스킵네비게이션

 
Floating Echo

'Floating Echo' is a transparent inflatable statue of Buddha sitting on lotus on the water. The clear giant plastic sculpture floats like an invisible being. Through the statue one can see the nature, landscape and architecture around the seashore of Songdo Beach in Busan. Its subtle presence embraces and reflects the surroundings, both natural and man-made. It is seemingly present and absent both at the same time.
Buddhism is an important part of the Korean landscape and culture. Beomeosa (범어사) in Busan is one of the most important Buddhist temples in Korea. Despite all of the societal changes brought about by modernity and the endless acceleration of technological change, spiritualism is still deeply integrated into contemporary Korean life. In this work the form of the Buddha is rendered in clear plastic, a ubiquitous everyday material, and could be read simply as a kitsch object, yet Buddha is an eternal entity and a transcendental figure. This translucent statue sits on the sea, facing the shore, an echo of Beomeosa. It hovers mysteriously on the ocean which represents intangibility, infinity and bodilessnes. What one sees is one’s own environment rather than the Buddha itself. Its elusive beingness provokes fundamental questions of existence. 'Floating Echo' coexists and contrasts with nature, material and the Self.