, while What a Loving, and
Beautiful World adopts calligrapher Sisyu’s work of Sho as the trigger to unfold an enchanting
universe of characters and cultures. However, as explained before, the aesthetics value of Circle,
Infinite Circle-VR is debatable. Not only because it couldn't achieve the two standard of calligraphy
(i.e.the technique and the personality), but also because the paradoxical entity of hypertext art itself
cannot be evaluate properly. Thus, we can reach the conclusion which reveals that retaining the
concepts of the traditional aesthetics is indispensable for new media artworks that intend to
reinterpret the tradition. Without doing that, even the work employs the state-of-the-art technology,
it is still not the art, but an advanced tool showing how technologies swallow up the subjectivity
under the guise of renovating traditions.

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6. Discussion on Technology : the materiality
Based on the conclusion of the previous chapter, we found the irreplaceable position of
traditional aesthetics in interactive media artworks. On this account, I would like to investigate the
reasons why the established technique is so essential to Shodō, and how can we use technologies to
learn these techniques of Shodō. Is it possible? What would happen if we change the real brush, ink,
paper, i.e.the material base, to digital interface to practice Shodō ?
Cubitt and Thomas analysed Virilio, W.J.T. Mitchell, and Agamben’s attitude toward
transcending the aesthetics in our ’biocyberbetic’ period, and they observed that“ These three
authors leaves us with three problems posed as characteristic of the new and the contemporary :
presentation as the fulfilment of abstraction in the age of sampling, the dialectic of control and
chaos, and art’s transcendence of the aesthetics.”227 As discussed before, with the progress of ever-
improving technology, a ‘presentative multimedia democracy’ has substituted for the representative
paradigm of art. Moreover, through examining Robinson’s work Comedy which establishes a
relation between whakaapa (wisdom of the ancestors) and technology, Cubitt and Thomas found
that “materiality has apart still to play not only in the traditional societies that the meeting with
modernity created but also in the very heart of the supposedly immaterial world of binary digits.”228
Thus, we reach an initial consensus : the materiality is the pillar of the immateriality. Without the
materiality, the immateriality is destined to collapse.
So, what is ‘the materiality’ of Shodō ? Hayles differentiated it from ‘the physicality,’ she said :
“Physicality in my understanding is similar to an object’s essence; potentially infinite, it is
unknowable in its totality. What we can know, however, are the physical qualities that present
themselves to us, which I designated as materiality.”229 Hayles’s differentiation can help us
understand the substance of Shodō more clearly : the physicality of Shodō is akin to ‘the
disposition’ of the work which is more intangible and indicates ‘the personality’ of the writer ; while
the materiality of Shodō is ‘the work itself’ which is expressed on the paper and shows ‘the
techniques’ of the writer. Thus, the next question is how the calligrapher mingles these two
227 Cubitt and Thomas, op. cit., p.4-5
228 ibid., p.10
229Hayles, N. Katherine (2014), Speculate Aesthetics and Object-Oriented Inquiry (OOI), Speculations V: Aesthetics in
the 21st Century, In R. Askin, P.J.Ennis, A. Hägler and P. Schweighauser (Ed.).New York : punctum books ✶ brooklyn, P.
158-179
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lifeblood into one Shodō piece, to be precisely, how to embody ‘the personality’ as a material piece
through ‘the technique’ of Shodō ?
Study by Hoffmann and Whittman found that“ The interest in drawings and note-taking practices
as means of observation. Especially in (historical) case studies on astronomy and microscopy, the
production of records and sketches has been described in terms of a modelling, stylisation, or
professionalisation of perception.“230 In fact, drawing and note-taking practices is exactly the
process of writing calligraphy : it is the interaction of hand, paper, and pen or pencil—in case of
Shodō, the brush—to visualise what was previously thought (in brain), observed (from
environments), or imagined (in mind).Since calligraphy and ink painting stem from the same roots,
especially concerning Shodō combines the pictorial composition of Kanji and the musical liquidity
of Kana, we can affirm that Japanese calligraphy art includes the features of drawing and writing
both. Hence, in order to scrutinise the practice of ‘professionalising perception’, we can benefit
from the research of Hoffmann and Whittmann, which reveals three aspects of drawing and
writing :
First, writing and drawing may be framed as a configuration of instruments, materials, sign systems,
the writer’s or the draftsman’s body, and the research object, with its respective time-specific
circumstances. […] ”writing scene,” which may be conceived as an “unstable ensemble of language,
instrumentality, and gesture” (Campe 1991, 760)231
The ‘time-specific circumstances’ underlines the historical moment of writing calligraphy—the

interaction between human body and the materials—happens in certain environment, this is the first
perspective. The second perspective of drawing and writing is ‘the internal formation’,that is,“an
order of steps that translates into a characteristic spatial arrangement of traces in temporal
sequence.”232 It can be understood as ‘the movement’ of Shodō which accentuated that the
composition of brush, ink and blank space on the paper can represent the writer’s heart. The last
perspective is ‘the plurality’ : “Finally, in addition to the configuration and procedure, the
Hoffmann, Christoph and Whittmann, Barbara (2013), Introduction: Knowledge in the Making: Drawing and Writing as
230
Research Techniques, Science In Context (26)2, pp.203–213
231 ibid., p.206
232 ibid., p.206–207

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languages of inscription in their plurality are of eminent importance for the analysis of writing and
drawing. […] Sometimes exploratory processes engender syntactic junctions between written and
pictorial notes, thereby creating rebus-like recording techniques”233 Despite the fact that the
characters of Kanji and Kana have their specific form (the TENKAKU), when writing quickly in
Sou-Sho style, the shape of the calligraphy will be extremely cursive, as some ‘rebus-like’ recording
of his/her mind; while writing in Gyo-Sho style, some line of the character can be omitted.
Therefore, even it is the same character, it would be written in a variety of shape by different
calligraphers because everyone has different decisions. Further, even it is written by the same
calligrapher, the work would not be identical as well. Because it is like Hoffmann and Wittmann
said, the ‘exploratory process’ of mind—every moment is changing. Avant-garde calligrapher
Morita Shiryū’s Dragon Knows Dragon ( , 1969) can be cited as a good example here. (Fig.
17) The left and the right character is the same word (dragon), but compared to the right
expression, the left one is more like the real animal ‘dragon’ which has ‘a long, sinewy tail flying
through the air.’234
Fig. 17. ’Dragon Knows Dragon’ (1969) created by Morita Shiryū
Accordingly, through these aspects—the time-specific circumstances, the internal formation, and
the plurality, we found that Shodō can be acknowledged as ‘a combination of material actions and
non-material rules or algorithms about ‘how to proceed.’ “235 The non-material rule or algorithms is
233 Hoffmann and Whittmann, op. cit., p.207
Dragon Knows Dragon (Ryu wa ryu wo shiru),The Art Institute of Chicago website, Retrieved from http://
234
www.artic.edu/aic/collections/exhibitions/BeyondGoldenClouds/artwork/62558/print
235 Hoffmann and Whittmann, op. cit., p.209

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the calligrapher’s mind, his/her perception and decision in that certain time and space ; while the
material actions is the interaction between his/her body (hands), paper, ink and brush.
6.1 Shodō is the Art of Mind : communicative, reflective
Shodō is said to express the human’s heart. When you feel in your heart flows through your arm
and is expressed on the paper. It’s as if your heart on the paper
—Kawao Tomoko, ‘The Art of Japanese Life’ interview236—
The big difference of Shodō that distinguishes it from other art forms is its practical function—a
live language, a communication tool.Thus, writing calligraphy sometimes is not for presenting the
artist’s self but to communicate with others. In that occasion, people believe that the work
accommodates the writer’s soul, therefore the message can be conveyed to the recipient. Sisyu has
held the annual workshop Love Letter Project since 2007 which invites 100 participants, from
children to adults, to write big calligraphy together.237 She said : “Language has very strong power,
because there are many strength inhabit inside—for example, the energy of the writer’s soul, the
temperature of the writer. That is why it can affect people. If you write calligraphy is not for
yourself but for someone else, this kind of feelings and wishes will inhabit in your work. That is the
theme of Love Letter Project which I want to tell people.”238 Sisyu’s idea is consistent with the
viewpoint of calligrapher Kawao, when she mentions the composition concept of her best-known
artwork Ko-Oh ( , Fig.18) : “ There is some invisible movement between the point of Ko( ,
meaning ‘call’) and the point of Oh( , meaning ‘response’), which has something desired to
express or to be understood. That is, something comes out not just from my inside only, but from
my imagination and feelings towards someone else as well.”239
The Art of Japanese Life, Series 1, Home, The Way of Shodo: artist Tomoko Kawao, BBC Four official website.
236
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p056qcjq/player
237 Love Letter Project, Love Letter Project website, Retrieved from http://www.standard-works.com/LLP/
BS๖෭ Fresh Faces 뺶ίό϶ταϟϕ뺶, (2015, December 20). “̓Fresh Faces #08̈́羻ᛪ (䨗疑),” [YouTube]
238
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a62dr2t3eYQ The quoted text is translated by the thesis author.
239Okada,Toshikazu (2013), Title background for NHK drama ‘Yae No Sakura’, the Kyoto-based calligrapher Kawao
Tomoko. SanKei News West, Retrieved from http://www.sankei.com/west/news/130721/wst1307210105-n1.html (䍫ኦ硵
Ӟ, 2013,̿獌᯿΄䫜̀Ҩҩ碸猟ͽဳፓ牏Ղ᮷΄聅ՈͯͤΡ䨗疑, 叩奺碝股ςαϕΔͽ) The text is translated by the thesis
author.
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Fig. 18. "Ko-Oh 2013 #5 - Always Rising to a New Challenge”240
In fact, not only does the communicative function of Shodō fascinate people, but the reflective
utility as well. According to Kuwahara,“Calligraphy is not an art of technique but an art of mind. In
a word, a piece of work should be judged not only by the result but also by the movement of brush,
the progress and the attitude of calligrapher that are observed through the work. A beautiful
calligraphy must have a fine movement of brush in accordance with an upright character figure.“241
He pointed out the uniqueness of Shodō as an art form : not only the result (the materiality), but also
through the work to observe the personality performing in the writing process (the physicality). And
the former (brush movement) is presumed to present the latter (the character figure, or the
personality). That is why Bundō Shunkai decided to practice Shodō through whole life, because he
was aware of this contemplative aspect of Shodō and said“ What determines a piece of Sho is good
or not depends on the calligrapher’s heart. Therefore, we should always remember to enrich our
heart, making it energetic and stronger.”242
Besides, when I asked master Nagayama how he see the changes of traditional aesthetics during
his 60-year-practice of Shodō, he added that the richness of your heart not only influences you to
create a good work but also influences you to appreciate others’ works. He said: “ When I was
young, no matter how magnificent impression the work might bring, I can’t feel that because I
didn’t have similar experience before. I can only see what I’ve already had. As I grew older,
Work. Title background for NHK historical TV drama series "Yae No Sakura". Retrieved from Calligrapher TOMOKO
240
KAWAO official website http://kawaotomoko.com/works/artworks/1154 or http://hr-roppongi.jp/news/archives/2221
241 Kuwahara, op. cit., p.13
242Achievements of master Bundo Shunkai. Zuiun shodou-kai (official website). Retrieved from http://www.zuiun-
shodoukai.com/text/achieve.html
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experienced the world more, my ability of appreciating others’ work also grew. Then I can see the
greatness which I couldn’t see before.” As the literal explanation of Shodō, that is, ‘requesting the
meaning of life through writing calligraphy’, Shodō is a life-long practice which enables us to
perceive its materiality (the technique of the work) differently and deeply, depending on not only
the physicality (the personality) of the calligrapher but ours as well. Moreover, Nagayama also
pointed out the higher standard of good calligraphy work, that is : to touch people’s heart. (N.
Nagayama, personal communication, February 27, 2017)
Fan : So, what is a good work of Shodō?
Nagayama : Calligraphic techniques plus good personality.
Fan : What do you mean ‘good’ ?
Nagayama : A good calligraphy work should impress people at the first sight. To impress the
audience, the human part [personality] is essential. That is to say, without the human part, there is
no deep impression in every line you write. If your work can’t touch people’s heart, it is merely a writing
stuff. […] Also, the negative emotion is important. If someone can use this violent, strong emotion,
he/she can be a good calligrapher as well. Especially this kind of works is accepted broadly
nowadays.
6.2 The Extended Mind : Brush
When it comes to the materiality of Shodō, it is inevitable to discus its tool—the brush. Hence, I
would investigate the significance of brush and its irreplaceable position in Shodō. According to
Andy Clark and David Chalmers’s seminar paper «The Extended Mind» in 1998, they claimed that
If, as we confront some task, a part of the world functions as a process which, were it done in the
head, we would have no hesitation in recognising as part of the cognitive process, then that part of
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the world is (so we claim) part of the cognitive process.243
That is to say, external objects (so-called ’a part of the world’) might be part of the human mind,
in case they are actively used to think. Clark and Chalmers used two examples to verify their
argument, here I would address the first example for explanation: A and B decide to meet each other
in front of the museum. A relies on his memory to find the place; whereas B who suffers from
Alzheimer, in order to arrive the museum, he needs the help of the notebook where he wrote the
address. In the case of B, the object (the notebook) functions as a hard-drive where the brain stores
the information he learnt before. The concept of Extended Mind later became the Parity Principle
which Clark and Chalmers proposed in 2005. They indicated that “If one object performs an activity
that is perceived as being mental, it should be part of the mind of the user” (as cited in Mendes)244
As shown above, not only the communicative function but also the reflective characteristic,
Shodō has been considered as the art of mind since its origin until today. Based on the standpoint of
Clark and Chalmers, I would like to propose that the brush is the ‘extended mind’ of the
calligrapher. As described by Nagayama on the topic of “ What is Shodō ”, he said : ” As with
painting, before even commencing, the art of Sho requires mastery of the brushstroke, decisiveness
of movement, continuity of rhythm, and control of the force exerted on the brush.”245 Namely, all
the knowledge and perception of Sho will converge in the brush whose strokes shows the
techniques, the feelings, and the accumulation of experiences of the calligrapher. The brush
resembles the bridge to connect the external world and the inner state of the calligrapher’s reason
and emotions. As Kawao mentioned that writing calligraphy is as if your heart on the paper ;
similarly, using brush to practice Sho is as if your ‘extended mind’ performs on the paper.
Nagayama’s interpretation well-illustrated the relationship between the audience and the ‘extended
mind’—brush:
Soft lines, powerful lines, the lines with rich ink, and the rough line with insufficient ink, …the
variety of lines run freely, fluently and naturally on the paper. Maybe part of them is seen as kid’s
243Clark, Andy and Chalmers, David J. (1998), "The Extended Mind" (with Dave Chalmers) ANALYSIS 58: 1: 1998 p.
7-19 Reprinted in THE PHILOSOPHER'S ANNUAL vol XXI-1998 (Ridgeview, 2000) p.59-74
244On Drawing (Ana Mendes). PROJECT ANYWHERE (official website). Retrieved from http://www.projectanywhere.net/
on-drawing/
245Nagayama, Norio (2013), What is Shodō? BOKUSHIN Scuola di Calligrafia Orientale official website. Retrieved from
http:// www.bokushin.org/en/shodo/
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graffiti at the first sight; after seeing the whole, you will be touched by the blank space where is
filled with lively grace and dignity. Chinese people believe this exceptional artistry is the voice of God.
In other words, to impress people by its nature—the lively elegance of Sho.
I believe that is also the beginning of Shodō.246
During the interview, I asked Nagayama many questions about the ‘lively elegance of Sho’. He
called it Yo-In ( ) and differentiated it from the personality. He said : “If the calligrapher has
obtained the technique of Sho—the mastery of brushstroke, his/her personality can be presented on
the paper which we would give the calligrapher credit for the Yo-In of the work. On the contrary, if
he/she doesn’t have the technique, it is hard to present his/her personality in calligraphy. Therefore,
there is no Yo-In in the finished work.” (N. Nagayama, personal communication, February 27, 2017)
To make it clear, I suggest that we can understand ‘the personality’ is from the author side, while
‘the Yo-In’ is more like the perception from the audience side—both of them are presented through
brush within the final artwork. Besides, when I asked why we can produce Yo-In only by these three
materials—brush, paper, and ink, He drew an analogy to answer me : “Because the technique of
Sho is hidden in those materials. To grasp the features of materials is like having the weapon by
your side—knowing the materials is knowing the technique.”
In fact, this viewpoint is supported by Li’s study on Chinese calligraphy, which explained the
reason why the brush has its privileged place in calligraphy :
A good brush has four traits : Jian (੠, the tip of the brush should be sharp), Cí (煶, the hair of the
brush should be organised), Yuán (㾼, write in any angle/direction easily), Jiàn(؋, the texture of the
brush should mix in balance). A good brush will have abundant expression on the strength, speed,
and directions, whose strokes will perform diversely on paper, such as : light (斕)牏heavy (᯿)牏
slow (娓)牏hurry (盪)牏dry (Ԧ)牏puckery (笾)牏wet (倀)牏exhausted(竑)牏rich (侨)牏
http://www.bokushin.org/en/
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anxious (籬)牏thick (策)牏slight (窵)牏withered (ນ)牏blooming (禛)......247
Since one brush can have so wide variety of expression, Li concluded that “The affect of the
writer all relies on brush to express in calligraphy, thus we can affirm that without the usage of
brush, there would be no traditional Chinese calligraphy art.“248 In addition, during the two-day
field observation of the Shodō workshop in Naples, this persistence on brush can be found
obviously when I asked the students if it is possible to replace brush by fingers to write calligraphy
on screen. Most of them shook their heads immediately, one student among them, Ms.Coliccia who
has been learned Shodō for 20 years, even said that“ No, it is impossible to use fingers to write
calligraphy. Because the brush is everything.” (M. R. Coluccia, personal communication, February
25, 2017) Two days later, I asked master Nagayama the same question during the interview and he
explained to me (N. Nagayama, personal communication, February 27, 2017) :
Fan : Handwriting shows personality. Nowadays, lots of software allow us to choose the softness of
brush to write/draw on screen. Compared to the ‘real brush’, isn’t it more direct to express our
emotions through writing by fingers?
Nagayama : Your Movement is your energy. Just like practicing Tai-Chi (ॡ禅), the bigger movement
you make, the easier your energy and breathe can come out. Conversely, the small movement
will block your breathe and limit your strength to emerge and release. […] By using the brush,
you can liberate something unknown of yourself. It is similar to drink wine. When you drink wine,
you can’t fully control yourself, namely, your movement might not be ‘such perfect’. But this
unrestrained condition is exactly the state where your energy break out into Sho.
There are two things worth to notice: firstly, the movement of brush symbolises the writer’s
energy. Hence, Nagayama summarised that“ Long brush allows you to express yourself more freely
247Li, Yuán-Heng (2011), From blending space management and emotion to The style of calligraphy-calligraphy creation
(Master dissertation). Available from National Digital Library of Thesis and Dissertation in Taiwan http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/
cgi-bin/gs32/gsweb.cgi/ccd=njneGQ/record?r1=1&h1=2
248 Li, Yuán-Heng, op. cit., p.9

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whose performance on paper is richer; while short brush makes your stroke full of force. Compared
to the soft texture of brush, finger is too hard and too direct to express delicate emotions.”
Secondly, using the brush as the intermediary has a big merit, that is, it not only bridges the body
and the paper, but also enables the writer to traverse between the consciousness and the
unconsciousness—which probably is the secret of Yo-In, the lively elegance of Sho that strikes the
viewer’s gaze, arresting our attention.
6.3 The Origin of Dō : Paper
Although we see the contemporary practices only retain the finished character without paper, the
usage of paper is still in the front line as the initial step for creation. Therefore, bedsides the
discussion between brush and finger, we also compared the difference between paper and screen. To
begin with, I showed him calligrapher Kinoshita Mairko ( ,1967-) ’s ‘finger Sho on
iPad’ (Fig.19)249 which was written by finger directly on the screen, Nagayama commented that” I
can see Sou-Sho, Kana techniques of her work, but I would say it’s just a beautiful calligraphy.”
Next, I showed him another type of ‘iPad Sho’ (Fig.20) which demonstrated how to use the
application to write calligraphy through finger or stylus pen, presented by Tansui-Shodō Kai (
).250 I had downloaded the application on my smartphone, then I let Nagayama tried this
‘new type of calligraphy’ on his own.
Fig. 19. “finger Sho ” by Kinoshita Mariko Fig. 20. “Stylus Sho” by Tansui-Shodō Kai
249Kinoshita Mariko(1967-) is a well-known calligrapher who has been active since 2009 in Russia, Ukraine, Thailand,
Korea, Kazakhstan and so on. Her works are provided to various genres, such as film, NHK TV drama, fashion
magazines, art festival…etc. Fig.19 was photographed at the press conference of Audi A8 in Tokyo in 2010.
123123123s1, (2013, April 17). “ϔυόϸϧЀ聜ਁ digital japanese calligraphy,” [YouTube] Retrieved from https://
250
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5uoPiqRWdE or http://www.tansuishodo.com/profileeng.shtml
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After seeing the video and trying some writing on the screen, however, he still said : “ It might
be capable to teach some gestures, but can’t teach Shodō. I also don’t think his work is Shodō,
because I can’t see his personality on it.” In addition to this discussion, Nagayama indicated that“
To learn beautiful calligraphy, it is OK; but using it to learn Shodō, no. Because they don’t run
space, don’t run the feeling of touching, don’t run materials.” The beautiful calligraphy is the result
of Shuji ( )—the practice of writing, not the ‘process’ which is emphasised in Shodō. Moreover,
he elaborated further why it is hard to learn Shodō through digital tools:
Because material is more sensitive, we learn sensitively and the materials can help us expand our
energy from heart to outside. If you always learn the sensitivity of the materials, write calligraphy
sensitively, it becomes the important sensitivity of learning Shodō. Writing beautiful calligraphy easily
is not the way of learning Shodō.
He concluded that the material is essential to Shodō because “the ‘sensitive practicing’ means the
softness and the changeable essence of the materials”. For instance, one kind of paper would be
different from other kinds of paper, but the screen is always the same, always the hard surface.
Hence, from Nagayama’s perspective, it is not an appropriate way to teach the young generation
about ‘what is Shodō’. He accentuated at the end : “Maybe this is a new technique, but only this
technique without other classical training, it can’t become Shodō. Maybe it could become a new
type of calligraphy art, but not Shodō.”
Besides, Kawao pointed out the other aspect to see the usage of paper. She identified that“ Just
like our own life, a sheet of paper has one life. Once you start running your brush on the sheet, you
have to go all the way without looking back.” Therefore, the creating process is very pure and
highly concentrated. She added that“ In Shodō , you have one chance to get right. […] You are
focusing everything to make a work of art in an instant.”251 On that account, each artwork of Shodō
is like the time capsule which seals up that certain time, certain space, and the mental/physical state
of the calligrapher. That explains why we can feel there is filled with lively grace and dignity in
Shodō. Not human fingers nor the screen can replace the real materials—the brush and the paper
whose softness and transient essence teach us the dō of Sho, that is, the quest for meaning of life.
The Art of Japanese Life, Series 1, Home, The Way of Shodo: artist Tomoko Kawao, BBC Four official website.
251
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p056qcjq/player

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6.4 The relationship between Handwriting and Brain
So far, we have known the importance of the real material for learning Shodō, that is, writing
calligraphy on paper by brush, namely, do handwriting on physical base. Thus, I would like to
inspect the impact of handwriting on our cognition, in order to compare the difference between
using real objects and digital tools. And how will these two ways influence human memory in this
chapter. According to Hayles, the digital tool might change our way of thinking bit by bit:
The more one works with digital technologies, the more one comes to appreciate the capacity
of networked and programmable machines to carry out sophisticated cognitive tasks, the more
the keyboard comes to seem on extension of one’s thoughts rather than an external device which
one types.252
That is to say, if we consider the brush as the ’extended mind’ of the calligrapher, the computer
keyboard could also be seen as our ‘extension of thoughts’, since most of our idea, thinking and
communication is based on typing. This is supported by the observation of Johnson, whose
experience delineated how the cognitive process changed from paper, typewriter to Mac’s interface:
In the years when I still wrote using pen and paper or a typewriter, I almost invariably worked out
each sentence in my head before I began transcribing it on the page. […] All this changed after
the siren song of the Mac’s interface lured me into writing directly at the computer […] After a
few months, I noticed a qualitative shift in the way I worked with sentences: the thinking and the
typing processes began to overlap.253
Hayles, N. Katherine (2012), How We Think: Digital Media and Contemporary Technogenesis, Chicago and London :
252
The University of Chicago Press, p.3
Johnson, Steven (1999), Text, Interface Culture : How New Technology Transforms the Way We Create and
253
Communicate, New York : Basic Books, Inc. p.143-144

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Johnson’s description exemplified what Benjamin said“ Quantity has been transmitted into
quality.”254 Namely, when we more and more get used to digital tools rather than pen, pencil, brush,
our way of thinking will adopt the way we use the tool by degree, showing how we are involved in
the living social context through the work. Furthermore, Mendes identified Hayles’s thoughts which
revealed that“ The perception of the brain-body-object as a coupled system extends itself into larger
networks that include the environment.”255 Hence, when it comes to Shodō, the coupled system of
the calligrapher would consists of his/her brain (the knowledge of the materials), his/her body (the
movement) and the object (the brush)—all these three elements are dispensable to perform the
calligrapher’s perception which is influenced by the temporal and the spatial environments. This
idea of considering brain-body-object as a coupled system is consist with Paul Cèzanne’s attitude
toward paining, that is, art is a personal apperception.
According to Merleau-Ponty’s essay Cézanne's Doubt (1945), Cèzanne considered the

atmosphere surrounding what he was painting is a part of the ‘sensational reality’ that he was
painting. Therefore, he wanted to embody these sensation into his painting instead of imagining
them. Merleau-Ponty indicated that“ Ultimately, he wanted to get to the point where ‘sight’ was also
‘touch’. Cèzanne sometimes pondered hours at a time before putting down a certain stroke because
each stroke needed to contain ‘the air, the light, the object, the composition, the character, the
outline, and the style’. ”256 Interestingly, Cèzanne’s insight coincided with Benjamin’s analysis on
the impact of mechanical reproduction of art which changed the reaction of the masses toward art.
Benjamin indicated that“ the masses seek distraction whereas art demands concentration” and he
used the comparison between painting and architecture to support his argument :
For the tasks which face the human apparatus of perception at the turning points of history
cannot solved by optical means, that is, by contemplation, alone. They are mastered gradually
by habit, under the guidance of tactile appropriation. … More, the ability to master certain tasks
in a state of distraction proves that their solution has become a matter of habit.257
255Mendes, Ana (2016, Nov 10) The Extended Mind [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://schloss-post.com/the-
extended-mind/
256 Merleau-Ponty, Maurice (1945), Cezanne's Doubt, Retrieved from https://faculty.uml.edu/rinnis/cezannedoubt.pdf
257 Benjamin, op. cit., P.47-48

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The idea of Cèzanne on painting has been realised by the new artistic form, the mechanical
reproduction media—film. Cèzanne and Benjamin both highlighted the significance of
‘apperception’, that is, not only by seeing and contemplating in mind, but also by touching and
feeling the surroundings. In other words, in order to perceive things better, create works better, we
must take good advantage of our sensations within the brain-body-object system, as a whole
’sensory entity,’ to interact with the external world.
Besides, we can fairly benefit from handwriting and drawing , as Mendes pointed out that
drawing is utilised as a ‘therapeutic skill’ in diverse fields, such as architects, plumbers,
choreographer, artists, social worker, doctor, and so forth.258 Mendes also compared drawing to
walking, that both of them would stimulate lateral thinking in our brain. The finding is consistent
with the study by Hoffmann and Wittmann, which showed that “One widely accepted view is that
writing can stimulate the rise of new ideas; doodling, for example, is very often considered in this
sense. […] writing as a kind of catalytic process. […] writing seems to be more a medium with all its
magical connotations than a genuine instrument.”259 To put differently, the mastery of brushstroke
not only means to know the knowledge of the materials, but also means to activate some unknown
energy inside your body and brain through the writing/drawing process of calligraphy.
To be precise, if we abandon the brush, embracing the digital tools instead, we not only lose the
abundant expressions of brush to present our heart freely, but also abort the great opportunity to
discover our inner selfs. Furthermore, Damasio (1994) underscored that the brain is not the sole
decision-maker based on his clinical studies of brain lesions.260 He did the studies on the patients
whose emotions were impaired due to cancer, accident and other forms of trauma.261 These patients
measured well in intelligence tests, whereas they were unable to make decisions, because of the
emotional trauma. This provided that the body and the brain are an interconnected system, none of
them can operate independently without the emotion support. The brush is our emotion support
when it comes to Shodō. In brief, if we surrender to the multiple digital surfaces for convenience,
258On Drawing (Ana Mendes) PROJECT ANYWHERE (official website) Retrieved from http://www.projectanywhere.net/
on-drawing/
259 Hoffmann and Wittmann, op. cit., P.208
260 Damasio, Antonio (1994), Descartes’ Error: Emotion, Reason, and Human Brain, New York: Avon Books, p. 250
261On Drawing (Ana Mendes), PROJECT ANYWHERE (official website) Retrieved from http://www.projectanywhere.net/
on-drawing/
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Jameson’s apprehension of ‘the waning of affect’ is just around the corner—no personality, no
subjectivity in the floating digital world.
Moreover, form the perspective of neurobiology, Wexler (2010) indicated that“ The most
fundamental difference between the human brain and those of other mammals is the greater extent
to which the development of its structure and function is influenced by sensory input.”262 That is to
say, human brain evolves in accordance with the context that we live, including the material world
and the digital one. This scientific fact supports what Benjamin had already pointed out : the habit,
under the guidance of tactile perception. There are two things we should notice : the plasticity of
brain and the pruning process of neurone. Firstly, according to Mendes, “Our brain is in constant
mutation, and its capacities can be improved through different activities, such as drawing. […] The
brain’s plasticity occurs in different stages: at the beginning of life, as a consequence of brain injury
and in adulthood, and every time we learn something new”.
Secondly, according to the interview between Mendes and Dr. Lacerda who specialised in
neuroimaging. Dr. Lacerda explained how the ‘pruning process’ takes place : when we become an
expert in something (e.g. learn a new language), the area which deals with that skill grows bigger.
However, the volume of our brain is limited, so the other parts of brain need to diminish, becoming
smaller to empty the space for the growing part.263 According to Mizukoshi (2017), a ‘invisible
illiteracy’ of digital media users has emerged in Japan. Based on Lim’s research on the mobile
communication habits of young generation in Singapore (2016)264, Mizukoshi indicated that“ In
recent years, smartphone ownership in Japan has grown, whereas the number of PCs in use declined
sharply.[…] At present, the industrial world of Japan faces a problem with new employees hired
straight out of college, who are lacking the technical abilities to operate computers.”265 This
evidence not only proved that ‘a lack of balance has occurred within the new media landscape’266 ,
but also shows the innate limit of our brain—the pruning process follows what we involve in daily
262Wexler, Bruce (2010), Shaping the Environments that Shape Our Brains: A Long Term Perspective, Cognitive
Architecture: From Bio-politics to Noo-politics ; Architecture & Mind in the Age of Communication and Information, In
D.Hauptmann and W. Neidich (Ed.).Rotterdam : nai010 publishers,P.142-167
on-drawing/
Lim, Sun Sun (2016), “Young people, mobile media and invisible illiteracies.” Paper presented at the workshop of
264
mobile communication and media literacy. ICA Mobile Pre-conference, Fukuoka, Japan, 8 June 2016.
Mizukoshi, Shin (2017), Media literacy and digital storytelling in contemporary Japan, The Newsletter (76) Spring, p.
265
38–39
266 loc. cit.

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life. That is to say, if we keep neglecting the importance of handwriting, spending much more time
on typing in different digital devices (i.e.computer, smartphone, iPad) or just through gestures
instead, our skill of handwriting—the key to connect our brain, body and the external world—will
be enmeshed in multi-surfaces grade by grade, then disappear.
In fact, there is a related study by James and Engelhardt (2012) who conducted the research on
preliterate, five-year-old children to compare the learning effect of letter perception and its
influence on brain between two activities—handwriting and typing (or printing then shaping).267
They presented the evidence that“ The neural activity of children who practise handwriting is far
more developed and adult than the other ones. Thus, computers are commonly blamed by
diminishing children’s learning ability and memory.”268 Although the ‘neurone plasticity’ needs to
take long time to verify, Dr. Lacerda affirmed that the ’reorganisation in the brain’ indeed “happens
daily in each of us, but on a small scale.” That is to say, even the handwriting skill will not
deteriorate overnight, the long-term influence on brain is still occurring every time when we distract
from the real world, sneaking into the virtual fantasy.
7. Discussion on Social institution : the immateriality
According to Katsura and Igarashi (2014), Japan becomes the aged society with a low birth rate,
which causes the number of successors who take over Japanese skilful techniques is decreasing.
Given that conventional robots cannot duplicate the human skilful techniques which requires not
only the positional control but also the sensitive force control. They developed the motion-copying
system as a new technology of recording and reproducing the force tactile, which firstly applied to
Shodō—Japanese calligraphy art.269 As shown in Fig.21, when the calligrapher holds the brush in
the upper part, the ‘master system’ of the machine, his/her movement would be recorded and
analysed quantitively as the trajectory and the force information, then saved into the motion
database. Secondly, in the motion-reproducing phase, the lower part which is called the ‘slave
267 James, Karin H. and Engelhardt, Laura (2014), The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development
in pre-literate children, Trends in Neuroscience and Education (1)1, p.32–42
on-drawing/
Igarashi, Ko and Katsura, Seiichiro (2014), Motion-Data Processing and Reproduction Based on Motion-Copying
269
System, IEEJ Journal of Industry Applications (4)5, p.543–549

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system’ of the machine, can reproduce the saved data of human motion on paper which looks
almost the same as the original calligraphy (Fig.22).
Fig. 21. Saving motion by using master system Fig. 22. Reproducing motion by slave system 270
However, Katsura and Igarashi also indicated that“ When the motion data are processed spatially,
the reproduced reaction force from the environment is different” which gives rise to inaccurate
representation of the original (Fig.23). Therefore, in order to improve this ‘error’, the discrepancy
between the loaded human data and the processed data by the system, they proposed the ‘temporal
compensation’ method to maintain the reproducibility of saved human movement (Fig.24).271
Fig. 23. The loaded human motion data (green line) can’t be reproduced faithfully by spatial scaling.
Fig. 24. By using the temporal compensation, errors of reaction force can effectively reduce.
270ikinamo, (2012, October 10). “Calligraphy robot uses a Motion Copy System to reproduce detailed brushwork
#DigInfo,” [YouTube] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ASmb3QFKE&t=7s
271 Igarashi and Katsura, op. cit., P.548

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This advanced technology raised several interesting issues, such as : the definition of art, and the
preservation of traditional art. Can we see the ‘duplicated calligraphy’ as art or ‘machine art’ ? Can
this motion-copying system well-preserve tradition art ? How will it influence the relationships
between masters, teachers and students? Before we probe into these vital questions, I would like to
address two points in their paper which reveals the fundamental divergence between technological
thinking and artistic thinking. Firstly, the environment is changing every moment, so it is natural to
have difference. Katsura and Igarashi identified that“ force tactile is the bidirectional information
that can be obtained when it contacts the environment.”272 Since the original force is different from
the reproduced reaction force from the environment, it leads to the inconsistent result—the
‘imperfect’ performance of the machine. Secondly, the different solutions toward ‘error’.Because
this difference is born by nature, from scientists and technician’s perspective, the next step is how to
diminish this ’error’ in order to be ‘accurate’—let the machine perform perfectly. Nevertheless, in
art field, this ‘error’ is appreciated. In other words, we would name the discrepancy ‘the diversity’
of the world rather than ‘the error,’ especially in Shodō.
During the calligraphy workshop in Naples, Nagayama clarified that“ the beauty is the
imperfectness”. He also reminded me : ”Machine can produce ‘perfect,’ but can’t produce
‘imperfect’ which inhabits the energy of our movement and humanity. […] One person has been
trained for 50 years and the other only 20 years, the evaluation standard of imperfections is also
different.” That is to say, compared to the ‘perfectness’ which is pursued in sciences, calligraphy
artists pursue the alternative way—the ‘imperfectness’ which faithfully represents the ever-
changing environment. Therefore, the former uses accurate calculation to improve the ’error,’
whereas the latter uses soft brush to present the variation of nature, as Fig.23 shown.
To obliterate the contribution of science and technology is not my intention ; instead, it provides
an unparalleled tool to documentary traditional art which was impossible in human history before.
We should give them credit to preserve the disappearing skill. Meanwhile, we must be always aware
that the tool should support the purpose, not to exceed its authority to replace the initial aim.Based
on their research, Katsura and Igarashi claimed that“skilful technique that is declining can be taken
over for the later generations due to apply the motion-copying system to the education system.”
Therefore, I would like to examine the possible impact of applying this advanced technology to
Shodō in the following discussion.
272 ibid, P.544

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7.1 The Distance : technology and art preservation
When Benjamin differentiated the crucial difference between painting and film, he drew an
analogy of a surgical operation, which illustrated that” The magician maintains the natural distance
between the patient and himself. […] The surgeon does exactly the reverse; he greatly diminishes
the distance between himself and the patient by penetrating into the patient’s body, and increase it
but little by the caution with which his hand moves among the organ.”273 This contrast can also
apply to the tense relationship between the traditional way and using motion-copying system
technology. There are two traditional methods to learn calligraphy, with or without calligraphy
teacher. In the former case, the teacher will demonstrate how to write these characters while the
student keeps natural distance to see how the brush goes on paper, then practicing by his/her own
brush. In the latter case, the student will put some classical master pieces as their ’textbook’ aside,
then carefully copying the writing style of the work, which is called Rinsho ( ) and considered
as the daily practice of Shodō.274
Conversely, since the motion-copying system recoded the

motion data of teacher, the student can hold the lower part (the
slave system) of the machine, and write the calligraphy by its
tactile guidance (Fig. 25).275 Namely, there is no distance
between the ‘invisible teacher’ and the student, and the ‘invisible
teacher’ might move the student’s hand ‘little by caution’ since it
is executing the data processing. In other words, it would be hard
for the students who want to write differently because his hand is
under controlled by the ‘robot teacher’. Howbeit, there is no
empirical report shows what if the student write calligraphy
without the assistance of the machine. But there is one thing for
sure, that is, every time the student write the same character in
Fig. 25. photo by Yoshikazu the guidance of the machine, the result would be accurately the
Tsuno/AFP
same—since no ‘error’ is permitted.
273 Benjamin, op. cit., P.44-45
274 PONTE RYŪRUI. (2011, December 29) Rinsho – the magical ink time machine. Part II [Web log post]. Retrieved from
https://beyond-calligraphy.com/2011/12/29/rinsho-the-magical-ink-time-machine-part-ii/
G1. (2013), Robot teaches calligraphy to children in Japan classroom. G1website. Retrieved from http://g1.globo.com/
275
educacao/noticia/2013/07/robo-ensina-caligrafia-para-criancas-em-sala-de-aula-do-japao.html
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In the other hand, we can take the experience of Hong Kong Martial Arts Living Archive as a
relative reference. Martial arts in Hong Kong also confronts the same issue as Shodō—the Kong Fu
masters become aged while there is less and less successors in young generation to take over this
traditional skill. Therefore, International Guoshu Association (IGA) collaborated with City
University of Hong Kong to use motion capture technology to document human movement in 3D
space which would transform the physical information, such as : speed, torsion and force
(momentum and acceleration) into digital data with 4D analysis including time.276 When the new
technology is employed to traditional realm of art, there is inevitably some impact on the traditional
way of performing, as Benjamin analysed the case of film technology and actor : ”The camera that
presents the performance of the film actor to the public need not respect the performance as an
integral whole.[…] The performance of the actor is subjected to a series of optical tests.”277 The
similar situation also happened on Kong Fu master’s performance which is documented by the
high-end technology. Master Shi-Lien Li ( ) indicated that“ In order to document precisely,
we are asked to wear the skin-tight garment which is filled with sensors. However, the garment is
too tight from tip to toe, which makes us unable to exert the power fully to perform in the upmost
level.”278
That is to say, if we apply this motion-copying system to Shodō, it is foreseeable that they will
need to adjust their way to write calligraphy in order to have good (but not the best) performance
documented as the ‘robot teacher’. More or less, their movement of creating Sho on paper will be
limited by the machine. Furthermore, Benjamin also expounded the reason why film became the
new ‘art form’, not the advanced technology only. He said : ” The painter maintains in his work a
natural distance from reality, the cameraman penetrates deeply into its web. There is a tremendous
difference between the pictures they obtain. That of the painter is a total one, that of the cameraman
consists of multiple fragments which are assembled under a new law.”279 The main reason is film
established its own principle on creating artworks, by the very nature of mechanical technology
from collecting material, editing to composing. On the contrary, yielding to the purpose of
‘reproducing faithfully’, the motion-copying system is pursuing the most accurate way to achieve
276International Guoshu Association. (2014), Hong Kong Martial Arts Living Archive. FringeBacker website. Retrieved
from https://www.fringebacker.com/en/projects/HK_Martial_Arts_Living/
278Yidi. (2017), They use 3D motion capture technology to preserve Chinese martial arts. WKLY website. Retrieved from
http://www.wkly.com/archives/356

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the ‘perfect performance’ of the machine. Therefore, it is impossible to allow itself to produce
something ‘assembled under new law’. Namely, the creation of the motion-copying system would
not be any new piece of art, but a perfect reproduction of the original work which is copied
precisely including the force and speed information. In order words, although there is still some
technical constrain on documentary, the motion-copying system can preserve the original work of
art better than ever.
7.2 The Feeling, the Space and the Memory
We commend this development for the achievement of preservation, nevertheless, wether this
‘penetrating technology’ can pass on the artistic culture of Shodō to the next generation is still in
question. Thus, I would like to elaborate what is the purpose of traditional teaching to examine what
is the risk concealed inside the educational employment of motion-copying system. The most
distinctive difference between the traditional teaching and motion-copying system is that the
distance is cancelled in the latter, which is good for preservation (the more distance is reduced, the
less the error would occur), but not so good for ‘observation’. In other words, there is no room for
student to ‘observe’ the whole composition of the text, the balance between each character within
the space, and no room for them to ‘imagine’ how each character go through the others—because
all they need to do is follow the tactile guidance, then the almost identical work is done.
However, the so-called technique of Shodō is not the knowledge of materials and the mastery of
brushstroke only; instead, there is an essential step to exercise Shodō which distinguishes itself from
Chinese calligraphy practice as well, that is, feeling the space. During the interview with
Nagayama, he differentiated Shodō from Shuji ( ) education of Japanese high school, which is
more like Chinese calligraphy. Then he explained the divergence between Chinese calligraphy and
Shodō on practice : “Chinese calligraphy always do the easy way. You need more time to put the
word in a blank paper than a gridded paper (Fig.26).280 You need to understand the space, not to
calculate it, but to feel it. The beautiful calligraphy result is less important than these exercises—
feeling the space.” He took Morita Shiryu’s Dragon Knows Dragon (Fig.17) as an example : “This
space—the emptiness—can say something to us. The emptiness invites us into the space to feel the
280Kao, Daniel (2016), 䨗ဩ‫ع ے‬揲粚 (CalliPlus) 䨗ဩਁَ, Google play website. Retrieved from https://play.google.com/
store/apps/details?id=info.plateaukao.calliplus.free&hl=zh_TW
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movement. If the three characters ( ) all have big size and shape, you can’t see anything
else but words, however, that is not what we appreciate. There is no space to ‘taste the enchantment’
of Sho.”
Furthermore, in order to let the student have more exercise of ‘feeling the
space’, he also mentioned the unique approach in teaching Shodō—expound
in silence, or comprehend without being told.
Fan : What is the most important thing when you teach Shodō?
Fig. 26. Sho, written
Nagayama : Emotion and space. The creative personality can be shown. in grid paper.
To study calligraphy is to create the personality, because to create personality is to create calligraphy.
There is no rule inside.
Fan : So, the teacher plays an important role in learning Shodō?
Nagayama : Yes, there is different ways of teaching calligraphy. But usually, we don’t teach—
don’t say anything. The students should feel and look, which means they will have a lot of exercise
(feeling the space). If you don’t have these exercise, you won’t understand.
As Nagayama pointed out in the end, the way of ‘expound in silence’ is giving room to urge the
students to observe the blank space by themselves, to imagine the possible composition by
themselves ; while the role of teacher is akin to a veteran gatekeeper who watches over the
exploration of the student in the space, and opens the door toward next stage when he saw the
students has grown. In other words, without the distance, the student will lose the crucial exercise of
‘feeling the space’ through writing calligraphy directed by the machine. Besides, according to
Chamberlain, “Observational drawing ability relates to changes in structures pertaining to fine
motor control and procedural memory, and that artistic training in addition is associated with
enhancement of structures pertaining to visual imagery. Thus, drawing may influence the
composition of the brain, as well as increasing long-term memory”(as cited in Mendes)281 That
on-drawing/
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emphasised out standpoint : if we lose the distance for observation and imagination, i.e.drop out the
‘observational drawing ability’ which is growing through the exploring process, we would not be
able to create long-term memory in our brain. Even we can write beautiful calligraphy (with the
assistant of the machine), that is a reproduction without your interpretation—your own emotions.
That is to say, penetrating technology is not a panacea, rather, it is often a boiling frog which ‘well-
preserves’ the traditional skills and ‘kills imperceptibly’ the vitality of Shodō—the emotions, the
personal styles, the subjectivity—at the same time.
7.3 The Relationships : the collaborative process between learning and teaching
Besides, the other impact on art performance brought by new technology was analysed by
Benjamin : “Also, the film actor lacks the opportunity of the stage actor to adjust to the audience
during his performance, since he does not present his performance to the audience in person.”282 If
we employ the motion-copying system to Shodō, the master will become the film actor who can’t
modify his/her teaching content or method in accordance with the learning states of different
students. For instance, compared to the ‘expound in silence’ style of Nagayama, Ryūrui shared his
experience of following his teacher’s advice : “ [Do] not continuously copy one particular text, but
to keep moving, choosing another example of historic text or changing brushes and trying to
approach the same text from a different angle whilst maintaining its key characteristic features.” 283
There are many way to advance your techniques, such as : changing the canonical text, traversing
among five styles, practicing one master’s piece to another, or choosing different brush to write in
different surroundings, etc.That is to say, copying is not the only way to improve your techniques of
Shodō ; instead, ‘approaching from different angles whilst maintaining the key characteristics of the
same text’ is the core, which tests wether you grasp the ‘lively grace’—the Yo-In of Shodō or not.
This is consistent with the discussion during the interview (N. Nagayama, personal communication,
February 27, 2017) : From Daniela’s point of view, even the ’robot teacher’ can lead the student feel
how much the pressure of the brush should be, she still insisted that robot teacher can’t replace the
real master, since the machine “always do the same ’teaching’ ”. Further, she pointed out the biggest
difference between robot teacher and real master, is that“ human master in different context (e.g.
283 PONTE RYŪRUI. (2011, December 29) Rinsho – the magical ink time machine. Part II [Web log post]. Retrieved from
https://beyond-calligraphy.com/2011/12/29/rinsho-the-magical-ink-time-machine-part-ii/
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with coffee or with wine) will teach us differently.” Therefore, she doesn’t think it is possible to
substitute robot teacher for human teacher. Then, Nagayama supplied the commentary to Daniela’s
view and concluded that:
Nagayama : The digital can’t run the mobility. How I move, how my body’s move, how my emotions,
how I behaviour, why I write this. The observation is important, you can’t learn by being told. For
example, Daniela will see my emotions when I’m writing and know why I write this way. I can’t explain
my movement, but she can look and understand. This is more important than say anything to students.
Thus, we can see that the real learning of Shodō doesn’t happen by oral instructions but take
place in the whole ‘interactive process’ which includes the comprehension of the context, visible
moments of the brush by the master, and the invisible observation by the student. In brief,
compared to the high accuracy of robot teacher, human teacher has greater flexibility on teaching
methods and more abundant information (e.g.invisible mental state, individual preference) which
requires the student to pay more attention to comprehend the reason behind the calligraphy
movement by observing through process. Besides, there is a ‘distance of silence’ which allows the
student to understand, interpret by their own. Hence, it also encourages students to discuss their
discovery through the writing process. We can say, ‘the distance of silence’ in fact, is ‘the room of
elaboration’ which builds the collaborative relationship between teacher, students and artwork.
Moreover, when cybernetic artist Edward Ihnatowicz (1926-1988) investigated the relation
between perception and intelligence of machine, he also pointed out the paradox, that is “Since by
definition man is the only teacher a machine has we will not learn from it anything that we did not
know before.”284 Since ‘robot teacher’ only have the data recorded from human motion, it is
impossible of us to learn something beyond these data which already exist, namely, no room for
creativity but mimicry. According to Waleaska (2013), Ihnatowicz started his analysis of
intelligence from the definition of information which includes three common points : (1)
Information has to refer to something (the problem of intentionality). (2) There has to be a way of
Ihnatowicz, Edward (1973), A Multidisciplinary Approach to Artificial Intelligence,PAGE Bulletin of the Computer Arts
284
Society (29)
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passing on or recording it. (3) It has to have a meaning, irrespective of who receives it.285 In the
case of Shodō, as the ‘production’ of robot teacher is language, the communicative tool, its meaning
can be recorded, passed on to anyone who understand Japanese or Chinese. Thus, the meaning issue
is not big. However, when it comes to the ‘teaching’ of robot teacher, the unalterable of teaching
shows severe deficiency.
Firstly, as Waleaska indicated that“ If we want to pass on information, we have to have a

possibility of arbitrarily coding, storing , or passing it.[…] In the majority of communications, we
transmit information to ourselves or to recipients who know the code we using so we do not have a
problem with reading and interpreting it.” As we discussed before, the robot teacher can’t change its
teaching content (i.e.copy the original) and method (i.e.direct the gesture tactically) toward different
performance of students. The lack of arbitrary nature results in one-way communication during the
instructing process : the student can’t disobey the tactile guidance of the machine, while the robot
teacher can’t respond any question or confusion the student may have during the learning process as
well. Secondly, the central issue of the communication process between human and machine was
identified by Ihnatowicz :
If the recipient is a machine we come to the central problem of Artificial Intelligence : how to
make a machine know enough to be able to interpret our information when the interpretation
of information is apparently the only means of acquiring this knowledge?286
That is to say, the robot teacher is unable to find the student’s growth in advance—on the skill
level and the mental level—then open the next door to elevate his/her techniques as the gatekeeper,
the human teacher does. How to transform the ‘invisible emotion’ information from the student side
into quantitive data in order to ‘make a machine know enough’ is already problematic, while how to
respond human emotional state ‘appropriately’ from the machine side is another challenge.
Ihnatowicz marked this obstacle in 1970s, maybe the progress of technology can remove this
obstacle in 2070. But at this moment, force and speed information can be documented and
reproduced is acceptable and good to preserve what we couldn’t before; whereas, to reduce human
285Waleaska, Joanna (2013), Relationship of Art and Technology : Edward Ihnatowicz’s Philosophical Investigation on he
Problem of Perception, In S, Cubitt and P, Thomas (Ed.), Relive: Media Art Histories, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, p.
309-324
286 Ihnatowicz, op. cit.

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emotions into digital data is still a controversial topic across different fields concerning the
emerging issues of robot ethics and social health. In short, the established collaborative relationship
between teacher, students, and artwork would be disintegrated by substituting robot teacher for
human teacher. Because the changeless and one-way instructing is not anticipated in a learning
relationship of Shodō.
Furthermore, there are three maladies to affect the respectful relationship of the teacher’s side.
Firstly, not only the student loses a better educational context of Shodō, but also the teacher loses
the opportunity to advance himself. As the old saying goes, “ Teach others teaches yourself .”
Nagayama not only mentioned in the exhibition catalogue287 that he has been benefited from his
teaching both in Japan and Italy since 1980s, but also indicated this point during the interview:
“Compared to Japanese student, European people ask why. Therefore, I need to be accurate to
explain. Not only from the philosophical perspective, but also from theoretical perspective, I went
to university’s library and bookstores one after another in order to find the convincing answer. That
kind of exploring process also clarifies my thought of Shodō in mind.”
Secondly, the exile feeling from his Shodō performance and himself.When Benjamin identified
that film actor does not perform for the audience but for a mechanical contrivance, he quoted Italian
dramatist Luigi Pirandello’s word : “The film actor feels as if in exile—exiled not only from the
stage but also from himself. With a vague sense of discomfort, he feels inexplicable emptiness: his
body loses its corporeality, it evaporates, it is deprived of reality, life, voice, and the noises caused
by his moving about, in order to be changed into a mute image, flickering an instant on the screen
then vanishing into silence…” It would be the same situation happening on motion-copying system,
that is, the teacher demonstrates his Sho not to the student, or any message he want to communicate,
but to the machine for the purpose of recording and reproducing.It is questionable wether the ‘lively
grace’—the Yoin of Shodō, can be produced or not. As Benjamin elucidated :
The authenticity of a thing is the essence of all that is transmissible from its beginning,
ranging from it substantive duration to its testimony to the history which it has experienced.
Since the historical testimony rests on the authenticity, the former, too, is jeopardised
287 Nagayama, Norio (2014), Preface.Shodō Italiano. In C.Buffa (Ed.). Bologna : Bokushin Kai. p.8-9
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by reproduction when substantive duration ceases to matter.288
Here, the real problem might not result from the coming-afterwards reproduction, but from the
brand new way of performing Shodō to machine which obliterates the calligrapher’s existence
within the certain time and space—namely, the history—and turn his existence and his art into
‘silent digital data’. Lastly and probably the most serious one, the long-term mentoring relationship
between teacher and student is transmuted into the crash and disposable relationship between
learning tool and student. As Benjamin identified the appreciating position of the audience had
changed after the mechanical technology came out: ” This permits the audience to take the position
of critic, without experiencing any contact with the actor. The audience’s identification with the
actor is really an identification with the camera. Consequently the audience takes the position of the
camera; its approach is that of testing. This is not the approach to which cult values may be
exposed.” In the case of Shodō, the student is like the audience who perceives the performance of
the actor through the camera—that is, perceive the teacher’s performance through the motion-
copying system. Therefore, they can simply judge wether this performance is good or not, fit his
taste/use or not, just like a critic. In other words, since ‘robot teacher’ is not real human, it can be
replaced easily without any respect. If the student feels hard to achieve the standard, in the case of
human, the teacher will guides the student based on his observation of the student, including the
mental state of tolerance, the potential expressions of the student’s personality, and so on. Whereas,
in the case of machine, the robot teacher can’t observe nor respond the difficulties which the student
confronts, therefore the most possible result is that the student changes to another ‘easier program’
to write—since no expectation from the ‘robot teacher’ will force the student to achieve the
advanced level. After all, the ‘robot teacher’ is merely a machine which is manipulated by the
student’s decision of turn-on or turn-off.
7.4 The Time : cultivation comes from habit
Besides the exercise of ‘feeling the space’ through the unique pedagogy of ‘expounding in
silence’, there is one important perspective to learn Shodō—that is, time. In relation to movement,
Dalcroze Eurhythmics is one of the best-known pedagogy on music education which uses rhythmic
movement to teach music but not limit to music. The founder Émile Jaques-Dalcroze considered
288 Benjamin, op. cit., P.39 (The underlined is added by the thesis author.)
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human body and mind as a whole, and he was convinced that“ The physical wellbeing and the
balance between thinking and moving would promote freedom of imagination and emotion and thus
general well being.”289 Also, accordion to the study of dance scholar Maxine Sheets-Johnstone
(2001), “Information pickup does not generate motivation nor affect. Because both of them are
experienced. Motivation and affect come from the felt body and are tied to meaning. After all, the
‘embodied cognition’ by definition, is corporeal, which is not abstract concept but corporeally
resonant knowledge—‘It is embedded in experience—first and foremost by way of tactile-
kinesthetic body’.”290 To some extent, motion-copying system indeed improves the learning
experience by providing tactile guidance to the ’felt’ body, which might enhance the motivation of a
Shodō beginner or a self-learner without attending class.
As Juntunen (2015) indicated that many contemporaries had the same thought as Jaques-
Dalcroze : “They recognised that body-functioning influences the mind and vice versa, in a
heterogeneous way.[…] Similarly, by consciously learning new social habits, for instance, musical
expression and dance, we can improve our psychophysical existence. The body needs cultivation
and habituation.” 291 However, the instant and (literally) ‘hand-in-hand’ instruction provided by
motion-copying system might diminish the possibility of cultivation and habituation which can’t
grow up overnight and need to be built upon long-term social relationships. Notwithstanding, the
motion-copying system accelerates the learning process by reducing the relationship only between
student and machine without producing any social activity else, such as : discussion with master,
peer review, empathy learning through observing others’ works, and so forth. This time perspective
was also mentioned in the interview. From the standpoint of a teacher, Nagayama described the
reason why he choses not to explain any philosophy behind Shodō, even not to mention the highest
evaluation—the Yoin of work : “Because I found they would understand in different ways. So I just
show. If they have learned 3 4 years, then I explain. At that time, they will understand me because
they've already known some calligraphy stories behind it, which needs time to feel about how it
goes.”
From the standpoint of a student, Daniela also mentioned the first time she wrote calligraphy was
excited but painful. Because it was not easy to be concentrated. Nevertheless, she still kept
289 Juntunen, Marja-Leena (2015), Transformation of the body-mind through “L’éducation par le rythme et pour le
rythme”, Le Rythme – Numéro du centenaire (1909-2009), Genève : Rhuthmos, p.16-19
290 Sheets-Johnstone, Maxine (2001), The Primacy of Movement, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing, p. 231
291 Juntunen, op. cit., P.17

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attending the workshop weekly for two years, she explained the reason : “The whole process of
meditation and being silent fascinated me. Even I wrote the same word again and again, I felt
different each time. After one year, you can see the difference on yourself.” (N. Nagayama & D.
Perna, personal communication, February 27, 2017) Thus, we can see how significant the role of
’time’ plays in Shodō. Besides, we must be aware that the so-called Yoin of work is originated from
your own personality, not copying the beautiful Yoin rooted from other’s personality, then claim it is
your work of art—that is the reproduction or Pastiche, in Jameson’s term.
Furthermore, as mentioned before, our brain will evolves in accordance with the context, in
which we live. As Mendes pointed out a number study have revealed that“ artistic training may
impact the structure of the brain–evidence on this matter was already found in different professions,
such as musicians and taxi driver.”292 In the case of musician, according to Gaser and Schlaug
(2003), their research gave strong evidence that the grey matter volume in motor, auditory, and
visual-spatial brain regions differ from professional musicians (keyboard players) and a matched
group of amateur musicians and non-musicians. Also, they provided that“ Although some of these
multi-regional differences could be attributable to innate predisposition, we believe they may
represent structural adaptations in response to long-term skill acquisition and the repetitive rehearsal
of those skills.”293 These research findings well-verify the importance of long-term practices and the
ambient context on establishing a developed skill and transform it into our memory. In other words,
the cultivation of techniques comes from long-term habit. The scientific findings also correspond
the core spirit of Shodō : the discipline that nurtures the growth of the Self. As Chinese calligrapher
He Shao Ji ( ,1799-1873) summarised that“ It enables us to express, almost unconsciously,
our thoughts, our feelings, our spirit. In a word, our Self. Shodō is an image of the Self. Thus to
produce a work of Shodō we must first cultivate ourselves.”294 When the technique has been
cultivated in your brain and body, the Yoin of work will come out naturally, as Nagayama analysed:
If you master all the techniques, it will come out naturally—you don’t need to think. Also, this
techniques of ‘don’t think’ becomes natural. If you think, you’re still learning it. If I like one character,
on-drawing/
293, Gaser, Christian and Schlaug, Gottfried (2003), Brain Structures Differ between Musicians and Non-Musicians,
Journal of Neuroscience (23)27, 9240-9245
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I can do his calligraphy perfectly with 100% of my technique. If I do my own artwork, I don’t use
100% technique; instead, I use 30% technique—cause I don’t think—and the rest 70% is YOIN
which is out of my heart, out of my personality.
That is to say, in order to fully perform our heart (i.e.the personality and the unconscious spirits)
at the finest level, the 30% part—the mastery of brush techniques is the foundation which can’t be
created at once, but be accumulated by daily practice, i.e.the habit. Both the personality (the 70%
part) and the techniques (the 30% part) are the life-long lesson that are fertilised through our
experiences of interacting with the world as time goes by.
7.5 How can we sustain the ‘aura’ of Shodō in the age of digital media?
We seem to be in the imminent danger of losing our souls.
—Edward Ihnatowicz, <Art and Technology Today>295—
When the art paradigm shifted from painting to film in 1930s, Benjamin rigorously alerted that
mechanical reproduction technology will extinguish the “aura” of a work of art. Forty years later,
Ihnatowicz raised the similar alarm of the incredible development of digital machine in 1970s. As
Walewska pointed out: “He considered as especially groundbreaking the appearance of digital
computers, which had a great influence on our perception of reality.”296 Another forty years later, in
the decade of twenty-first century now, Ihnatowicz’s concern is still the common point in present-
day when the digital media is permeating and unalienable from our daily life. As Jameson
highlighted the ‘Pastiche phenomena’ in postmodern society, i.e.the schizophrenic self, or the
unavailability of personality—which is the most accentuated element in Shodō. How do we sustain
the “aura” of Shodō in the assistance of media technologies, and at the same time, prevent it from
being swallowed up by the penetrating technologies—become the inescapable issues confront us.
295Ihnatowicz, Edward (1968), Art and Technology Today: They should Be on Better Terms. Brochure (Cybernetic Art: A
Personal Statement) , Retrieved from http://www.senster.com/ihnatowicz/articles/index.htm
296 Walewska, op. cit., P.310

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Firstly, we begin with rethinking the meaning of aura in Shodō at the present time. Nagayama
quoted the word of Wang Xi Zhi ( , 303-361), the great master of calligraphy, to explain the
core of Shodō: ” ‘Whether you intend to trace a mark, a line, or a curve, whether in the conventional
or in the fluid style, you must write with all your might’ In other words, each mark, each character,
is an expression of the artist’s force–that is inner force, the force of the soul.”297 It is consistent with
our former statement—the brush is considered as the extended mind of the calligrapher. Therefore,
the recipient can perceive Yoin—the lively grace—from the work which inhabits the personality of
the calligrapher.
For Benjamin, the aura of a work of art is “tied to his presence; there can be no replica of it.
[…]the camera is substituted for the public. Consequently, the aura that envelops the actor vanishes,
and with it the aura of the figure he portrays.”298 Here, we can see the discrepancy between
calligraphy art and performance art. Shodō consists of the immateriality, i.e.the performance-
process of writing, and the paper-based art piece which preserves the immaterial process, namely,
both the performance of writing and the writing result have the authenticity, the aura.While acting
in theatre has performance only—the immaterial process is the art piece itself ; that is to say, it can
only happen once in certain time and space—as a history testimony—unless it is documented by
camera, but apparently, that is exactly Benjamin rejected to consider them (the authentic
performance and the documented one) as equal. Since the writing piece of Shodō retains the
authenticity of the calligrapher, we can consider it accommodates the aura as well. Therefore,
compared to the strict definition by Benjamin, we can understand the brush expression,‘the inner
force of soul’, as the aura of Shodō, which does not demand the calligrapher’s ‘presence’ tied to the
work, but requests the ‘personality’ should be shown in the work.
As we discussed through several aspects of distance, relationship, and time, there are some
unsolved issues on using the motion-copying system as an educational means to pass on Shodō. But
we also affirm that this state-of-the-art technology can preserve the original piece better than before.
So, the next question is how to evaluate this ‘mechanical Sho’.Can we see it as a work of art, or
merely the reproduction of the original ? Why we call it ‘reproduction’ rather than a piece of

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‘machine art’? In order to answer the second question, we had an interesting debate on Fig.27,
which shows the almost 100% identical reproduction compared to the original.299
Fig. 27. The writing result of motion-copying

system, by Katsura Laboratory, Keio University
Nagayama : I think it is art, because there is the transmission of personality in the robot. I saw
the person’s personality does the movement through the robot. The robot ‘re-create’ it. Also the
’reproduced’ one is a creation, cause the result is different.
Fan : It sounds like the ’happening art’ which more emphasises on the process not the result.
Nagayama : The processes are indeed different, therefore the results are also different—
one is the original calligraphy, the other is the collaboration with the machine.
Daniela : I don’t think it is art. Cause if it is created by human, today he writes will be different
from tomorrow he writes. The robot will do the same work every time.
Fan : But the robot also uses paper and ink as human, the material will be different every time.
Nagayama : I understand what Daniela say about the material, but I want to point out that the
‘process’ is also important. I consider both of them are art, different art, because the processes
are different. Also, human calligrapher can always do the same thing.
299ikinamo, (2012, October 10). “Calligraphy robot uses a Motion Copy System to reproduce detailed brushwork
#DigInfo,” [YouTube] Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0ASmb3QFKE&t=7s
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If there is a person, I can say it is art. Without human, there would be no art.
So far, we can see the essential touchstone of Shodō aesthetics keeps unchanged, that is : the
‘personality’ and the emphasis of ‘process’. Since a beautiful calligraphy ‘result’ is not the goal of
Shodō ; even the reproduction looks extremely similar as the original, since the creating ‘process’
are different, the creations should be treated as different works as well. But there is still a premise,
that is, it should include human part inside. To be precise, it should include ’the personality of the
calligrapher’ inside; otherwise, it would not be seen as a work of art. To put it differently, if the
loaded data coms from a man who doesn’t have any calligraphy training, no matter he writes by
himself or through the motion-copying system, none of these works would be considered as an
artwork of Shodō—since he has no foundation of technique to support his personality performed on
paper. On the contrary, if the loaded data comes from a calligraphy master whose ‘inner force of
source’ has already shown on the paper, even it is later ‘re-created’ by the machine, it can be seen as
an artwork of Shodō—since the calligrapher doesn’t forgo his aura; instead, the machine faithfully
represent his personality on paper. The aura is still there but is created through different process,
therefore the reproduction can be also seen as an artwork of Shodō.
8. Result
In this investigation, the aim was to assess how digital technologies affect the aesthetics of
Japanese calligraphy art and culture, through threes aspects : aesthetics, technology and social
institution. Therefore, the findings will be elaborated through these three aspects. Firstly, regarding
to the “digital Sho” created by digital media technologies, we found it is hard to evaluate under the
traditional aesthetics of Shodō which demands the materials, i.e.brush and paper, to support its
artistic expressions. Thus, if the new media artwork retains the basic requirements and the spirits of
traditional arts, we can see it as an artwork innovated by new media, such as : Metal Sculpture,
Sound of IKEBANA, What a Loving, and Beautiful World and Enso/Mugenso. Moreover, in terms of
the final artwork which is presented to the audience for appreciation or interaction, we found media
technologies emancipates calligraphy from its traditional medium and its language form, which
creates new experiences to perceive traditional arts and expands cross-cultural understandings.
However, if the new media artwork abandons the basic requirement of traditional aesthetics, it
would not be considered as a work of art, such as : Circle, Infinite Circle-VR. Furthermore,
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regarding to the non-persistent nature of interactive art or hypertext art, the difficulty of aesthetic
evaluation exposes the dilemma of hypertext art : how to treat an interactive work as an artwork if
the artefact—the interactive context—is co-created by the artist/technician/programmer and the
uncertain recipient who comes and leaves randomly? According to Flusser (2012),“Our
communicational structures are being fundamentally transformed, in the sense of becoming
constituted by ephemeral and transient media that allow the other to be informed without the need
of objects.”300 From Hayles’s point of view, what Flusser indicated is the true situation we confront
with the Web301 —the fluid medium, only fleeting ephemeral phenomena without the immutability
—which is presumed of an artwork to be traceable for interpretations or analysis by a third party.
Since “interactivity is the fundamental feature of the general process which leads to transformations
both in the substantial and the semantic status of art,” as Kluszczynski identified302 , the
establishment of new research tools and the accompanying rules such as: the adequate standards, or
methods to evaluate interactive artworks, would be necessary and urgent.
Secondly, the material practices supports the immateriality of Shodō through cultivation which
can’t be replaced by crash instructions of the penetrating technology. Although motion-copying
system is a great tool to precisely document the original piece, it would cause problems on
educating the young generation. Because it deconstructs the traditional pedagogical philosophy of
Shodō—expounding in silence, that is, keeping the distance to force students to observe, to imagine,
to interpret by their own personality through their own brush strokes. The lack of the exercise of
‘feeling the space’ would deteriorate ‘the waning of affect’ as Jameson warned, which not only
results in the disappearance of Yoin—the lively grace of Shodō—but also leads to tremendous
‘Pastiche work’ that marks the obliteration of subjectivity and the termination of learning
relationships in the postmodern age.
Lastly, virtualisation technology might generate long-term impact on learning ability by habit.
As Kluszczynski indicated that “virtual reality (VR) creates a prospect of further, profound
transformations in the structure of film experience, allowing the recipient/user (now frequently
termed ‘interactor’ or ‘visitor’) to immerse himself or herself interactively in the telematic (i.e.
creating an illusion of bodily presence in remote locations) virtual world of the work.
300Flisser, Vilém (2011),Vilém Flusser’s Brazilian Vampyroteuthis Infernalis.(R. M. Novaes, Trans.).Dresden: Atropos
Press, p. 114
301 Hayles, op. cit., p.164

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[…]potentially becomes the most crucial continuation of cinema in the field of the multimedia”303
This is consistent with Virilio’s criticism of the ‘vision machine’, he addressed that “What the video
artist Nam June Paik calls the triumph of the electronic image over universal gravity has carried this
[dematerialisation] still further. The sense of weightlessness and suspension of ordinary sensations
indicates the growing confusion between 'ocular reality' and its instantaneous, mediated
representation.”304 That is to say, the environment of ubiquitous digital media have blurred the
boundary between the ‘digital simulated representation’ and the ‘corporally existing reality’—
sometimes, the former can be perceived ‘more close’,’more real’ than the latter in our daily life.
The lurking danger is pointed out by Mendes : “We perform less and less physical activities,
such as drawing or writing. Thus, this change will affect the structure of the brain, as well as our
ability to assimilate and process information. Several studies made with resonance magnetic
imaging (MRI) show that handwriting may contribute to a better fine-motor skill development.”305
Shodō is an epitome of our attitude towards handwriting and drawing currently, if we neglect the
importance of connecting the real world through practicing physical activities, indulging ourselves
in the convenient network of technologies instead, we are eliminating the ability of creating new
thing without the help of technology—as we feel such a joy to write calligraphy through VR
technology, but forgetting that the ‘mechanical gaze’ and ‘digital data controller’ can never replace
the abundance of the real materials and the real world. After all, the long-term influence might not
be aware in our lifetime, but as Dr. Lacerda stated: “ the consequences of the digital culture ‘is
something that we probably won’t be able to see in this generation, but for sure, the habits that we
have today will change our species.’ ” (as cited in Mendes)306
303 Kluszczynski, op. cit., p. 212-213
304Virilio, Paul (1989 [1984]), War and Cinema: The Logistics of Perception (P. Camiller, Trans.), London and New York:
Verso. p.73
on-drawing/
306 loc. cit.

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9. Conclusion
Tradition is never just the past. It belongs to the present. It is never unshakable or unchangeable.
Rather, it always changes and is never the same even for a moment. Unless we grasp it dynamically, we
cannot make use of it and develop it actively.
—Okamoto Tarō , <On Jōmon Pottery>307 —
The following conclusions can be drawn from the present study. Firstly, this research has thrown
up many questions in need of further investigation. More empirical studies on the application of
motion-copying system would help us to establish a greater degree of accuracy on the pedagogy
issue of Shodō. So far, the evidence from this study suggests that motion-copying system can fulfil
the duty of preserving the original piece well, i.e. representing ‘the personality of the
calligrapher’—the aura of the calligraphy work—on paper successfully; whereas, it can not help the
young generation to ‘develop their own personality’.This research will serve as a base of future
studies and suggest that we should consider how to integrate this powerful technology into the
educational system. From the insight of Hayles,“Qualities are never perceived in their totality but
only within the frameworks and contexts that define the relation of one object to another”.308 That is
to say, we don’t need to substitute ‘robot teacher’ for human teacher, since we have already
understood the indispensable role the human teacher plays; instead, we can take advantage of the
strength of ‘robot teacher’, such as : enable to record the precise information of speed and force,
and the intimate tactile guidance, as a ‘self-learning tutor’ or ‘self-analysed tool’. It would be
promising that technology can help the teaching and learning of Shodō become more prosperous, as
the famous architect Tange Kenzō said : “tradition is not what we preserve but the means for new
creation in the present.” (as cited in Kajiya).309
Secondly, using digital technologies to strike a balance between ‘interactivity’ and ‘traditional
aesthetics’ in new media artwork. As Benjamin discovered that“ The history of every art form
shows critical epochs in which a certain art form aspires to effects which could be obtained only
Okamoto, Tarō (1952), On Jōmon Pottery, Watercolor no.558: 4 (䍫๜ॡᮤ(1952), 娮෈ࢿ࢏抷, Mizue ΕͻΧ) The
307
quoted text is cited in Kajiya (2014)
308 Hayles, op. cit., p.173
Kajiya, Kenji (2014), Modernized Differently: Avant-Garde Calligraphy and Art in Postwar Japan. M+ Matters | Postwar
309
110/117
with a changed technical standard, that is to say, in a new art form.”310 Even we criticise how VR
technology erases the subjectivity in traditional art (in the case of Circle, Infinite Circle-VR),
nevertheless, the fact that a new type of ‘calligraphy art’ has born is undeniable. We should take it
as a chance to re-consider what is essential for the traditional aesthetics, rather than castigate the
emerging technologies murder the arts of traditional realm. This is support by the study of
Armitage, when he analysed Virilio’s attitude toward ‘the aesthetics of disappearance’: “ He
assumes that the responsibility of artists is recover rather than discard the material that is absent and
to bring light to these secret codes that hide from view inside the silent circuits of digital and
genetic technologies.”311 In fact, Nagayama also recognised the capability of digital media on
dissemination and stimulating new idea, he indicated the potential of using digital media on Shodō:
“ It makes people become more creative on personality than before. Since it is another material
come out the world, it would create another type of art.” (N. Nagayama, personal communication,
February 27, 2017)
Finally, the future-oriented creativity comes from the accumulation of culture and history—
Shodō has the potential as the cross-cultural interface to connect the East and the Western world. As
mentioned before, the history depth has been replaced by multiple surfaces, in which the
subjectivity of each individual has been annihilated and re-collaged as the ‘schizophrenic
self’.Moreover, Jameson reminded us that “If we are unable to unify the past, present, and future of
the sentence, then we are similarly unable to unify the past, present, and future of our own
biographical experience or psychic life.”312 To solve this breakdown of meaning, the cancellation of
history depth, there is nothing more logic than confront the gap between contemporary culture and
our own history directly.
As cited above, the avant-garde painter Okamoto Tarō ( , 1911-1996) published the
article on ancient Japanese pottery of the prehistoric period called Jōmon ( ). He noted that
“Jōmon pottery has protruding, flamboyant, and even magical decoration, in which he found the
vigorous movement of life.”313 In addition, calligrapher Ueda put this view of tradition even
311 Virilio, op. cit., p.9
Kajiya, Kenji (2014), Modernized Differently: Avant-Garde Calligraphy and Art in Postwar Japan. M+ Matters | Postwar
313
111/117
further : “We modern men should not stick to the forms of classics created by the ancients but base
ourselves on their spirits and attitudes that created those forms to express our own feeling of life
with the modern sensibility. [...] Classics express their own feeling of life. Therefore, we should also
express our feeling of life. It will fit the spirit of tradition and is new.” (as cited in Kajiya)314
So, how do we express the spirit of tradition with the ‘modern sensibility’? TeamLab’s What a
Loving, and Beautiful World and Enso/Mugenso have shown us the good examples—take advantage
of the strength of digital technologies to enrich the tradition values, such as: Zen concept, and
Shodō. Meanwhile, we should never give up what the tradition aesthetics keeps reminding us : to
build your own personality—no matter it is through Shodō, Ikebana, or something else beyond art.
Besides, when it comes to connect the past and the present, Tosa’s point of view on Kanji, Chinese
characters, unveiled a new direction for the development of Shodō. First of all, she identified the
‘image-text nature’ of Kanji which “has both images within our brains like movies and the logic of
phonograms”. Hence, she considered Kanji as a type of visual analogy, which “includes plenty of
culture in their background. Neighboring icons have fused into a word with a new sense, and
imaginations move ahead”. Namely, Kanji not only functions as a logic tool for communication, but
also operates as a cultural catalyst which unconsciously triggers related images in mind. Then, she
proposed that “ We can create a universal interface that connects local and global parts of the world,
by connecting early Kanji characters that show the construction of Kanji and Western metaphors or
visual analogies as described above. […] These images have possibilities as analogies that connect
Western and Eastern people using computer software, by stimulating their subconscious.”315
Master Nagayama said, Shodō is a portrait of heart; while in the vision of Tosa, it becomes the
‘mind software’ to connect different cultures. This perspective reminds us that avant-gate
calligraphers of 1940s also considered Shodō as the ‘Sōgō geijutsu’—the total work of art—which
has been embracing different approaches and genres, such as: poetry, architecture, film, to co-create
its contemporary values until today and will continue evolving in the postmodern age of digital
media.
314 loc. cit.
315 Tosa, op. cit., p.132

112/117
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How do digital technologies affect the aesthetics of

Date of Delivery : 24 July, 2017

3. that, in case my Master Thesis concerns my employer or any other external

Krems an der Donau, 24.7.2017

Name Author / Name Author: Hua-Chun Fan

Hua-Chun Fan / Fion

2. Subject and Method 3

3.1 Film technology : the liquidation of tradition value 5

3.2 Video arts : multi-surfaces and the end of style 7

3.3 New media arts in postmodern epoch 9

4. Traditional Aesthetics : Shodō, Ikebana, Zen 11

4.2 Ikebana and Zen culture 19

5. Aesthetics analysis of contemporary practices 23

5.1 Contemporary practices : introduction

(1) Metal Sculpture, by Sisyu ( ) 23

(2) Sound of IKEBANA, by Naoko Tosa ( ) 25

(3) ZENetic Computer, directed by Naoko Tosa ( ) 27

(4) What a Loving, and Beautiful World, by Sisyu ( ) and teamLab ( ボ) 28

(5) Enso/Mugenso and Circle, Infinity Circle-VR, by teamLab ( ボ) 31

5.1.1 New experiences of perception and Cross-cultural understandings 33

5.1.2 Emancipation from the materiality and the language form 50

5.1.3 City as an art form: interactive, events 55

5.2.1 Cyber-culture : Who are we interacting with ? 64

5.2.2 Hypertext art : artistic value & its dilemma 69

5.3 The foundation of Art 74

6. Discussion on Technology : the materiality 75

6.2 The Extended Mind : Brush 80

6.3 The Origin of Dō : Paper 84

6.4 The relationship between Handwriting and Brain 86

7. Discussion on Social institution : the immateriality 90

7.2 The Feeling, the Space and the Memory 95

7.4 The Time : cultivation comes from habit 101

calligraphy—and collaborate with programmers to produce new experiences of perceiving Sho,

a Loving, and Beautiful World ( ) , cooperated with

digital work Enso/Mugenso ( / ) demonstrated their ten-year-research result of ‘Spatial

Calligraphy’ ( ) which employs the real-time programming to reconstruct Japanese calligraphy

2. Subject and Method

Naoko Tosa ( )’s ZENetic Computer (2004-2010), Sound of IKEBANA ( ,

World ( , 2011-2016) which was collaborated with

Circle, Infinity Circle-VR (2016) .

—Paul Valéry, «La Conquete de l’ubiquite»8—

10 Benjamin, op. cit., p.38

13 Benjamin, op. cit., p.39

the relation between phonographic and ideographic characters.17

3.2 Video arts : multi-surfaces and the end of style

It is clear that culture itself is one of those things

—Fredric Jameson,<Surrealism Without the Unconscious> 20—

20 Jameson, op. cit., p.67

3.3 New media arts in postmodern epoch

32 Kluszczynski, op. cit., p.213

33 Jameson, op. cit., p.69

34 Kluszczynski, op. cit., p.212

a counter-culture, of a PRESENTATIVE art. A situation that reinforces the dreadful decline of

representative democracy in favour of…a presentative multimedia democracy based on

4.1 Aesthetics of Shodō : tradition, avant-garde, the work of total art

42 Nagoya, op. cit., p.84

of China, which includes five styles: Kai-Sho ( ), Gyo-Sho ( ), Ten-Sho ( ), Rei-Sho (

are only practiced by calligrapher scholars and professional calligraphers (artists).

employed "SOU-SHO" style which is extremely cursive with “TENKAKU”.47

47 Kuwahara, op. cit., p.9-10

method. With all this comes an enrichment of the inner life.53

brush expressions as tied to supernatural forces.57