Cutting and Flow: Ontological Materiality in Contemporary Sculpture
Abstract
Abstract
The presuppositions of the 'linguistic turn' have functioned as a dominant discourse in the humanities over the past few decades. The notion that access to reality is achievable only through the process of cognition, which is contingent upon language, has been the prevailing assumption in many influential social and cultural theories since the advent of post-structuralism. In contrast, the 'material turn' challenges this viewpoint by reevaluating the ontology shaped by the limiting aspects of this emphasis on language. This movement, often referred to as the 'ontological turn,' acknowledges the agency of nonhuman entities in their interactions with living and non-living matter. My research-creation project begins with a concise exploration of theoretical perspectives on ontological materiality, framing matter as a relational and generative process or a dynamic interaction. This analysis is organized around six key themes involving matter: Energy, Sensation, Affect, Body, Assemblage, and Politics.
The study also connects the theoretical discussions with art history, including Duchamp's Readymade, Conceptual Art, Minimalism, and Unmonumental Assemblage, while reinterpreting sculpture through the lens of ontological materiality. Notably, my thesis focuses on the Mono-ha movement from Japan, which emerged in the late 1960s alongside Western Minimalism. It highlights Lee Ufan's work, showcasing Mono-ha's distinct approach to materiality and its posthuman perspective. The study also reexamines contemporary installation artist Sarah Sze's complex assemblages, distinguishing them from Mono-ha's minimalist constructs while exploring one of her perspectives of 'momentary emptiness.' In the concluding chapter, a discussion of the concepts of ontological materiality are transformed into an initiative to increase affective sensitivity and awareness of virtual phenomena for both viewers and artists, as evidenced in my thesis exhibition Proce-ss-emblage: distanced-matters (2024). The exhibition, displayed in three spaces, serves as a sculptural platform to explore the relational dimensions of previously imperceptible qualitative differences.