Artworks / Writings
From Sung, Ying-sing to Maurice Merleau-Ponty - "Craftsmanship", "Bodily Synthesis" and "Art Practice"
Exploitation of the Work of Nature by Sung Ying-sing
Exploitation of the Work of Nature was written by Sung Ying-sing in the 10th Year of Ch'ung Chen, Ming Dynasty (AD 1637). For the first time, it offered a comprehensive and systematic discussion on traditional agricultural practices and craftsmanship in China.
Comprising of 18 chapters, Exploitation of the Work of Nature is divided in three parts. The first part focuses on clothing, food and other daily necessities. The second part is about the production of functional wares and the use of raw materials. The final part deals with munitions, stationery, brewery, jewelry and other consumption goods. This order is value-laden: "its material is classified intentionally, as to their merit and importance, so that the cereals are placed first and the metals and precious stones last." The volume emphasizes practicality more than cultural meanings. For example, the part on ceramics (chapter VII) discusses “the civilian uses" of ceramics, but the works’ aesthetic and spiritual values are scantily mentioned.
However, the volume conveys the author’s world-view as an intellect having profound humanitarian concern. It is metaphysical, with Sung makes it clear at the beginning: "Since the materials that are sheltered by the heavens and contained in the earth are counted in myriads, and the works by which each and every one of these are elaborated and equally numerous, can this task be done by human power alone?" Man’s limitation and nature’s variability are the fundamental issues.
In chapter VII, the author suggests, "In tile making, the clay, with as little as possible contamination with sand, is dug from more than two ch'ih below the surface." Mastery of the material, and ultimately, insight to the material world, are achieved through laborious work. For example, "deposits of clay of good color are usually discovered within a distance of 100 li (one li is about 1/3 of Western mile) from each other." What “good” means varies, but one can well take it as an apt use of resources.
Man and Materials are related, not only because Man uses materials, but also because Man is aware of transformations in the material world. The chapter on ceramics begins with "When water and fire are applied appropriately to clay, it will become hardened." Sung cites an oracle of Yi-Jing to account for the transformation of clay as water meets fire. In such processes, Man has to coordinate various opposing elements. Accuracy depends on hands-on experience.
When introducing the wheel technique, Sung discusses bodily coordination in great details:
There are no definite sizes, for making cups and dishes, etc. The potter holds a piece of clay on the “helmet”, with his two hands, while the wheel rotates, giving the clay the desired shape with his dexterous thumbs. The thumbs are pointed and pressed on to the bottom of the clay, and lifted up gradually, during rotation. Of course, the fingernails must be cut very short. Beginners are allowed to work only with clay that can be spoiled and re-used. The skilled potter can make thousands pieces of the same kind, as if they were out of the same mould …… Once green ware has been formed with the fingers, it should be turned over on the 'helmet', for a second moulding, and then dried slightly in the sun. While some moisture remains in its body, it should receive a finial moulding. When the ware is dry, it becomes very white. It is moistened by a rapid dipping in the water and set on the “helmet” for trimming, which is done by using a sharp knife. In the process of trimming the hand grip must be firm. A slight jerk will leave marks called “sparrow beak” on the ware. (Exploitation of the Work of Nature" by Sung, Ying-sing (Ming Dynasty, 1637), translated by Li, Chiao-ping, China Academy, Taipei, 1980, pp 204-205)
The text, albeit detailed, still falls short to capture the miraculous, actual experience of the body. Learning a craft is a tactile experience. To be ”skilled” is not only to ”make thousands pieces of the same kind, as if they were out of the same mould,” but also to realise the balance between Man and the material world. This balance is not only functional, but also metaphysical.
The Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, an important European Phenomenologist, is regarded as one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. In The Phenomenology of Perception (1945), he delves into the relationship between the body and the material world. Bodily experiences, instead of intellectual cognition, are taken as the key to Man’s worldly existence.
To Merleau-Ponty, Phenomenology is about description, not explanation. In the chapter “The Spatiality of One’s own Body and Motility,” he cites the example of the blind man’s stick and discusses how the sense of touch (in the absence of vision) facilitates people’s understanding of the world. He further argues that habitual use of tools enhances our understanding of the world:
The blind man’s stick has ceased to be an object for him, and is no longer perceived for itself; it’s point has become an area of sensitivity, extending the scope and active radius of touch. (p 165)
If I want to get used to a stick, I try it by touching a few things with it, and eventually I have it “well in hand,” I can see what things are “within reach” or “out of reach” of my stick. (p 166)
It is the body which ‘understands’ in the acquisition of habit……But the phenomenon of habit is just what prompts us to revise our notion of “understand” and our notion of the body. To understand is to experience the harmony between what we aim at and what is given, between the intention and the performance – and the body is our anchorage in a world. (p 167)
(The Phenomenology of Perception by Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Paris 1945, translated by Colin Smith, Routledge, London and New York, 2002)
The process of mastering tools and subsequently understanding the world is regarded by Merleau-Ponty as ”the synthesis of one’s own body.” (p 171-177) It is different from objective knowledge, and is not a random use of the body. It is intentional.
In The Phenomenology of Perception, the body (especially the cognitive function of the body) is the principal subject. ”We are in the world through our body……we perceive the world with our body.” (p 239) To conceive with the body is to return to a most primitive, most direct relation with the world. Understanding the world is not an intellectual exercise. The world is epistemological, conceived through ”the synthesis of one’s own body.”
In the case of the blind man’s stick, the epistemological world is within the reach of the stick. When the use of the stick becomes habitual, the stick becomes an extension of the body. This extension also extends our existence in the world. Merleau-Ponty believes that as this synthesis of the body reconnects the body to the world, it leads to self-discovery.
The blind man’s stick case also reminds one of the story about blind men sensing an elephant (In Chinese, the character of “elephant” is the same as that of “image”). Our views of things are inevitably limited by our perspectives. By reconnecting the body to the world, we gain new options.
The Mercurial World & Artistic Realisation
Sung and Merleau-Ponty were 300 years apart and were from totally different cultural contexts. However, their concern is the same. Sung’s approach to craftsmanship and Merleau-Ponty’s idea of the body are comparable. Both approach the mercurial world through bodily experiences. According to them, the world, both ontologically and epistemologically, is mercurial.
The representation of the mercurial world through bodily experiences is not just a technical and philosophical topic, but also an artistic project. Art-making is always tied in to dialectics and techniques. Evolving forms and styles reflect physical and cultural changes over time.
In the early 20th century, Dadaism subverted traditional art throughout Europe and America. The meaning of art was reduced to zero. By adopting a more open stance towards media and technique, the Dadaists found a new way out. Vis-à-vis traditional forms (such as painting and sculpture), the Dadaists’ ready-mades, collages and performances deduced art to the audience’s immediate c ognitive reaction. For the first time, the techniques involved in these media became a non-issue for art-making.
Cognitive reaction is omnipresent in everyday life. There is no need to set any boundary for art. After all, there is no clear distinction between art and non-art. Duchamp’s Fountain made this clear.
Dada is almost a century-old. The world’s transmutation has never stop for a moment. Man’s interaction with the world accelerated drastically with the hyper speed of advanced technology and econ-political affairs. To understand this mercurial world, cope with pragmatic contestations and look for one’s position in this world are all becoming increasingly difficult. The two world wars in the last century are undoubtedly painful testimonies of the world’s variability. To a large extent, Dada and other later subversive movements reflect this imbalance.
Stepping into the 21st century, an excess of information floods the networked world. Set between the virtual and reality, epistemology becomes innocuous. This is perhaps out of Merleau-Ponty’s expectation. To boost consumption, Capital has produced a plethora of sensational stimulations. People react quickly, and soon turn indifferent. Connecting the body to the world eventually becomes impossible. This impossibility is not at all caused by a lack of tools, nor an under-use of tools. Rather, it is caused by an overuse of tools. Appropriating Merleau-Ponty’s example of the blind man’s stick, the device is almost like an ever growing, magic stick. The body is used in a distorted way, getting all the more alienated from the world. “The synthesis of one’s own body” becomes impossible.
When things like hybridity have all become “possibilities”, subversive gestures like those of the Dadaists all fall into cliché. The art institution is ever expanding under the drive of consumerism. One can hardly stay away from the system. Individuals have little influence on the environment. Art, however, is an individual pursuit. Amidst the cacophony of contemporary art, such a pursuit requires extreme concentration and self-consciousness.
Revisiting “Craftsmanship" and "Bodily Synthesis"
Ultimately, meaning rests in the most primitive and direct expression. “Returning to oneself” depends on the quintessentially material process. This brings new insight to the reading of Sung and Merleau-Ponty.
Sung’s accounts of “craftsmanship” are all based on tactile, bodily experiences. Merleau-Ponty advocates “bodily synthesis” through cognitive experiences, hoping to reconnect to the world in a more primitive way. The quotation marks around “craftsmanship” and “bodily synthesis” emphasize their importance in art-making. Once again, we consider Merleau-Ponty’s metaphor of the blind man’s stick:
The blind man’s stick has ceased to be an object for him, and is no longer perceived for itself; its point has become an area of sensitivity, extending the scope and active radius of touch.
If we replace “the blind man’s stick” with “craftsmanship”, and re-contextualize the statement with contemporary art, we come up with the following:
Artistic craftsmanship has ceased to be a means of expression for the artist, and is no longer perceived for itself; the practice of craftsmanship has become an area of sensitivity, extending the scope and active radius of perception.
Applying this to art, craftsmanship is the artist’s tool to define his sphere of cognition. When such a use forms a habit, craftsmanship becomes an extension of the artist’s body. This reconnects the artist to the mercurial world.