Charwei Tsai: ‘Circle II’
Charwei Tsai, Circle II, 2011. Video, 1 min, 7 sec. From the Collection of Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan. Courtesy of the artist
About the Work
‘I drew a circle with ink on a block of ice then let it go.’ In this video, the artist contemplates the Buddhist concept of the emptiness of all phenomena through the process of drawing a circle on ice. In Japanese Zen tradition, an ensō is a circle that one would draw to practise the balance between the discipline of making a perfect form and the ease of relinquishing it. The practice is often seen as a visual manifestation of the eminent Buddhist text Heart Sutra, which famously states ‘form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form’ – the circle can be seem as both a form and a void depending on one’s perception. The understanding of the interdependence of all forms, sensations, perceptions, impulses and consciousness, the ways in which human beings relate to the world, leads the mind to a peaceful state of non-duality.
About the artist
Charwei Tsai (b.1980, Taiwan) lives and works in Paris. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design and completed the postgraduate research programme La Seine at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris (2010). Highly personal yet universal concerns spur Tsai’s multimedia practice. Geographical, social and spiritual motifs inform a body of work that encourages viewer participation outside the confines of simple contemplation. Preoccupied with the human/nature relationship, Tsai meditates on the complexities among cultural beliefs, spirituality and transience. Tsai has had solo exhibitions internationally, and has participated in international exhibitions and biennials including solo projects and exhibitions: 14th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea (2023); ‘The Womb & the Diamond’, Live Forever Foundation, Taiwan (2021), Jogja Biennale and ‘Power of Intention: Reinventing the (Prayer) Wheel’, Rubin Museum, New York (2019); ‘Charwei Tsai: Bulaubulau’, Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA) (2018), Manchester, UK; ‘Hear Hear Singing’, Hayward Gallery, UK; Water Moon, IAC, Villeurbanne / Rhône-Alpes, France; Biennale of Sydney (2016); ‘Simple Shapes’ at Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2015) and Centre Pompidou-Metz, France (2014); Sharjah Biennial (2013); ‘Phantoms of Asia’ at Asian Art Museum of San Francisco (2012); Yokohama Triennial (2011); 6th Asia Pacific Triennial (2009); ‘Traces of the Sacred’, Centre Pompidou (2008); ‘Thermocline of Art: New Asian Waves’ at ZKM Center of Art and Media, Karlsruhe (2007), the inaugural Singapore Biennale (2006) and J’en Rêve at Cartier Foundation, Paris (2005).
About EMAP x FRIEZE FILM SEOUL
For the third year in a row, Frieze Film returns to Frieze Seoul 2024. This year’s programme is presented in partnership with Ewha Media Art Presentation (EMAP) and on view from 2 – 6 September at Ewha Womans University and online at frieze.com.
Curated by Joowon Park and Valentine Umansky, this year’s programme is titled ‘All that Weaves the Universe: Of Quantum Entanglements’. It brings together time-based media works of 37 international artists, unfolding under 8 chapters.
