blue 2021.12.08

作品賞析

Artist Hsieh Jung Wei completed his blue 2021.12.08 by moving a blue rollerball pen (that is, a ballpoint pen that uses water-based ink) for a long time across a piece of paper with repeated, rhythmic strokes, so that the ink fully layered over the paper. If you look closely, you will find that there are countless long, domino-like strips of darker blue, each of which is made up of countless single strokes, and the sense of a huge time spent on it forms a kind of power. A slight misalignment of color blocks disturbs the tranquility of the picture. Hsieh Jung Wei likened himself to a “paper farmer” who built up the composition through unremitting labor—of writing. He used water to smudge the rollerball pen marks, bringing change to the rational order. With slight differences in depth, the picture creates an illusion of light and shadow and a sense of visual rhythm. Hsieh has described this work as a scene described by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, in his book In Praise of Shadows, in which silvery white moonlight shines on the paper of a Japanese sliding door. Although it is bright, it is not dazzling. It spreads quietly through the space for a fleeting moment, but lingers in the heart for a long time.